This is a four-session workshop held on Tuesdays from 6:30-8pm. Session dates are April 1, 8, 15, and 22. Registration includes all four weeks.

Join us for a creative and inspiring workshop that combines birdwatching, writing, and art to deepen your connection to nature. In this four-session workshop, we’ll read and discuss select passages from The Backyard Bird Chronicles and use these as inspiration to create illustrated journals of our own bird observations.

Amy Tan’s delightful book The Backyard Bird Chronicles demonstrates how careful observation and recording of the activities of the feathered visitors to our yards and feeders can turn these mysterious wild creatures into familiar friends, each with its own story to tell.

Through in-class lessons and take-home exercises, participants will:

• Learn the basics of nature drawing and writing.
• Develop skills in observing and recording bird behavior.
• Cultivate a creative practice that fosters a deeper appreciation for the natural world.

Each participant will receive a blank book for their backyard bird journal, and art supplies will be available for use during class. This workshop welcomes participants of all experience levels—no prior writing, art, or birdwatching skills are required.

To fully enjoy the workshop, participants should have access to:

• A place to observe wild birds outside of class.
• A copy of The Backyard Bird Chronicles.
• A field guide to birds.
• Basic art supplies (pencil, pen, and colored pencils) for at-home exercises.

Accessibility Information

We aim to make this class as inclusive as possible. Please reach out if you have accessibility concerns to see how we can accommodate.

• Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms
• Seating and Workspace: Tables and chairs are provided

About the Instructor

​Andrea Lani is the author of Uphill Both Ways: Hiking toward Happiness on the Colorado Trail (Bison Books 2022). Her writing has recently appeared in Still Point Arts Quarterly, Northern Woodlands, and Labor of Love: A Literary Mama Staff Anthology, among other publications, and she's a regular contributor to Green & Healthy Maine Magazine. She's been honored with two Hewnoaks Artist Residencies, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and was a finalist in the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance 2024 CrimeFlash fiction contest. Andrea has degrees in human ecology and creative writing from College of The Atlantic and the Stonecoast MFA Program and was an editor at Literary Mama for nine years. ​As an Author Accelerator certified book coach, Andrea guides emerging writers in developing and revising novels and memoirs, and as a Maine Master Naturalist, she teaches nature writing and nature journaling workshops around the state. She lives in central Maine.​​​

Website: www.andrealani.com

A 4 Class Series Led by Local Artists

• May 15th – Cassie Sano
• May 20th – Nancy Keenan Barron
• June 12th – Ed McCartan
• June 26th – Lauren Kircheis

Vincent van Gogh once wrote, “Many painters are afraid of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the painter who dares and who has broken the spell of 'you can't' once and for all.”

Our Sketching Nature Series invites your to break that spell with guidance from four artists who find inspiration in the natural world. Over the course of four classes (spread across eight week), each artist will share their unique approach to starting a nature sketch, helping you build confidence in observing and capturing the world around you.

Classes may be held indoors and/or outdoors, weather permitting.

Participants must bring their own sketchpad and pencils.

About the Artists

Cassie Sano is a realist painter living in Augusta. She enjoys painting outdoors, when the weather permits, and loves to paint in both oil and watercolor. 

Cassie also writes and illustrates picture story books through Maine Authors Publishing and regularly participates in author events throughout Maine. She is the organizer of the Kennebec Valley Plein Air Painters, a member of the River Arts Gallery, the Maine Art Gallery, Boothbay Regional Art Foundation, and the Red Barn Art Gallery in Port Clyde. Her books may be purchased online and, in several locations, including Viles Arboretum’s gift shop. 

She says, “From the time I first held a crayon, I felt a connection to art that was so powerful it was as if my creative spirit had a life of its own.

Nancy Keenan Barron is a lifelong Maine artist, born and raised in Farmingdale, Maine. As early as she can remember she has been a maker. She didn’t call it art. She called it drawing, painting, playing.  It was her go-to activity.

Nancy considers herself a student of the arts with “classes” starting on the closet walls of her childhood bedroom that became a spaceship with the help of a crayon. A formal education followed with art lessons in Mrs. McGrail’s basement. For two hours on Saturday mornings, she would get lost with pastels, paint and charcoal.  Later, while at the University of Southern Maine Nancy learned that all the fun she had had for years drawing and painting had its own language. 

Words like gesture, mood, line, color, contrast and undulation are some of the ideas she works on developing in her art and tries to convey such ideas in practice.  Nancy currently works her craft, painting, making mixed media works and assemblage sculptures at her home studio in South Gardiner.

Ed McCartan is an accomplished artist whose studio is nestled in the historic Bath Memorial Hospital on Park Street in Bath.

Having retired as a teacher, Ed's passion for art has only intensified. With an MFA from SUNY Albany and graduate degrees in philosophy, theology, and art education, his expertise shines through in every brushstroke.

Ed's artwork graces the permanent collections of multiple museums and adorns corporate and private collections alike. Despite his retirement from formal teaching, he continues to share his knowledge through art history courses at Midcoast Senior College and occasional workshops hosted in his studio.

Lauren Kircheis is the Land Steward at Viles Arboretum and doesn’t really consider herself “an artist.” However, she has drawn pictures for as long as she can remember. A self-taught artist whose skill and understanding stems from her passion for birds and botanicals, Lauren started out pencil sketching and then started incorporating the use of acrylics. During the Covid pandemic, she also started using watercolors. 

Lauren, whose college degree is in Wildlife Conservation, takes a highly observational and scientific approach to her work. Her bird sketches are hyper realistic and based not just on observation but on handling birds. Her close examinations help her understand patterns, color and shapes. Lauren’s work is available on note cards and stickers in the Viles Arboretum gift shop.

FREE for members of Viles Arboretum; $35 suggested donation for non-members - which includes a membership to the Arboretum

This two-day workshop introduces participants to the world of plein air painting, whether you're a complete beginner or have some experience.

Plein air painting—the practice of painting outdoors—allows artists to capture the light, color, and atmosphere of a scene in real time. But where do you start? What gear do you need? How do you choose a subject? Should you sketch first or dive straight into painting?

What to Expect

The focus of this class is to introduce participants to plein air painting, how to prepare to paint outdoors, the equipment needed, how to set up in the field and the advantages and challenges that come along with it.

We'll start in the classroom to cover the basics, then head outdoors where participants can simply observe, or paint along with instructor Cassie Sano.

Cassie will go over the steps she takes to start and complete a painting. While she won't focus on a specific medium, participants are welcome to follow using oil and watercolor - or any medium they feel comfortable with.

Materials are not provided. Students are welcome to bring their own supplies based on their planned level of participation. While materials are optional, if you choose to bring your own, here’s what you’ll need:

• If you plan to observe and take notes, bring a notebook and pen.
• If you'd like to start with sketching, bring a dry media notebook, sketching pencils, erasers, and/or markers.
• If you'd like to jump right in, bring a canvas, paints, and brushes.

In addition, participants should bring a snack and lunch. A refrigerator and microwave will be available for those who need it. 

About the Instructor

Cassie Sano is a realist painter living in Augusta, Maine She enjoys painting outdoors, when the weather permits, and loves to paint in both oil and watercolor. 

Cassie also writes and illustrates picture story books through Maine Authors Publishing and regularly participates in author events throughout Maine. She is the organizer of the Kennebec Valley Plein Air Painters, a member of the River Arts Gallery, the Maine Art Gallery, Boothbay Regional Art Foundation, and the Red Barn Art Gallery in Port Clyde. 

She says, “From the time I first held a crayon, I felt a connection to art that was so powerful it was as if my creative spirit had a life of its own.”