THANK YOU for stopping into my new blog WONDER WANDER! Here’s to new adventures in reading related to art and life. I hope it finds you inspired and energized.

Wonder Wander Blog April 26, 2025

Despite spending much of time last month preparing my studio and home (separately) to be put on the market, I took a lovely class at the Viles Arboretum from my Naturalist / Writer / Friend Andrea Lani. It was such a delight to get a break from cleaning / sorting my work and home life, and even a welcomed break from slinging hot wax in the studio. Though the focus of the class was on Backyard Bird Observations & Watching & Journaling, I felt like underneath that working title, it was invitation to draw and play, to be still, and look out my window. It even made Stan and my trips to Hatch Hill (the local dump) to cast off wood and medal to recycling from my two houses and regrettably plastic “crap” into the dirty hill a little more of a fun assignment. The eagles surely won my attentions as they staked territory and flew over our heads. Hatch Hill has likely a dozen resident bald eagles, swarms of sea gulls, and scatterings of hawks and ospreys. Despite it being a dump, I find it to be an intriguing place.

One of the questions Andrea asked was for us to reflect upon was memory associations we had with birds. I immediately laughed to myself remembering my early teenage experience of crawling the half mile distance from my best friend’s house to mine after watching Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. But as I made a list, I was surprised that there was a long list. It was clear that birds have fascinated me for a long time. It seems that interests ebb and flow, happy to return to my interests in birds this month.

I’ve long had the philosophy that whatever “things” activities you had as a child (very commonly painting for many) you will carry with you the rest of your life. You just need to dig them out and DO them. Pursue them.

Anyhow, here’s a rough bit of a journal entry from the class, “ It’s exactly one of those mornings when the dog and child sleep an endless sleep. The only sound I hear is a passing car and the rain pattering the bedroom window. These slow, quiet, and peaceful mornings I am so grateful for. Grateful for the moment to listen to the nothing-ness, to only lay here, and to be still. If I was a bird, surely I’d be back by now tucked into my nest. I would have gathered my food early before the rain thickened. “

Lessons learned here. Get off your duff and do things. Even when you feel like you can’t add anything else to your plate. Just do it. Until next month. Thanks for listening. ~ Helene