Tropical BotanicArtists News 2014
July 29, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
285 Aragon Avenue
Coral Gables, FL 33134
CoralGablesMuseum.org
Contact: Christine Rupp 305-603-8067 chris@coralgablesmsueum.org
Bizarre Botany blooms at Coral Gables Museum
The Coral Gables Museum will host a book signing and reception for Michael Largo's new book THE BIG, BAD BOOK OF BOTANY: The World’s Most Fascinating Flora on Friday, August 22, 6pm-8pm. On view during the event will be Tropical Botanic Artists: Bizarre Botany, an exhibit of original black and white illustrations by Tropical Botanic Artists featured in the book. Books will be available for sale in the Museum Gift Shop. A cash bar and light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT:
Tropical Botanic Artists: Bizarre Botany
August 20 - August 31, 2014
in the Community Meeting Room at the Coral Gables Museum
An exhibit featuring a selection of original black and white illustrations by the Miami-based group Tropical Botanic Artists, created for Michael Largo's book, The Big Bad Book of Botany: The World’s Most Fascinating Flora.
Miami-based author Michael Largo approached the artists to collaborate in illustrating this compendium of fascinating plants, their many uses and the folklore that surrounds them. Largo’s idea was enthusiastically received, and as the artists selected and researched plants from the author’s list, they were filled with awe at the intriguing and beneficial properties they discovered. The project also challenged the artists to focus on the use of pen-and-ink or graphite, a departure from their customary botanical portraiture in watercolor. For several months they immersed themselves in this inspiring activity, producing well over the 140 illustrations that have now been published in book form.
The book combines the latest in biological data with bizarre facts about the plant kingdom’s most intriguing species. The artists hope that both the book and the exhibition will transform the way readers look at the benefits, history and amazing diversity of plants.
Featured artists include Margie Bauer, Kristi Bettendorf, Beverly Borland, Silvia Bota, Marjorie Brown, Marie Chaney, Susan Cumins, Jeanie Duck, Julio Figueroa, Bobbi Garber, Pauline A Goldsmith, Leo Hernandez, Carol Ann Lane, Elsa Nadal, Carol Onstad, and Donna Torres.
PUBLIC EVENT:
Book Signing and Reception
Friday, August 22, 6pm-8pm
Author Michael Largo presents his new publication THE BIG, BAD BOOK OF BOTANY: The World’s Most Fascinating Flora. Get your autographed copy and enjoy the original artworks on view courtesy of the Tropical Botanic Artists. Books available for sale in the Museum Gift Shop by Books & Books.
Free admission.
ABOUT THE TROPICAL BOTANIC ARTISTS:
This special exhibit of “Bizarre Botany” is brought to you by the Tropical Botanic Artists collective, established in Miami, Florida, in 2006 to highlight the beauty of tropical plants through art. Its members come from all walks of life and each brings a unique viewpoint to his or her work. They share a love of the natural world, and that fascination is reflected in their art. They hope that viewers will take a moment to observe and enjoy the wonders of Nature and bring that enjoyment into everyday life.
More information may be found at www.tropicalbotanicartists.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael Largo is the author of God’s Lunatics, Genius and Heroin, The Portable Obituary, the Bram Stoker Award-winning Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die, and three novels. He is the former editor of New York Poetry and the researcher/archivist for the film company Allied Artists. He and his family live in Miami with their dog, two turtles, a parrot, two canaries, and a tank of fish.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Let us marvel at the plant kingdom’s many wonders! From the author of The Big, Bad Book of Beasts and Final Exits, THE BIG, BAD BOOK OF BOTANY: The World’s Most Fascinating Flora (William Morrow Trade Paperback Original; ISBN: 9780062282750; August 5, 2014; $18.99) is a one-of-a-kind compendium of the most fascinating plants, as well as their curious human history and lore. In a clever tone, author Michael Largo shares intriguing botanical secrets by revealing fact after astonishing fact about their benefits, and history, all while capturing their incredible diversity.
Discover the folklore associated with plants around the globe from those so rare they were once more valuable than gold to those of ancient mythology—supposedly imbued with magical abilities like the power to turn a person to stone. Take a trip through the intriguing past and transformations vegetables and fruits have experienced over years of agricultural development, and learn of the journeys they take from farm to supermarket.
In The Big, Bad Book of Botany, Largo tells of plant recipes used by assassins to kill kings, and of botanical concoctions by sorcerers to revive the dead. He also recounts the amazing properties of certain plants to cure and heal—many of which have long since been forgotten by modern medicine. In a winning A-to-Z format and with over 140 original illustrations, The Big, Bad Book of Botany combines the latest in biological data with bizarre facts about the plant kingdom’s most unusual species, creating an expansive and endlessly captivating book that will forever transform the way readers look at the vast greenness of planet Earth. For both nature and trivia enthusiasts of all ages to enjoy, here is a sampler of interesting facts:
•Although many believe coffee has been used since ancient times, the first documentable evidence that it was prepared as a beverage similar to what we drink today only dates to the fifteenth century. The monks at a Sufi monastery in Yemen instantly praised the first cup of hot coffee as a gift from Allah.
•Survival technique: if you break a leg or a bone in the wilderness, soak some birch bark until moist and you’ll find it makes a fairly sturdy temporary cast.
•The giant bamboo of China, which grows to 60 feet, is actually the tallest grass in the world.
•The familiar name lavender comes from the Old French word lavandre and Latin lavare (to wash), from its use as a soap and additive to baths since early antiquity.
•On October 12, 1492, in the Bahama Islands, the crew of Christopher Columbus’s ship brought reports of natives smoking dried tobacco leaves rolled in other leaves—the original cigar.
•Ancient Egyptians actually worshipped the onion, believing that its spherical shape symbolized eternal life!
IMAGE CAPTIONS:
Pleopeltis sp.: Ferns – From the Beginning of Time, from a Watercolor Illustration by Marjorie Brown
Cocos nucifera: Coconut – A Heavenly Archetype, Pen & Ink by Julio Figueroa
Wasabia japonica: Wasabi – Wild Ginger, Pen & Ink by Susan Cumins
Psilocybe cubensis: Magical Mushrooms, from a Watercolor Illustration by Donna Torres
Michael Largo, author of The Big Bad Book of Botany: The World’s Most Fascinating Flora
THE BIG, BAD BOOK OF BOTANY: The World’s Most Fascinating Flora (William Morrow Trade Paperback Original; ISBN: 9780062282750; August 5, 2014; $18.99)
ABOUT THE MUSEUM:
The Museum’s mission is to celebrate, investigate and explore the civic arts of architecture and urban and environmental design, including fostering an appreciation for the history, vision, and cultural landscape of Coral Gables; promoting beauty and planning as well as historic and environmental preservation for a broad audience, including children, families, and community members, as well as local, regional, national and international visitors. The museum optimizes its mission by cultivating effective partnerships, and providing programming that includes exhibitions, collections, educational offerings, lectures, tours, publications and special events.
The Museum is a true public/private partnership between the City of Coral Gables and the Coral Gables Museum Corp., a private, not for profit 501.c.3 corporation operating an educational cultural institution within a City owned facility. The Museum raises its own operating budget to fund the exhibitions and educational programs it provides, through memberships, private and government grants, admissions, earned income and, most importantly, with contributions from community members who believe in our mission.
