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frog, frogs, Meyer Science Center, nature, nature art, Nature Artists' Guild, Perry Mastodon, photography, sculpture, sketch, Wheaton College
Sketching with friends is always a treat for me as an artist who works alone in a studio. It’s inspiring to see other’s artistic expressions and it’s challenging to try different subjects. The Nature Artists’ Guild recently hosted a sketching session at the Meyer Science Center at Wheaton College.
Perry Mastodon
© 2015 Karen A. Johnson
Perry Mastodon greeted us at the doorway and Dr. Stephen Moshier led us on a tour of the various fossil, mineral and natural science collections that the department exhibits. I was fascinated by the Mesosaurus fossil on display and sketched that for most of the time.
Mesosaurus sketch
© 2015 Karen A. Johnson
Then I found the collection of carved gemstone frogs…a match made in heaven!
The collection was made by geologist Art Smith, a Wheaton alum, who donated it to the college. I was able to rough in 3 of the green frogs in watercolor before having to leave. I worked the rest of the sketch at home. Enjoy!
Karen's Nature Art 
Great sketch of the Mesosaurus, Karen! Those frogs are so cool; they have such personality. Looks like a fun visit.
Thanks, Emily! It was fun-I’ve never drawn fossils like that before, nor carved frogs. It’s been good to expand my horizons 🙂
Thanks for posting. Your frogs are very nice. Was not aware of this place so close to home too.
Thanks, Marlene. That’s one of the reasons I post about these things-there’s a lot out there to see and draw!
I’m sorry I missed the paint-out, but I hope to join you next time. What a fabulous collection for a geologist to have! Thank you for sharing your sketches, Karen. I really missed a good time.
We missed you too! I think the next one is at Hausermann’s Orchids…
I love those frogs! This sounds like a great place to visit!
Thanks, Clare, it was a great place. I had a hard time choosing which frogs to do-there were so many! Makes me want to sculpt one myself… 🙂
Wow, what a fascinating collection of frog carvings.
Yes, and I didn’t even photograph them all! It was quite a collection…
I really liked your sketch of the Mesosaurus! The exhibit was very eye-catching and I can see why you were drawn to it. I enjoyed seeing the frog exhibits, too, especially the toads. The idea of working around others must be a nice change of pace.
Thanks, Deb! I haven’t seen many full skeleton fossils that were actually small enough to fit on my page-it was very cool! Glad you liked the frogs and toads, just couldn’t resist putting a bunch of them in.
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