Botanical Watercolor Workshops At Bellamy-Ferriday

House & Garden To Coincide With Seasonal Blooming Of Historic Garden

BETHLEHEM — The Antiquarian & Landmarks Society’s Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden will offer Plant of the Month Watercolor Workshops beginning Thursday, April 24.

Betsy Rogers-Knox, a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, will lead the workshops. Each month, from April through September, the workshops will focus on a different plant or botanical theme. Ms Knox will guide students through simple techniques that include composition, color accuracy, and the use of watercolor.

Workshops will run from 10 am to 3 pm each month. All skill levels are welcome.

The workshop fee is $50 per session, with the exception of the June Roses workshop which will take place over two days and is $90. Participants may sign up for the entire series for $250. Registration is required. All skill levels are welcome.

Call 203-266-7596 to reserve a space.

Botanical art bridges the gap between fine art and technical drawing, producing accurate work which is not only beautiful in its own right but also aids the botanist in the identification of plants. The monthly workshops will run from 10 am to 3 pm and will focus on the following themes: Thursday, April 24, Magnolias; Sunday, May 20, Flowering Trees & Shrubs; Thursday and Friday, June 14 and 15, Roses; Tuesday, July 10, Perennials in Bloom; Thursday, August 7, Annuals in Bloom.

Betsy Rogers-Knox studied at the New York School of Visual Arts, the University of Colorado, and New York Botanical Garden. Her work has been exhibited locally as well as in an internationally juried show at the New York Horticultural Society. Her published art includes designs for Renaissance and Sunrise Greeting Card Companies, cover designs for Herb Quarterly Magazine, and illustration work for Edible Nutmeg magazine taken from her series of renderings of heritage fruits and roses at the Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden. She also exhibited at the 9th Annual Horticultural Society of New York Show.

Ms Rogers-Knox currently teaches from her studio and other local venues in the Litchfield Hills.

The Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, located at 9 North Main Street in Bethlehem, embodies the dramatically different passions of two extraordinary individuals. Bethlehem pastor the Rev Joseph Bellamy, a renowned leader of the Great Awakening, the emotional religious revival of the 1740s, built the house around 1754.  In 1912, New Yorkers Henry and Eliza Ferriday acquired it as a summer residence. Around 1915, Mrs. Ferriday designed a formal garden with historic roses, peonies, lilacs, and other flowers.

The Ferridays’ daughter Caroline, an ardent philanthropist, cherished the home, recalling that, “In the midst of the delights of Paris, I would stop to wonder how the new regale lilies were doing.” She restored the house, furnished it with Litchfield Country antiques, and maintained the magnificent garden, refining the property as a breathtaking combination of natural and manmade beauty.

The museum will open for regular tours on May 2, with operating hours of Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11 am to 4 pm. Admission is $7 for adults; $6 for students, teachers and seniors 6; $4 for ages 6-184; and free for ages 5 and under and 6 and members are free. To reserve tours for groups of ten or more, call the Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden at 203-266-7596.

The Antiquarian & Landmarks Society is the largest state-wide heritage museum organization in Connecticut. Founded in 1936, A&L’s mission is to inspire appreciation for the Connecticut experience by preserving, presenting and promoting outstanding historic properties. A&L owns a network of twelve significant historic properties in the state, nine of which are open to the public as heritage house museums.

For more information, contact the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society main office at 860-247-8996 or visit A&L’s new website, CTLandmarks.org.