Learn the story behind the wood as we go from log to spoon.  We’ll follow the process covering  tree identification, natural history, ethical harvest and processing from the round into billets. Moving indoors, we’ll learn to read the grain while laying out patterns and carving away all wood that isn’t spoon.  By the end of the day you’ll come away with a nearly finished spoon with a built in story to tell dinner guests while serving food. Bring your own fixed blade knife and come dressed for the weather. Led by NBNC Teacher-Naturalist Ken Benton

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Please join us at North Branch Nature Center for an evening celebrating Susan Bull Riley’s inspirational oil and watercolor paintings. Refreshments and a warm fire will be available outside after touring the gallery and meeting the artist. Masks will be required indoors. This exhibit is a delightful mixture of moments in nature. A stroll through the gallery evokes the feeling of a summer walk through the Vermont countryside, with all that one encounters along the way. You’ll meet pitcher plants, apple trees, waxwings, and owls between sweeping views of the Worcester Range and quiet moments along a shady creek. These paintings reflect my desire to translate the intensity of my feelings for the natural world into images that speak to others.

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This exhibit is a delightful mixture of moments in nature. A stroll through the gallery evokes the feeling of a summer walk through the Vermont countryside, with all that one encounters along the way. You’ll meet pitcher plants, apple trees, waxwings, and owls between sweeping views of the Worcester Range and quiet moments along a shady creek. These paintings reflect my desire to translate the intensity of my feelings for the natural world into images that speak to others.

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Observing nature has inspired many artistic flights of imagination. This course will use nature study through observational drawing to learn about a selection of familiar animals, from birds to beetles. From that foundation, we will follow in the footsteps of scientific illustrators and storytellers to invent our own reconstructions of vanished animals like the dinosaurs or our own versions of folk animals like the jackalope. Along the way we will cover field sketching, adding color to drawings, watercolor gradients, and more. Come learn to fuel your imagination with your love of nature!

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In celebration of National Moth Week (July 18-26), we’re delighted to host this “e-opening” of Moths of Cloud Bridge, a multimedia collage and embroidery exhibit by Maya Akazawa, featuring moths encountered “at the sheet” at the Cloudbridge Nature Reserve in the rainforests of Costa Rica. Part of the NBNC family since she was 6 years…

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