Nature   

Learn how to bring nature indoors through the wonder of mixed-media creation and spark a lifelong new hobby! If you are already proficient in acrylic, watercolor, and colored pencil techniques, this course will increase your nature-focused creativity in compositions of two or more techniques, including techniques unique to mixed media. Nature explorations will include mountains, water, forests, birds and other animals, as well as flowers, the night sky, our imaginations, and more. Learning occurs through watch-on-your-own-schedule online videos and text, with questions and discussion via email and optional Zooms. The content of the course is entirely online. Materials are inexpensive, and you can always just listen and learn without practicing. Work will not be critiqued or shared. This is not a skills-building art class, but instead is focused on building nature immersion and interaction through play and creativity. Mixed media takes the nature-enjoyment journey to an entirely new level! NOTE: The companion-class, Exploring Nature with Paint and Colored Pencils, provides instruction in the three media that are prerequisites to completing the projects in this class. Two optional Zooms allow discussion and socializing in a safe, no-recording environment. Zoomers must maintain live video throughout.

Our home, the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion, has been designated an Area of Global Biological Significance. President Clinton’s Proclamation establishing the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument begins with this paragraph: “With towering fir forests, sunlit oak groves, wildflower-strewn meadows, and steep canyons, the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is an ecological wonder, with biological diversity unmatched in the Cascade Range. This rich enclave of natural resources is a biological crossroads—the interface of the Cascade, Klamath, and Siskiyou ecoregions, in an area of unique geology, biology, climate, and topography.” This course will focus on rare endemic wildflower species as the ecological wonders of our bioregion are discussed. The geologic history of our area will be examined, as well as other factors that contribute to the rich biodiversity of the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion. Students will learn about Adopt a Rare Plant, a Southern Oregon community (citizen) science project.

Are you curious about what animals are thinking and feeling and what they know about us, themselves, and the world? Is it possible that they could be spiritual messengers with deep wisdom to share? The animals want to work with human beings to serve the Earth at this most challenging time in our history. They have tremendous gifts to share. Rather than guessing about what your companion animal wants, needs, or knows, you can actually find out for yourself, or you can know how to best assist wild animals in having better lives. In this experiential course, we will commune and communicate with whole species of animals, as well as individuals, both domestic and wild, and have discussions and guided meditations. The goal is to help you develop not only a deeper understanding of animals, but also your own inner nature and that of the planet. This course is for people who have some experience in spiritual pursuits and are open and receptive to new concepts and ideas…and who love animals!