Education
Virginia Tech. Master’s Degree of Plant Ecology. Blacksburg, Virginia, 2000-2002.
University of Virginia. Bachelor of Arts in Biology, Architecture minor. Charlottesville, Virginia, 1994-1998.
Rhode Island School of Design, Field Ecology and Drawing Program. Rhode Island, Summer 1997.
Cornell/UNH Shoal’s Marine Program/Biological Illustration. New Hampshire. Summer 1996.
Career
University of Virginia Landscape Architecture, Spring Lecturer (2022 - current). Seeing Plants: Observation and Documentation Seminar.
Visiting botanical art instructor/presenter at: Oak Spring Garden Foundation (2022), Clos Mirabel - Juracon, France (2022), Penland School of Crafts (2021, 2019), New York Botanical Gardens (2020, 2021) (online), Smithsonian Earth Optimism Symposium (2021 (online), Morton Arboretum (online), Singapore Botanical Art Society (online), Transylvania School of Botanical Illustration (Copsa Mare, Transylvania, 2018) Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens (2016-2019)
Chief Illustrator for the Flora of Virginia Project, Charlottesville, Virginia. 2002-2012.
GIS programmer, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. Summer 1999.
Graphic artist, Susan Nelson Warren Byrd Landscape Architects, Charlottesville, Virginia. 1998-2000.
Professional memberships
American Society of Botanical Artists, 2004- current. ASBA board member 2022.
McGuffey Art Center Associate Member, 2004- current.
Rivanna Master Naturalists 2013 – current.
Virginia Native Plant Society, Jefferson Chapter, 2003-current.
Botanical Artists of the North Capitol Region – 2014-current.
One-Person Exhibitions
Seeing Plants: A Year in Virginia, Royal Horticultural Society Garden Show, Westminster, UK, July. 2018.
Darden Business school, Charlottesville, Virginia, September 2014-May 2015.
Blenheim Vineyards, Charlottesville, Virginia, February-March 2014.
Local Restaurant, Charlottesville, Virginia, May 2013.
Ten Walks in Virginia, Royal Horticultural Society Garden Show, Westminster, United Kingdom, Feb. 2007.
Petal and Pod, Angelo Jewelry, Charlottesville, Virginia, November – December 2007.
Flora of Virginia Illustrations, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, Virginia, October 2007.
Norfolk Botanic Garden, Norfolk, Virginia, February 2006.
Order and Character, McGuffey Art Center, Charlottesville, Virginia, March 2005.
New Dominion Bookshop, Charlottesville, Virginia, Fall 1999.
Group Exhibitions
Curious Allies, 5th NYBG Triennial with ASBA, New York Botanical Gardens, May 17, 2024 -
UNDERFOOT, Cody Gallery at Marymount University with artists Carol Woodin and Margaret Saylor, January 18-February 23rd, 2024.
Mirabilis naturae: Wonders of Nature, Second Street Gallery, April 7 - May 19, 2023.
25th Annual International Exhibit, ASBA, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, November 19 – December 30, 2022.
Shadow and Light: Seeing Nature, Staunton Augusta Art Center, Staunton, VA April-May 2022.
Pandemonium! Postcards from the Edge, Chroma Gallery, Charlottesville, VA October 2021.
Teeny Tiny Trifecta, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA, September 2019/2021/2022.
Flora Nova: Painting Nature Now, Sugarlift Gallery, NYC, July 1-31, 2021.
Abundant Future: Cultivating Diversity in Garden, Farm and Field, 4th NYBG Triennial, Nov 21- current.
Florilegium, Eleventh Street Gallery, Long Island City, March 2019.
Chroma Gallery, Charlottesville, VA, November 2018.
Confluence small works exhibit, ASBA St. Louis conference, October 11-15, 2018.
21st Annual International Exhibit, ASBA, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, September 8-December 8th, 2018.
19th Annual International Exhibit, ASBA/NY Horticultural Society, NY Design Center, Nov 3 - Dec 23, 2016.
18th Annual International Exhibit, ASBA and NY Horticultural Society, NY Design Center, Nov 4-Dec 30, 2015.
Beauty in Botany, Winchester, VA, Glen Burnie house, Fall 2015.
MADE Architectural Digest Show, NYC. March 19-22, 2015.
Weird Wild and Wonderful, American Society of Botanical Artists, New York Botanical Gardens, April 2014.
The Magnified Eye II, Diane Birdsall Gallery, Old Lyme, CT, May – July 2014.
American Botanicals: Mid-Atlantic Native Plants, US Botanic Gardens, February 15-June 2014.
Flora of Virginia at the Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA, March 14- September 2014.
Following in Bartram’s Footsteps, American Society of Botanical Artists, traveling exhibit, Apr–Sep 2014.
14th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration, Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, September 27- December 2013.
The Magnified Eye: Contemporary Botanical Portraiture, Reeves-Reed Arboretum, NJ, April – Aug 2012.
Small Works 2011, American Society for Botanical Artists, Boston, Massachusetts, October 2011.
Garden to Field International Exhibition of Contemporary Botanical Art, Ursus Books and Prints, Long Island, NY Aug 3-30, 2011.
Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and Around the World, American Society of Botanical Artists, St. Louis, Chicago, Washington DC, New York City, Kew England, 2009. A catalog was published.
Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks Botanical Art Exhibit, Monticello’s Jefferson Library, VA, May-Nov 2009.
Furbish Home, Susan Frei Nathan Fine Works on Paper, Millburn, New Jersey, April 2009.
Native Virginia Plants, The Studio at Firnew Farms, Hood, Virginia, April 2009.
Today’s Botanical Artists, Ursus Books and Prints, New York City, New York, June – August 2008.
McGuffey Holiday Show(s) and Summer Group Show, Charlottesville Virginia, December 2006- current.
Horticultural Society of New York 9th Annual Botanical Art Show, American Society of Botanical Artists,
New York City, New York, September – November 2006. A catalog was published for this exhibit.
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators 2004 Annual Exhibit, Williamsburg, Virginia, July 2004.
Published works
(includes my illustrations and paintings)
Pearlstine, Elise. “Scent, A Natural History of Fragrance. Yale University Press, 2022.
Maier, Kat. “Energetic Herbalism: A Guide to Sacred Plant Traditions Integrating Elements of Vitalism, Ayurveda, and Chinese Medicine.” Chelsea Green Publishing, 2021.
McKnight, K.B, Rohrer, J.R., Ward, K. Mc., and McKnight K.H. “Peterson Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America.” Pages 22, 137, 167, 287, 305, 309, 311. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021.
Woodin C. and Jess, R. “A Comprehensive Guide, Botanical Art Techniques.” Pages 228-229, 320-323. Timber Press, 2020.
Driggers, B.S. “Native Plants of the Mid-Atlantic, a book for artists and gardeners.” Pages 30-31, 118-119. Lydia Inglett Ltd. Publishing, 2014.
Weakley, A.S, Ludwig, J.C., and Townsend J.F, “Flora of Virginia.” Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 2013.
Hatch, P. “A Rich Spot of Earth, Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello.” Page 115.Yale University Press, 2012.
Marcus, C. and Kyer, L. “Today’s Botanical Artists.” Pages 18-19. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2008.
Awards
ASBA Fifth NYBG Triennial, Honorable Mention, NYBG, May 17, 2024.
ASBA 25th Annual International exhibit, Honorable Mention, Wave Hill, November 2022.
ASBA Botanical Illustrator Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Art, October 2018.
Royal Horticultural Society Botanical Art Show, Gold medal, July 2018, Seeing Plants: A Year in Virginia.
Royal Horticultural Society Botanical Art Show, Gold medal, Feb 2007, Ten Walks in Virginia.
About
Lara Call Gastinger is a botanical artist and illustrator in Central Virginia. She was the chief illustrator for the Flora of Virginia Project and a two-time gold medalist at the Royal Horticultural Society Botanical Art Shows in London (2007, 2018). She is renowned for teaching how to create and maintain a perpetual journal.
The subjects of her art come from the natural world and her art reveals detailed evidence of change, decay, and processes that occur in nature. She finds great inspiration in a carrot that has gone to flower, a broken seed pod, twisted roots or insect damage to a leaf. She strives to make a plant portrait in such a way that it reveals its character and uniqueness. Her focus is on the small details in nature, down to the small venations in leaves which hopefully inspires others to look a bit deeper and pause a bit longer.
I gratefully accept commissions for paintings, journal entries and other botanical design projects that focus on plants that are meaningful to you.
Join my Patreon to experience videos of my art (watercolor and perpetual journal), botanical information, and inspiration with my art.
Newsletter
Be the first to know about our new collection
launches, special offers & other updates.