Meet in-person at the Gardens for this introduction to the Botanical Arts Certificate Program. Our program offers a broad palette of botanically inspired classes. Enrolled students select courses that suit their interests and work toward a final project. Learn about this program and its classes, and decide if this creative curriculum inspires you. New and current students should enroll in the orientation. The fee is $25 dollars for new enrollees; those previously enrolled do not have to pay a fee, just sign up as a current student.

Monday-Wednesday, May 8-10, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Do you LOVE lush floral design and the dramatic still life paintings of the Dutch masters? Celebrate spring blooms in the Gardens in this three-day workshop. On day one, Mimi and Mum Floral design will present several large, extraordinary arrangements to serve as models for students to paint from, discuss their process, and offer a few tricks to make flowers appear open and showy. Then, we’ll focus our studies on individual flowers so that students can learn to paint these beautiful, complex forms with confidence. Come learn from and be inspired by the 17th-century Dutch flower painting technique, and learn the history behind this historical method. Materials list will be made available upon registration.

Tuesday & Wednesday, May 23 & 24, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Visiting Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens offers sensory stimulation and inspires personal reflection. In this two-day workshop, students will draw on CMBG gems like the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses, the Alfond Children's Garden, and the Vayo Meditation Garden in order to explore the dynamic space of sight/insight. Both days will be devoted to creating new, expressive forms in poetry and book arts. Day one will begin with a paperback accordion book to be used as a journal, then we’ll venture into the Gardens. Students will write about both what’s in front of them and what that experience of seeing brings up in the memory. On day two, we’ll experiment with collage. After lunch, we’ll construct a single-sheet diorama book. As the day closes, students will have the opportunity to appreciate one another's work with a round-table exhibit and reading.

Tuesday-Thursday, June 20-22, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

In a workshop designed for all levels of experience, participants will be inspired by beautiful gardens while learning to create vibrant paintings with the pastel medium. Led by artist Diana Rogers, this three-day course will introduce beginning artists to pastels with pure pigments, the perfect complement to the colorful bounty of nature. For experienced painters, the course offers techniques for loosening up compositions and using bold color and painterly mark-making. Diana will offer demonstrations and plenty of one-on-one attention and encouragement at the easel. Using fun exercises, participants will learn how to use color selection, simplified compositions, and mark-making to create expressive garden paintings. We will paint indoors in the classroom and spend time outdoors observing nature and preparing sketches. Participants will have plenty of time to paint and complete fully developed paintings.

Monday-Friday, August 21-25,10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Explore the fascinating world of insects and the vital role they play in pollination. In this five-day workshop, students will learn the anatomy of insects like beetles, butterflies, and dragonflies by using a small variety of insect models, photos, and online resources. We’ll also focus on creating compositions where the insects interact with plants. Lectures and demonstrations will provide students with an opportunity to draw and paint insects in flight, capture iridescence, and more. Insects are included in the course fee, and students will be able to keep their models.

Tuesday-Thursday, September 5-7, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Experience the wonder of two crafts, block printing and embroidery, in this special three-day workshop. Combine two different approaches to mark-making, carving, and stitching by creating a fiber arts piece of your own design. Day one will concentrate on designing a block print motif, transferring your design to the block, then carving and printing your motif onto paper and fabric. Day two will focus on embroidery, learning and practicing various stitches to incorporate into your block-printed fabric. Continue the process of discovery and medium-integration on day three as you complete your final project.

Monday-Wednesday, September 11-13, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Beautiful things happen when the ancient medium of encaustic meets with mixed media materials. Join us for an intensive three-day workshop and explore encaustic on a basic level and its relationship to textile, photographs, and natural materials. Students will investigate how to transfer images, stencil, collage, and learn techniques for building up surfaces. There is a $60 materials fee per student; materials will be supplied by the instructor, including four- and eight-inch-sized beginner panels.

Monday-Wednesday, October 16-18, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

As the light and weather change, the Gardens provides new and interesting perspectives and invites students to find their own color and texture inspiration. In this three-day workshop, students of all skill levels will learn to paint the colors and textures of the Gardens in the French tradition, “en plein air,” or painting outside. Emphasis will be on working in the field: selecting your composition and working within a limited timeframe.