Award-winning botanical artist Katie Lee will return to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens this year to present a comprehensive, five-day course on drawing and painting leaves. Participants will meet in the Bosarge Family Education Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, Monday through Friday, June 3-7. This program is ideal for all levels of expertise: beginners, more experienced artists, and professional wishing to review technique.

She will present techniques for drawing well-observed and accurately rendered leaves. Are they flat, curly, shiny, hairy, textured, pigment patterned? Are they really all the same green? Capturing just the "right" green and surface texture, be it shiny, matte, or velvety, can be intimidating; but through a series of simple exercises, participants will find these mysteries less daunting. Everyone will be encouraged to keep a “leaf journal.”

Lee earned a certificate in botanical art and illustration from the New York Botanical Garden, where she has taught for the past 20 years. She has won awards for both her botanical and wildlife art and has illustrated several books. She has recently transplanted to Maine and resides with her husband in an antique farmhouse in Nobleboro.

Lunch from the Kitchen Garden Café every day of the five-day workshop is included in the tuition fee of $495 for members and $550 for nonmembers. Registration is required; to sign up or learn more, visit www.mainegardens.org, call 207-633-4333, ext. 101, or stop by the Gardens, located off Barters Island Road in Boothbay.