"Meet the Artists," hosted by Mobile Arts Council, 318 Dauphin Street, is Friday, December 14, 6-9 p.m.

Works (left to right) by Herb Wiley, the Coastal Alabama Artists Circle, and Benjamin Shamback

"Meet the Artists," hosted by Mobile Arts Council, 318 Dauphin Street, is Friday, December 14, 6-9 p.m.

What to expect:

This December at MAC, see an assortment of flora recreated by Mobile's botanical artists; take a trip down the Gulf Coast with watercolorist Herb Willey; and enjoy a collection of landscapes in oils by Ben Shamback

The Mobile Botanical Gardens is a unique treasure, home to one of the last remaining stands of longleaf pines in Mobile as well as hundreds of plants native to coastal Alabama. As such, it serves as prime inspiration for local artists and botanists alike. The Coastal Alabama Botanical Artists' Circle and the MBG Botanical Sketch Club have combined efforts to create a florilegium of the Garden's plant collection, which will be on display in the Danielle Juzan Gallery this month.

For decades, artist Herb Willey has found his inspiration along the Gulf of Mexico. A native of Florida, his work in recent years has taken him along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as well. Willey paints everyday scenes and common people - fishermen, beachcombers, birdwatchers - and creates a narrative with his paintings. He seeks to invoke in the viewer the emotions that he felt while observing the scene himself, inspiring you to give each of his paintings a close look.

With his masterful use of oils, local artist Ben Shamback intends to tell a visual story about "the pictorial spaces, places, and ideas for which there are no words." In his exhibit this month in MAC's Small Room, Shamback has broadened his subject matter from still life to include landscapes, inspired by his enjoyment of painting plein air.

The exhibitions will hang December 3rd - 21st. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. on weekdays, with a reception on ArtWalk night, Friday, December 14th, 6 - 9 p.m. The gallery will be closed for the Holidays December 24th - January 1st.