Adventures in Arting Podcast: Peter DelTredici

On today's episode of The Adventures in Arting Podcast, we're talking to Peter DelTredici about landscape design and spontaneous urban vegetation.

Peter Del Tredici is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, where he teaches courses on plants, soils and ecology. He has also worked at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University since 1979, as Plant Propagator, Editor of Arnoldia, Director of Living Collections, and currently as Senior Research Scientist. Peter’s education includes a BA in Zoology from UC, Berkeley in 1968, an MA in Biology from the University of Oregon, and a PhD in Plant Ecology from Boston University in 1991. His most recent book, Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide (2010, Cornell University Press), focuses on urban ecology and the identification of plants that grow spontaneously in cities.

The photo above was sent to me by Peter with the caption "Monet with Weeds."

For reference, here is a quick video from MoMA.org on Monet's painting, Agapanthus.  The video discusses Monet's obsessive gardening:

On this episode of the Adventures in Arting podcast we discuss aesthetics vs. sustainability and design vs. practicality -- all through the lens of landscape design, where choosing aesthetics over practicality is a (plant) life and death issue.

Find Peter online at http://www.peterdeltredici.com/.

AND, I've got a super awesome giveaway for you today!

I'm so pleased to be a part of a *huge* year-long online mixed media workshop called "Life Book." Here's the official description:

Life Book, a celebration and honouring of YOU, is a year-long mixed media art class. Organizer Tamara Laporte is joined by 21 incredible art teachers who are all gearing up to share their mixed media techniques, tips and tricks with YOU! Themed around self-development and healing, you'll be creating a minimum of 2 loose mixed media art journal pages per month (through a minimum of 2 lessons a month) which by the end of the year you will bind into a glorious journal (a Life Book)! You can read more and watch the promo video HERE.

Please Note: Each of the teachers for Life Book is given an affiliate code for registration. If you purchase the class through my page I will get a percentage of the enrollment fee. That's how we each get paid for teaching. :) So, of course, I would appreciate it if you would use this link if you're planning to register for the class.

Today I am giving away one seat in the year-long class!  It actually ties in nicely with today's podcast as the section I'm teaching is on incorporating nature into your artwork.  If you're interested in winning the seat in the class, leave a comment answering the following question:

What portion of today's podcast interested you the most?

ETA: To be 100% clear: You have to actually listen to the podcast (the player at the very top of the page) and report back on the part you found most interesting in order to be entered into the giveaway.  We discuss neither Monet nor Life Book during the podcast, so any comments mentioning those as the most interesting part will not be entered in the giveaway.  If you misunderstood, you are welcome to listen to the podcast and leave a new comment and you will then be entered in the giveaway.  IF YOU'RE ON A MOBILE DEVICE, you may not see the player and will have to click here.

I will post a winner on Monday.  So, you've got the weekend to listen and leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by!

All podcasts are archived here.  Find the show on iTunes here.