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Classes and Workshops
Spring Hike & Nature Journaling
with Augusta Adult & Community Education
Experience spring through nature journaling!
Using a combination of approaches to reflect what we've seen; we will draw, use prompts to evoke and scavenge for delight! Journal will be provided!
About the Instructor
Collaborative Outdoor Education is led by Kelli M Gilzow Stowell, Outdoor Educator from Augusta Adult & Community Education. Family Literacy is appropriate for all ages, abilities, and can usually be modified for inclusivity!
Journaling Backyard Birds: A Creative Workshop
with Andrea Lani
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
Fiddlehead Basket Making
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
Discover the perfect basket for your outdoor adventures! Whether you’re hiking through the forest or gathering treasures from your garden, this handwoven basket is ideal for fiddleheads, mushrooms, herbs, and other small finds.
With a compact yet functional design, this basket measures approximately 4"W x 8"H x 10"L, making it lightweight and easy to carry. Perfect for nature lovers, gardeners, and anyone who appreciates the art of basket weaving, this is a must-have addition to your collection.
What to Expect in Class
- This is a 5-hour hand-on workshop suitable for beginners and those with weaving experience.
- You'll learn basket weaving techniques and compelte your own foraging basket by the end of the session.
- All materials and tools are provided
Accessibility Information
We aim to make this class as inclusive as possible:
- Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
- Seating and Workspace: Tables and chairs are provided
- Physical Effort: Participants will use their hands for weaving and light assembly. If you have mobility or dextrerity concerns, please reach out to discuss more details.
- Visual Guidance: Intructions will be provided verbally and visually.
About the Instructor
Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry.
The Outdoor Chef: A New Look at Outdoor Cooking and Baking
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
Have you ever wanted to make delicious meals over a fire? This hands-on class is perfect for outdoor enthusiasts and aspiring backcountry chefs! Together, we’ll explore a variety of cooking techniques and recipes that will elevate your outdoor cooking skills.
What You'll Learn
- Cooking with a Dutch oven: hearty meals and baked goods made easy.
- Using pie irons for creative and tasty dishes.
- Grilling over an open fire and cooking with simple wood sticks.
- Mastering camp stove cooking for a variety of meals.
- Baking cookies in a Coleman oven—yes, you can bake outdoors!
This class includes a feast of food, so be sure to bring your appetite! You’ll leave with new skills, favorite recipes, and the confidence to create gourmet meals under the stars.
What to Expect
- A fun, interactive class with plenty of hands-on opportunities.
- All tools, ingredients, and equipment will be provided.
- Recipes and techniques are designed for beginners and seasoned campers alike
Accessibility Information
We aim to make this class enjoyable and welcoming for all:
- Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
- Physical activity: Participants will be standing and moving around, with some lifting and handling of cooking tools. Chairs will be available to all participants. Please reach out to discuss accommodations if needed.
- Dietary considerations: Let us know of any dietary restrictions or allergies, and we’ll do our best to accommodate.
About the Instructor
Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry.
Sketching Nature: An Artist-Led Series
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.
Fairy Basket Workshop
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
Join us for a whimsical and creative basket-weaving experience! In this hands-on class, we’ll craft a small fairy pack basket—the perfect size for a tiny fairy or for adding a bit of charm to your decor. You’ll also learn about the history of pack baskets and the traditional materials that have been used to make them.
What You'll Learn
- The history and evolution of pack baskets.
- How to weave with reed to create a fairy-sized basket, approximately 5” tall.
- Step-by-step instructions on shaping, weaving, and finishing your basket
By the end of the class, you’ll walk away with your own finished fairy basket and the skills to create future baskets on your own.
What to Expect
- A hands-on, step-by-step workshop designed for beginners and experienced weavers.
- All materials and tools will be provided, with guidance to ensure each participant completes their basket.
We aim to make this class as inclusive as possible:
- Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
- Seating and Workspace: Tables and chairs are provided
- Physical Effort: Participants will use their hands for weaving and light assembly. If you have mobility or dextrerity concerns, please reach out to discuss more details.
- Visual Guidance: Intructions will be provided verbally and visually.
About the Instructor
Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry.
Medicinal Plant Walks
with Debra Bluth
Join herbalist, homeopath, and flower essence practitioner Debra Bluth for a guided walk through Viles Arboretum, where you'll meet a variety of medicinal plants and trees along the way. Discover key identifying features, folklore, and traditional uses of these plants from herbal, homeopathic, and flower essence perspectives. Ages 16+
Each walk will feature different plants, so you're welcome to join one or all three for a unique experience every time. Wear sturdy shoes that can handle a bit of dirt!
Potential Plants for Each Walk (subject to change):
Walk #1: Plantain, burdock, dandelion, sumac, yarrow, elder, lungwort, white oak, bloodroot, violet,Solomon seal
Walk #2: Red clover, ginkgo, iris, Japanese knotweed, hawthorn, rose, comfrey, horse chestnut, catalpa,poison ivy, lesser cinquefoil
Walk #3: elecampane, mugwort, lesser periwinkle, goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, boneset, gravel root,jewelweed, blue vervain, white cedar, white pine
Register for all 3 walks and use promo code THREE to save 10%
Harvest Wine, Meads, and Hard Cider Workshop
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
All students must be 21+ ID will be required to attend.
Are you interested in learning how to brew your own mead, wine, or hard cider? This class is the perfect introduction to brewing and fermentation! We will guide you through the entire process, from selecting ingredients to bottling your own one-gallon batch of mead.
What You'll Learn
- The ingredients and equipment used in brewing mead, wine, and hard cider.
- The step-by-step process of making mead, including how to measure sugar levels to determine alcohol content.
- How to properly sterilize and bottle your creations.
- The fermentation process and how it affects the final product.
By the end of the class, you’ll have hands-on experience and your own batch of mead to continue the fermentation process at home.
What to Expect
- A fun and informative class designed for beginners in brewing and fermentation.
- All materials and equipment will be provided.
- Step-by-step guidance from an instructor, ensuring everyone leaves with a completed one-gallon batch of mead.
Accessibility Information
We aim to make this class as inclusive as possible:
- Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
- Seating and Workspace: Tables and chairs are provided
- Physical Effort:Participants will be standing and moving around, with some light lifting and handling of equipment. Please reach out if you have mobility concerns or need accommodations.
- Visual Guidance: Intructions will be provided verbally and visually.
About the Instructor
Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry.