114: Kelly Houle on Botanical Art.
Pursuing beauty and truth through artwork on nature.
Kelly is a botanical and wildlife artist, calligrapher, and founder of Books of Kell’s Press, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit that works to create handmade books and original art to raise awareness about science and nature, and to raise money for humanitarian causes. Kelly is also creating a handwritten illuminated manuscript based on the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in addition to a handful of other illustration projects. Kelly’s original paintings, handmade books, and prints are in numerous public and private collections around the world. She is currently developing a pilot art and science program to help create Monarch butterfly habitats as teaching gardens in schools.
In this podcast: Greg and Kelly discuss the creative processes and inspiration that brought her artwork to life as well as some of the cool projects she is working on.
Listen in to learn about:
- Her love of learning and how that helped her get to where she is now
- All of her diverse interests
- Her paintings and how she takes the time to get the details right
- Why she has chosen botanicals as her focus and what that brings to her art
- What a botanical artist is, and how they try to capture what makes plants unique
- A little history on botanical art and why she thinks we are in the midst of a new renaissance in botanical art
- Illuminated books with the use of metals in their artwork
- Her handwritten illuminated manuscript based on the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin and the adventure she is experiencing
- How you can get some of her artwork
- Her monarch butterfly habitat garden and her work with her local elementary school to educate and inspire
As well as:
- How she learned to listen to her critics and found that it is worth listening to others
- How she has felt that combining her multiple passions into what she is doing now has been one of her greatest successes
- How beauty and truth drive her as well as pursuing scientific truths and authenticity
- Her advice to listeners
Books Kelly Recommends:
The Stars by HA Rey
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition by Stephen Hawking
Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting by Richard Schmid
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
How to get in touch with Kelly:
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