Second Saturdays Art Opening @ Art on the Trax with Betty Gatewood

Art on the Trax will present “Up Close and Far Away” by Betty Gatewood during the month of February, with a Second Saturday Artist Reception on Saturday, February 11th.

Midway through her college career, Betty Gatewood changed her interest from laboratory science to the “outdoor” sciences of ecology and natural history; she’s been outdoors ever since ~ observing, hiking, skiing, teaching, learning, sharing, journaling, and painting. As a keen observer of nature’s details and an inspired observer of the “big picture”, Betty documents the beauty and intricacies of nature in her watercolors ~ botanicals, feathers, and landscapes. Observing “up close” as well “far away” continues to motivate her as she strives to document the natural world.

Betty provided the cover art for Virginia’s Mountain Treasures, published by The Wilderness Society, and for the Virginia Native Plant Society’s Wildflower of the Year brochures for 2009 and 2013. She has contributed illustrations for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Appalachian Trail Adventure Book and Virginia Department of Forestry’s book, Common Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of Virginia. She has co-conducted local art and journaling workshops for teachers, as well as Shenandoah National Park visitors. She has exhibited her art and journals at several libraries in Augusta County and at Lewis Ginter Gardens in Richmond. Recently, her witchhazel illustration was included in the Flora of the National Parks exhibit at the US Botanic Garden in Washington, DC during the National Park Service’s Centennial year celebration. She illustrated a new children’s book, Milkweed Matters: A Close Look at the Life Cycles within a Food Chain, which highlights the complex food chain of milkweed, monarch butterflies, mice and owls, and includes life cycles of those animals within that incredible food chain.

Please join us for our Second Saturday Opening Reception on February 11th. This reception is part of Crozet’s Second Saturday events and runs from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. We’ll be serving up The Art Box’s famous ice cream sundaes topped with fruit from local orchards.

All events are free and open to the public. Art on the Trax is located at Creative Framing and The Art Box, across from the Olde Crozet Train Station, 5784 Three Notch’d Road in Crozet, Virginia.