Find your place at Spring Bird
Walnut Dyeing! It’s been a couple years since I boiled walnuts for fun, but the green orbs were calling to me this year. About three weeks ago, I collected 15 lbs of fallen walnuts. This was easy to do because we have plenty of black …
Happy Labor Day! Today, I am grateful to all of the people who grow our food. Farming is intense and laborious work – especially if you are practicing regenerative farming techniques. Farmers farm because of their deep connections to soil, environment, plants, and animals. I’m …
I draw my dog Lucy like Jack draws one of his French girls. She is my muse and my inspiration. I don’t know why, but I find the shapes that she makes with her resting body to be so interesting. Part of me wishes I …
This was a fun process to explore on this beautiful, sunny day. Artist Janelle Rae (former artist in residence at Spring Bird/current creator of the honeysuckle meditation hut featured in the blue bench meadow) recommended making hammer prints with the zinnias that we are growing. …
There are some seasonal changes that are not necessarily connected to our natural worlds. As Summer starts to fade into Fall (don’t worry, there is still plenty of Summer ahead), two seasonal markers of Fall have shown themselves already. One is “Jean Jacket Weather”! I …
This week, I had an excess of nervous energy, and so I channeled it into a tiny weaving. I had forgotten how calming weaving it is. I used to have the best thoughts while working at my big, floor loom. It’s been far too long …
I made this illustration for the postcard for the Summer Issue of Woolgathering, our nature magazine about the seasons and our deep relationship to nature. It’s heavily inspired by quilts (of course). Quilts aren’t always associated with Summer (because of the hot weather), but I …
I’m so pleased to introduce our new installation made by artist Janelle Rae! Janelle, a former Artist in Residence at Spring Bird, wanted to construct a place for meditation using invasive honeysuckle and willow. She was inspired by artist Patrick Dougherty who makes large stick-built …
During May and June, I took time off from regular duties to connect more intently with nature at Spring Bird. It was a dreamtime of greeting each day with a question – what needs to be done on the ground? – Who is calling for …
During these last few months, I have been enjoying making lumpy, heavy and clunky terracotta pots. This process of rolling, stacking, and smoothing coils into a cohesive whole is a creative therapy that is very much welcomed and needed right now. In addition, I love …
A couple weeks ago, I painted over an old painting. It’s been about a million years give or take since I have painted on canvas. I enjoyed reuniting with the process as I painted this stylized tree. It was even more enjoyable to paint en …
I succumbed, once again, to scratch that familiar itch of painting on walls. (Must activate the negative space!) This particular triangle of wall used to display a small cluster of tiny paintings featuring cats. It was a sort of mini-gallery, but it needed a refreshing …