Find your place at Spring Bird
During these last weeks, life has manifested many, many bowls of cherries! Most days, you can find Pat and I harvesting from three cornelian cherry trees that seem to have exploded this year with their sweet-sour fruit. Cornelian cherries are popular in Turkey, Iran, Eastern …
Oftentimes, the deer like to play with the rope of our tree swing. They nudge it with their noses. It’s real, prime time exciting stuff! The other day, one of them climbed through the loop and got momentarily stuck. For a split second I imagined …
This afternoon, I had the pleasure of weeding and harvesting the neglected, upper meadow asparagus patch. For those of you who have never toed around in an asparagus patch, let me paint you a word picture before you look below for a more visceral vision. …
This land that we call Spring Bird has also been called Siloam, Torkel Korling’s Arboretum, a dairy farm, and has been/is occupied Potawatomi, Peoria, Sioux, Ho-Chunk, Miami & Kickapoo Land. While this land that we call Spring Bird has had many identities, it has always …
I live in the woods and am surrounded by the most glorious old oak trees.They offer so much to the natural world, but they also nurture my spirit, giving me inspiration and protection. I painted this neon tree painting on my patio, during a course …
When the mushroom spawn arrived, our patio became an inoculation station. Fortunately, sunshine also made its glorious appearance – lighting and warming our tasks. We were working with shiitake spawn from various strains and logs from red oak, white oak, and sugar maple, which Pat …
This month, Patrick has been harvesting oak and maple logs for shiitake mushroom inoculation! For now, he is stacking them (about 100 logs) in the shade of these yew trees. At the end of the month, we will be drilling holes in them, stuffing the …
A few weeks ago, on our way to Milwaukee, I noticed maples being tapped in someone’s backyard. I smiled. Temperatures in Northern Illinois must have reached above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. This sap seeking process is a seasonal ritual that …
The sun will come tomorrow – or if not tomorrow – very soon! When the sun does show itself again, Keep its beautiful rays off of your face while supporting your favorite team – be it team berry, mushroom, snail, or leaf! Which is your …
Calling All Artists! Writers! and Makers!!!!! It’s time to apply to the 2023 Spring Bird’s Artist Residency Program!!! This Residency is for anyone wanting to finish that project they’ve been meaning to complete, OR for those dreaming of something new that they’d like to develop …
It’s fun to creatively engage with Fall leaves! Beyond marveling at their beauty or collecting them for inside adornment, there are more simple ways that leaves can inspire beautiful creations. For instance, you can trace a leaf onto paper and cut them out. I used …
It’s fun to creatively engage with Fall leaves! Beyond marveling at their beauty or collecting them for inside adornment, there are more simple ways that leaves can inspire beautiful creations. For instance, you can paint directly onto leaves! What to paint? Try patterns like dots …
It’s fun to creatively engage with Fall leaves! Beyond marveling at their beauty or collecting them for inside adornment, there are more simple ways leaves can inspire beautiful creations. For instance, you can make art from the “ghost” images left behind on scratch paper that …
It’s fun to creatively engage with Fall leaves! Beyond marveling at their beauty or collecting them for inside adornment, there are more simple ways leaves can inspire beautiful creations. For instance, you can actually print with your leaf. In this case, I painted the leaves …
It’s fun to creatively engage with Fall leaves! Beyond marveling at their beauty or collecting them for inside adornment, there are more simple ways leaves can inspire beautiful creations. For instance, you can make subtle leaf rubbings that reveal their delicate veins. That’s what I …