Familiar Ground: art by Lori Hinrichsen

Welcome to our May-June 2011 exhibiting artist: Lori Hinrichsen. Her show, Familiar Ground: monotypes, intaglios and photography inspired by nature, opened at the Museum  May 1st, with the opening day of our 2011 season.

"Between Earth and Sky", intaglio by Lori Hinrichsen, in postcard announcing show
"Between Earth and Sky", intaglio by Lori Hinrichsen, in postcard announcing show

Lori grew up in Iowa and attended the University of Kansas, graduating with a degree in Theatre, Film and Video. Lori spent several years exploring the US, living and growing her art from California to Vermont. This included being a resident artist in Mendocino, at the Vermont Studio Center, and at the Virginia center for Creative Artists. She first joined the Museum community last fall as a judge for the 2010 Annual Youth Art Contest.

Lori has a studio at Shelburne Pond Studios, where she works with printmaking, painting, fabric, and ink. She writes:

Much of my time is spent exploring and connecting with the land and the sky, from meandering paths along the rugged coastline, to breathing in the intoxicating smells of evergreens and fresh rain, to the star-filled desert skies that touch the earth. I feel a deep reverence for the ordinary, for the sensual ecstasy as each season unfolds. My work is in response to this intimate awareness and observation of nature which reflects the moment, engaging the present.

Come by and view her art and photography any day from now through the end of June. We are open from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  Free with admission to the museum ($6 for adults, discounts for children, seniors, and members).

About the artist: http://lorihinrichsen.com/

Interns and Volunteers Welcome — and needed!

The Birds of Vermont Museum bustles with activity all year long but the pace really picks up during our regular season from May through October. We can always use extra hands around here! We welcome and appreciate your skills, interests, ideas, and elbow grease, and have a number of ways you can help.

Leading Nature Walks
Leading Nature Walks

As an intern you might find yourself helping regularly with general museum operations, such as introducing the Museum to visitors and working in the gift shop. In addition, Museum interns work closely with staff members on filling and maintaining the feeders, documenting or cataloging Museum property, assisting with memberships or publicity, write press releases or blog entries, assist with school groups or childrens’ programs, creating supplemental exhibits, or providing outdoor trail or garden work. Interns also develop and pursue a special project according to their interests, one which will enhance the Museum experience for our visitors. Internships may also earn academic credit, depending on the needs and programs at your school, college, or university.

Maintaining Museum Resources
Maintaining Museum Resources

As a volunteer you might serve as a docent for the Museum’s visitors, including introducing the video and handling admissions and gift shop purchases, help with outdoor trail maintenance and signage or painting chores, research and update species’ information cards, help with mailings, write articles for our Chip Notes newsletter, monitor and post bird population stats, participate in bird and nature events, donate native plants for our interpretive (and growing!) garden spaces, help post publicity flyers for upcoming events, and more!!

Please take a look at our website for more information. Interns are asked to complete an application process. Volunteers can contact us right away to set up a work assignment.

You do not have to be a member to intern or volunteer! You don’t have to know about birds or woodcarving either, but we hope you’ll want to learn a bit about both.

Call (802) 434-2167 or e-mail (interns should review the internship information page on our website first). Thanks!

Through the Window: March birds and others

Birds

We’ve bolded the one we didn’t observe last month.

  • Hairy Woodpecker (male)
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Blue Jay
  • Tufted Titmouse (also singing like crazy 3/27)
  • American Crow (heard 3/1, 2 eating corn 3/24, 1 on 3/27 until it saw me through the window)
  • Common Redpolls (5 on 3/4/11)
  • Mourning Dove
  • Northern Cardinal (male)
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch (3/13/11)
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • White-breasted Nuthatch (3/13/11)
  • Grackle (3/24/11)
  • Red-winged Blackbird (heard 3/15/11, seen 3 on 3/24/11)
  • Evening Grosbeak (male and female pair 3/30/11)
Red-winged Blackbird, Carved by Bob Spear
Red-winged Blackbird, carved by Bob Spear

Mammals

  • Red Squirrel 
  • Gray Squirrels (3 on 3/31/11)
  • Eastern Cottontail (3/8)
  • Eastern Chipmunk (3/15/11)

And if you’re curious, here’s a quick picture and post about what we feed the birds.

White-winged Crossbills

 

The White-winged Crossbills and Common Redpolls were a nice surprise on this snowy April morning.  We also saw Wild turkeys, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, Northern Cardinals, and Blue Jays at our bird feeders.

Hope

Signs of spring around the Museum

  • Daffodils coming up
  • Red-winged Blackbirds
  • Common Grackles
  • The increase of songs from Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, and Brown Creepers
  • The donation of picnic tables to be used to eat lunch outside by the Pre-tech 1 at the Center for Technology Essex (Thank you!)

Signs that spring is still far away

  • The four foot snow bank outside the viewing window

Dick Allen, Contributing Carver

Dick Allen at work
Dick Allen at work on a new carving for the Museum

Dick Allen has always been fascinated by birds and started carving about 25 years ago. He is self-taught through books and carving magazines, with “lots of trial and error”. His carvings have been given to friends and family; some have been donated to charity. Many are on display in his home.

Dick considers himself an advanced amateur, and greatly admires Bob Spears’ work. “Bob is a master carver,” Dick says. About his own carvings, he adds, “I’m still waiting for one I consider ‘really good.’ ”

About Dick

In addition to carving for the Museum’s exhibits, Dick serves on the Board of Trustees, and volunteers for the Museum. His work is much appreciated.

To see more photos of Dick’s work, check out his page on our website: http://birdsofvermont.org/dickallen.php

Recent Carving Work (Bob in Florida)

While in his winter residence, Bob Spear met Steve Deam, a photographer. Steve’s been kind enough to send us a few photos to keep track of Bob’s recent work. Enjoy!

Bob working on his back porch in Cedar Key.  ©2011 Steve Deam, http://www.deamshots.com/. Used by permission.
Bob working on his back porch in Cedar Key.
©2011 Steve Deam, used by permission.
Bob Spear shaping a bird's body. ©2011 Steve Deam, http://www.deamshots.com/. Used by permission.
Bob Spear shaping a bird's body.
©2011 Steve Deam, used by permission.

These two photos were taken in January (I’m a little slow getting them publicized –the webmistress).  There are more recent ones in Steve’s online photo gallery about Bob: http://www.deamshots.com/Nature/Wood-Carver/15679358_PcFJb#1175207671_ZQRPb

Would you like to see more of Steve’s work? Check it out at http://www.deamshots.com/, or browse through his blog at http://www.see-cedarkey.com/. You can even encourage him to add more videos of his work.

Laura Waterhouse: Winter Intern

Laura Waterhouse, winter intern
Laura Waterhouse, winter intern, at the Loon carving

The Museum was most fortunate to be the temporary workplace this winter of Laura Waterhouse, an American citizen born and raised in New Zealand,  as she completed an internship program here during December, January, and February.

While interning at the Museum, Laura was engaged in both daily operations and research projects. From feeding birds and shoveling snow to researching and compiling regional museum data, updating signage for the endangered species exhibit, and developing materials for educational activities offered at the Museum, Laura covered a multitude of topics and tasks. Two very tangible and informative projects Laura completed were adding text and graphics to a comparative activity about birds’ feet and an origami mobile depicting bird migration. Laura met every assignment with clear purpose and focus and demonstrated great creativity and style with her independent projects. Continue reading “Laura Waterhouse: Winter Intern”

Brush-wielders, Picture-unhangers, and more: Thanks!

Painting in the Light
Bill M paints the balcony facing

A great big shout-out thank you to the volunteers and staff that made our March 5th Painting Party busy, cheerful, and incredibly successful.

We had more than the usual number of volunteers (some even came a day or more early to help prep) , and much more was accomplished.  The museum is cleaner and fresher.  We went through three and a half gallons of paint, and wow, can we tell! We’ve also taken the opportunity to refresh both what’s on our walls and where we’ve put it, so be sure to come by and admire the results.

All told, we logged over 50 hours of volunteer time. THANK YOU!

Northeast Delta Dental Sponsors our Newsletter

Many thanks to Northeast Delta Dental for their recent generous donation. Since 2005, they have helped the Birds of Vermont Museum by supporting our thrice-yearly newsletter.

Jeff Landa of Northeast Delta Dental, presents their support
Jeff Landa, of Northeast Delta Dental, presents a check to support our newsletter, Chip Notes.

Jeffrey Landa, a former Board of Trustees member and Board President who also serves on the Museum Advisory Board, dropped by last week to bring us this good news. Shirley Johnson, President of the Board of Trustees, and Erin Talmage, Executive Director, were here to accept it.

We will use these funds to cover printing and mailing costs of Chip Notes. Older editions are made available online as PDF files; if you would like to receive current ones by mail, become a member!