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Art and Illustration of the Natural Sort at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts

Art and Illustration of the Natural Sort at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts

February 25, 2020 by Ithaca Review

First ever Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show

Ever wonder what it’s like go face-to-face with on 3 foot South American Erotylid Larva whose mechanics are so bizarre they could be creature concept art for an upcoming dystopian remake of “A Bugs Life” (1998), with Kevin Spacey still as the lead villain?

Not necessarily the star of this show, our obscure creature’s actual overall size is nearer 3mm, brought to gargantuan life with colored pencil by Trumansburg artist/illustrator Well Frances Fawcett.

This version of the South American Erotylid Larva is a traditional illustration found in the detailed field studies of our local naturalist. Here, much like architectural elevations and multi-view projections, flora and fauna of the natural world are rendered either at eye level or a birds eye view to capture intricate detail and an elegance of symmetry to be studied and passed along to fellow naturalists… and in this case to the appreciative public.

Fawcett’s larva has the empirical detail seen in an electron microscope combined with an aesthetic topography found in a landscape drawing. Her shading and blurring effects has a shallow photographic depth of field contributing to the alien-like forest riding on the the back of our South American Erotylid Larva, functioning perhaps as an over-evolved dorsal antenna array.

first Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.
Tree Cook, a Trumansburg resident, ‘would go quite a ways to see this art. It’s really beautiful. I’m trying to teach myself how to draw and just looking at beautiful art is so inspiring,” said Cook at the opening of the first Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member showing at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.

Going into the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show one would expect to see only the literal translations of nature found in field sketches and scientific journals, but the many examples on display show both objective scientific renderings and subjective impressions of plants and animals.

first Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.
Natural science illustrator Lucy Gagliardo talks with gallery goers during the opening of the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member and exhibit at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.

For example, Lucy Gagliardo’s Gull and Cormorants shows a snippet into the behavior of waterbirds. Her illustration is the original ink drawing with negative space set aside for design purposes. Laid out as the starting point for an information poster, her illustration serves as the graphical foundation for public consumption.

first Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.
Lucy Gagliardo’s Gull and Cormorants (ink on drafting film) at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.

Another example of Gagliardo’s use of natural science education through illustration is a bird’s eye study of a monochrome Harlequin Beetle. This form of illustration is an example of the illustrator’s use of visual insect identification silhouettes found in field guides and quick reference posters.

Lucy Gagliardo’s Harlequin Beetle (Acrocinus longimanus) ink on scratchboard at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.

Ithaca artist Carla Elizabeth has a more subjective and lavish view of animal forms. Using materials like wire, sculpey, and paper-mache, Elizabeth sculpts almost lifelike specimens of scaled-down waterbirds and scaled-up beetles. The beetles are displayed in shadow boxes much like specimen cases used by entomologists for their collections. At a distance they resemble the real thing but up close you notice the craftiness responsible for the deception.

first Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.
first Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.

Elizabeth’s trio of water birds drew a lot of attention during the show’s opening in February at the conservatory in Trumansburg. The 18 inch tall birds, a Flamingo, an African Crowned Crane, and a Red-Crowned Crane, are frozen in a tell-tale pose characteristic of the species, encapsulating their expressive plumage and behavior.

first Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.
 Edward Ormondroyd, of Trumansburg, views the finer details of Carla Elizabeth’s modeling Red-Crowned Crane at the opening at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.

The members of the Finger Lakes Guild offer us a view into their world of illustration which in turn offers visitors a view into our world. Your world is on view at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts till April 19th with a sketch with the artist day on Sunday March 22. 

first Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.
Bettina Podkaminer, left, of Trumansburg and illustrator Frances Fawcett, right, view the work of Carla Elizabeth during the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators member show at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.

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