Thursday, November 5, 2009 - Morrison Center

The Nature of Fibonacci Numbers
By Dick Yeatts, PhD, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
The sequence of numbers 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,..., wherein each number is the sum of the preceding two, is credited to Leonardo of Pisa (a.k.a. Fibonacci). The remarkable properties of these numbers and their progeny, the "golden" ratios, find application in nearly every field of human endeavor including art, music, economics, and geometry. In the life sciences, the numbers relate to such diverse subjects as human anatomy, snail shells, and the architecture of plants.

F. R. (Dick) Yeatts is a Professor Emeritus in Physics at the Colorado School of Mines. While employed, his research was mostly in geophysics. Since retiring, his interest is in the mathematics and physics of plants.

October 22, 2009, GATES HALL

An Evolutionary Play in the Ecological Theatre:
Influences of Landscape and Climate Change on the Clan of the Parry primrose

By Tass Kelso, PhD, Colorado Collage, Colorado Springs, CO

The Parry primrose clan encompasses a group of species endemic to western North America from Colorado to Idaho and south into the Sierra Madre of Mexico. This talk will examine the diverse genetic and ecological perspectives we now have on the group, and how these support models of speciation on different time and geographic scales. Paleoecological, landscape and climate data show changes in the Rocky Mountain/Great Basin region since the Cretaceous that probably enhanced speciation through separation of populations on increasingly isolated alpine habitats. However, regional climatic and vegetation models for the future indicate that concerns about habitat loss, diminishing populations, and poor reproduction are warranted for many members of the clan.

Tass Kelso is a professor of biology at Colorado College, where she has been teaching botany since 1987. Her research specialties are the evolution, diversity and biogeography of the western flora, especially the Primulaceae.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Denver Botanic Gardens – Gates Hall
6:30 – 8 p.m.

October 1st, 2009, Morrison Center

A Journey to South Park, Colorado
By Jan Boyd Haring, ASBA Grant Recipient
In 2007 Jan Boyd Haring received a grant from the American Society of Botanical Artists to record roadside wildflowers of the South Park Basin, and create a brochure free to the traveling public. This challenge piqued an on going fascination with this wonderful region in central Colorado. Hang on to your hats and toss your troubles aside, as you take an amazing journey across all corners of South Park to learn about the wildflowers, animals, old railroads, and history. Hear about trials and victories of completing an artist’s grant. Guess why these pictured railroad workers look so cheerful in the winter of 1910!

Jan Boyd Haring is a life long artist devoted to nature. Now retired from a twenty-three year career in the Information Technology industry, she has fulfilled her goal to be an artist full time.Jan received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Northern Arizona, and has attended classes at the School of the Art Institute at Chicago. She graduated from the Denver Botanic Gardens Botanical Art and Illustration Certificate Program in 2006. She is currently creating botanical illustrations primarily in watercolor and colored pencil. Her work is in numerous private collections and has been the recipient of several awards in juried shows.

Café Botanique is a part of the Botanical Art and Illustration Program and is open to everybody. The 30-40 minute talk starts at 6:30 p.m. and is followed by a discussion. Café Botanique meets every first and third Thursday of the month, each time with a different topic relating to Denver Botanic Gardens exhibits and Botanical Illustration classes. There is no admission fee and pre-registration is not required. BYOS.
This lecture offers one elective credit hour in the BI-program.

Thursday, October 1, 2009
Denver Botanic Gardens – Morrison Center
6:30 – 8 p.m.

Thursday, September 17- Morrison Center

(http://www.flickr.com/people/11853009@N07 Dan Brady)
What Every Artist Needs to Know About Paints and Colors
By David Pyle, VP/Division Publisher for Art, Jewelry and Yarn Interweave
How important are light-fastness? What determines the long-term stability of colors and how can you maximize their permanence? How do you keep mixed colors brilliant and true? What's our current understanding regaring the safe use of common art materials? Understanding the tools can help you unlock your expressive process in remarkable ways. This session includes making pigment from bugs (really!) and demonstrations from atop tables and chairs.

David Pyle is the author of What Every Artist Needs to Know About Paints and Colors (Krause, 2000), as well as more than 100 published articles about art materials and techniques. A painter, he has served as the director of technical education for a major art materials manufacturer. He now is publisher for the American Artist group, which includes American Artist, Drawing, Watercolor and Workshop magazines.

Thursday, September 17, 2009
Denver Botanic Gardens – Morrison Center
6:30 – 8 p.m.

Thursday, September 3 - Morrison Center

Think Like a Mountain –
Aldo Leopold and the Development of the National Forest System and Wilderness areas in South West

By Jack L. Carter, Prof. Emeritus, Colorado College, Colorado Springs.

Aldo Leopold is considered by many to have been the most influential conservation thinker of the 20th Century. Leopold's legacy spans the disciplines of forestry, wildlife management, conservation biology, sustainable agriculture, restoration ecology, private land management, environmental history, literature, education, esthetics, and ethics.

Jack L. Carter, Professor Emeritus, Colorado College, will address several basic questions concerning the life and legacy of Aldo Leopold. As we examine the wilderness areas of the Southwest are we reaching the objectives Leopold anticipated for these lands? If Leopold could join us today would he be pleased with our conservation effort as a nation? Where have we been successful and where have we failed?
Jack L. Carter is the author of Colorado Trees and Shrubs (illustrated by Marjorie Leggitt). He will sign his book at the event.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Denver Botanic Gardens – Morrison Center
6:30 – 8 p.m.

Thursday, May 21, Morrison Center

The Science of Plant Color –

Quantum Mechanisms in Color Layering

By Patricia Koemel, Texas Tech University

Patricia Koemel presents her current research in color theory, which assists in the selection of color in the colored pencil layering process and reconstructs an accurate hue of the plant specimen in botanical illustration. This very interesting, new physiological color theory combines artistic color theory with ideas from quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, biology, bio-physiology, and bio-chemistry, and finally mathematically reconstructs physiological color from primary plant pigment absorption wavelengths.

 Patricia Koemel is a botanical Illustrator and currently in the Fine Arts Doctoral Program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Her research on Quantum Color Theory has resulted in an innovative, advanced color theory that proposes a methodological process for building and layering color in order to construct realistic hues in scientific illustration.  

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Denver Botanic Gardens – Morrison Center

6:30 – 8 p.m.

Thursday May 7 - Morrison Center

The Power of Color
 Charles B. Smith

Color has fascinated people for centuries and continues to do so today. Come learn how color “controls” you, and how you can “control” color! Why do some people look healthier when they wear a blue shirt/ blouse? Are the colors of the rainbow always in the same order? Why do flowers/plants APPEAR the color they are? How do manufacturers get you to look at their product? What color reduces physical strength? Who decides the colors for products in all industries ---- the “Color Mafia?” Color is a multi-billion dollar business! Just remember, “Color Sells, and the Right Color Sells Better.” ®

Charles B. Smith is a long-time interior designer in Denver and a life-long color enthusiast. He is a Professional Member of the American Society of Interior Designers, he is also the past president of Color marketing Croup, the premier international association for color designers. In addition to his pursuits of botanical illustration, he also loves abstract painting and is represented in the collections of Saks Fifth Avenue, American Airlines, Federal Reserve Bank and many private patrons. He enjoys lecturing about color and its impact on people as well as its influence on the success or failure of products in the market place.

Thursday, May 7, 2009
Denver Botanic Gardens – Morrison Center
6:30 – 8 p.m.