RMSBA Gallery Featuring Libby Kyer

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Image Gallery

Viola sp., Perfect Pansies, colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico

Gymnopus acervatus, colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico

Epilobium Canum (Greene) P.H. Raven subsp. garrettii (A. Nelson) P.H. Rave

Orange Carpet Hummingbird Trumpet

Colored pencil and graphite on Fabriano Artistico

Cucurbita foetidissima, Buffalo Gourd, colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico

Detail

Flaming Leaf and Visiting Acorn, watearcolor on 500# Strathmore plate

Clematis columbiana (Nutt.) Torr. & A. Gray var. tenuiloba

Rock Clematis

Colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico

Leaf in Spring, watercolor on Arches

Sunflower "Snacker," Graphite and colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico

"Saving Summer," Gourds, Bulbs and Seeds, colored pencil, watercolor pencil and graphite on Fabriano Artistico

Raphanus sativus, Radiant Radish!

Helianthus annuum, Sunflower, colored pencil on PastelBord

About the Artist

Libby works in colored pencil, graphite, carbon, water media, ink and computer, creating botanical art and illustrating botanical specimens for publication and science. As a professed "control freak," she finds the demands of this art form satisfy her love of science, the natural world and intricate detail.

She tell us, "I believe humans are hard-wired to make order out of chaos. Finding order in nature helps us to understand life in all its aspects. And really, where would we be without plants! Plants provide a worthy and never-ending supply of specimens that keep me fresh as an artist and as an oberver of the world's wonders."

Libby's favorite medium is colored pencil. "I find it leads you, taking you to new explorations as an artist. Colored pencil can be used on many varieties of surfaces. New pigment formulations provide the artist with lightfast, archival, rich hues that equal oil and watercolor. In addition, colored pencils are portable, and allow me to take my art with me wherever I go. I have gotten to the point where I feel naked if I don't have the materials to make a few marks with me when I leave the studio!"

A member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, she is editor for the ASBA Journal The Botanical Artist and has been an instructor for 11 years at Denver Botanic Gardens in the Certificate Program in Botanical Art and Illustration. She teaches graphite, ink, mixed media and colored pencil. Teaching workshops scattered around the country and internationally allows her to share her techniques and tips with other artists who are passionate about plants.

Her book Today's Botanical Artists, written with Cora Marcus, compiles the works of 65 of North America's best contemporary botanical artists. It is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and fine independent booksellers.

Selected Exhibitions

Botanica Spectaculum II, Republic Plaza Invitational Exhibit, Denver, CO, 2011
Portraits of a Garden, The Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens, London 2010-2011
Today’s Botanical Artists, Ursus Gallery, NY, NY 2009
Portraits of a Garden II, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, NY, 2008
12th International Juried Invitational Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration, Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, 2007
Botanical Bounty, Invitational Exhibit and Sale, The Flinn Gallery, Greenwich, CN, 2004
ASBA/NY Horticultural Society 6th Annual Juried International Exhibit, New York City, NY 2003
American Society of Botanical Artists North American Western Region Juried Exhibit, Loveland, 2003
Botanica Spectaculum, Republic Plaza Invitational Exhibit, Denver, CO, 2000
Denver Botanic Gardens International Juried Exhibit of Botanical Art, Denver, CO, 1997, 1998, 1999