by Libby Kyer

If you saw the March issue of the GNSI Newsletter I don’t need to say a single other thing. You already know what an amazing conference is scheduled in Denver this summer and are ready to go to Denver. You already know that the keynote speakers are giants in their fields, in addition to being creative and enjoyable speakers. John Gurche, artist and paleontologist, Kirk Johnson, paleobotanist, and Gary Staab, sculptor and re-animator of lost life forms anchor the packed schedule.

And if you read the March GNSI Newsletter, you already know that the scope of the conference is enormous. The heart and soul of nature, science and art is thoughtfully addressed with presentations by John Cody (Emily Dickinson’s Views on Art), Bente Starke King (How Do We See? One Artist’s View), Gretchen Halpert (The Soul of Sketchbooks) and Marjorie Leggitt (The Zen of Field Sketching in the Colorado Montane).

And of course, you know that all aspects of creating art are addressed both in lecture or workshops. For example, you know that legal issues for artists will discussed in an interactive workshop with Scott Havlick; and that Alan Male and Britt Griswold will address promotion for the natural science illustrator. You won’t forget that there are lectures and workshops on computers and art, education and art, photography and digital cameras and art, and children’s books and art, all presented by artists of great talent. Did you catch the information about the archival framing demonstration? Or the demystification of prepress issues? The range of topics is truly amazing.

You couldn’t forget that there are workshops on botanical illustration, bird illustration, colored pencil illustration, color mixing, watercolor methods and scratchboard. There are workshops on developing school curricula for art and science as well as a large range of workshops about using computers in your art, from web design to 3-D applications to paint programs to presentation programs. And, there’s a workshop on painting murals, with hands-on experience on really large canvases!

Field trips abound…but you knew that if you read your March GNSI Newsletter. Although the Coors Brewery tour may be the most refreshing, other field trips will elevate you (to about 12,000 feet altitude with Kathy Imel on the Mount Goliath High Mountain Ecosystem trip), inspire you (Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge), and educate you (Colorado History Museum).

Perhaps best of all, you’ll have many opportunities to talk to your peers, discuss you trials and triumphs in conversation, meet new colleagues and share the common experience we all have in the creation and promotion of natural science art. You’ll feel your own support system grow through the process, and reach out to others who could use a pat on the back.

Now, could you have any doubts that it is time to go – get your pen. Go – complete your registration form. Go – mail the darn thing now! And then sit back and relax until it’s time to go for you to go - experience your very own Rocky Mountain high at the 2003 GNSI conference in Denver, Colorado. See you there!