Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda

... here I am at ... art camp!

Two weeks ago, I went off to Eagle Hill Institute for a week-long intensive study of scientific illustration.  What a fun experience! I haven't been in a classroom for a drawing class for a couple of years, so it was really wonderful to have a wise, objective voice of reason in the class who wanted to talk about the pieces we were creating and bounce ideas around with us and give advice.  Awesome!

The first thing we did was go out and collect our specimens that we were going to focus on for the week.  For this, we went out on low tide to this little inlet of ocean.  It was magically misty.

Then we went back to Eagle Hill, set up our still-life set ups or just totally geeked out over one specimen. Below is Zoe, who drew a beautiful crab in pen and ink.

This is my station, where I'd decided to draw a crab claw and a fern.

This is the classroom we were in.

This is the building that the classroom was in. Eagle Hill is nestled into the coastal forest of Downeast Maine. The ground is covered in thick, spongey mosses, and the forest is dense with vegetation. This are is one of the few places I have been where I would not have been surprised at all if a fairy tapped me on the shoulder and blew pixie dust in my face. It's just magical like that.

About mid-week, we went hiking through a bog to find orchids, carnivorous plants, and pitcher plants. Check. Check. And check.

This is a pitcher plant. The long stalk is topped by a strangely structured flower, and then at the bottom are these open pods that look like pitchers. They eat animals and insects!

I did not draw this, but this is one reason that scientific illustration is super helpful and awesome! Way better than photos!

 On the way back from the bog, we stopped off in Acadia National Park and frolicked around the rocks for a bit.  Seriously, this area of the world is so amazing. Out of every crevice that could have a spot of life in it, life is found!  Like this grass:

This is the most barnacles that I have ever seen in one area.  Have you ever seen barnacles open up to eat? Its so gross and awesome!

This is Zoe and I. She is another Beehiver who went to the Institute with me.

One of the craziest things about the week was that Eagle Hill just opened a french restaurant called Christopher's.  Literally the week we were there was their first week open.  And so our meal plan for the week-long seminar included five 4-course dinners at Christophers.  WHAT!!??  It was so amazing. Oh and I designed their logo for them last month. Here is it:

 Yeah, this is what we faced all week. Crazy.  Amazing.  I gained weight.  It was worth it.

And then on our last night there, we hung our pieces on the wall at the restaurant.

 Class pic. Awe.

 Zoe & her pieces.

 Me and my pieces. I'll put up better pictures another time.

After the institute, this crew hung with us in Machias. In fact, we took these 2 guys (Marshall & Lennart) to a contra dance in Eastport and went crashing through the woods to do some night swimming.  Marshall spent last semester in Madagascar as part of his biology schooling and Lennart is on his Phd track for microbiology. He studies plankton.  And draws it very well.

So yeah, I went to art camp, drew pretty things, made friends, and picked up new skills.  So this past week I've been working on a wedding invitation and got to utilize my skills immediately.  Here's the mint I drew for part of the invitation. It's not exactly accurate, so it's not scientific.  But it's good practice and a start.

And then, just to show, this is another part of the wedding invite:

So, that's my little update for now.  Makin art.  Yeah.