STITCHING FOR BEAVERS

heidi08 Beaver Art April 1, 2018

Favorite late-breaking beaver April Fool’s article from England just full of treasures like this:

Beavers could come to Watford in green scheme

The little beaver dam in Martinez has survived the rains nicely. We were amused yesterday to see that a pilates ball had flowed down stream from someone’s back yard and stopped against the dam, joining up with the soccer ball and kickball it already had. I guess the beavers are getting their workout, although I was curious if the beavers ever move the ball with their noses to be able to work on the dam.

New circus act?

Karen Groethe is a seamstress creative force behind a shop called Stitch me up in Portland Oregon. She is talented enough to sew or knit anything you might like, but instead of working for the big bucks she has decided to teach her grandchildren some of what she knows. She opened her Etsy shop a few years ago and offers hand made pillow cases in delightful fabric that her grandchildren sew with supervision. Having taught the children this first valuable lesson, Karen then instructs them in another one: Together they donate the proceeds to children’s charities in other countries or to specific children they sponsor around the world!

Of course I didn’t know all this when I saw the above adorable camping pillowcase and asked her if she might donate. But Karen loved our story and boldly took it upon herself to hunt down more beaver fabric specifically for us! She donated three lovely hand stitched standard pillow cases with contrasting trim that any child would be thrilled to show off.

Karen is a generous, cheerful woman with a good sense of humor. When I thanked her for the pillow cases she wrote back that they all made her smile, which was useful because she just came back from a trip to Arizona where she was stung by a bark scorpion!!! She is thankful that her fingers are not numb and she appears to be healing nicely.

Okay now I’m grateful for three things. That I don’t live where there are bark scorpions. That Karen donated to our silent auction. And that she let us all see a beautiful way to give back that teaches others to keep on giving. Karen writes on her shop wall

Life is about spreading love, giving of yourself, of your resources, helping when and where you can and sharing those principles.

Thanks so much Karen.

A SIGN FOR OUR TIMES

heidi08 Beaver Art March 16, 2018

Yesterday we were very excited when these came back from the sign maker GLT signs in Martinez. They were made specifically to fit the 7 lamp posts in Susana park where the event will be held. James the owner was so nice he even made us an extra one for free, and three blank banners which children will decorate at Earth Day.

The street lamps where they’ll be hung look like this. You would think a city would have street lamps that are all the same so that banners could be hung in any venue. Of course you’d think that the banners on main street and the banners on Pacheco street would be the same.

You’d be wrong.

These lamp posts match no others in the city. Because. Martinez. Still they’re going to look awesome!

Amelia Hunter did the designs again, before hopping onto a plane to Mexico for her winter vacation. We are so grateful! Have a margarita on us, Amelia, and thanks for your wonderful work!

BEAVER IMAGES

heidi08 Beaver Art March 8, 2018

I know every single person reading this blog has done a Google search, but have you ever done a google Image search? You go look up the thing you’re curious about but instead of looking at the pages that come up you click on the tab that says “images” about three choices over.

It’s actually a nice way to look for exactly what you want and not be bothered by all those WORDS folk like me clutter the internet with. It’s how I’ve found some really great beaver images over the years, and even how I find artists to approach for a donation to the silent auction.

Obviously there aren’t as many classified images as there are words on the internet. So it’s faster. (Especially if you are specific with your search terms.) It was about 2009 when I started to notice that our photos were showing up in every google image search for beavers. And now I see the photos of our friends (Hi Rusty!) or particular artists we featured over the years. I was approached last week by a Pennsylvania text book company asking about the beaver pond Amy Hall designed for the street art project at the festival and wondering whether it could be included in their secondary school printed materials.

It’s always a little terrifying to find an image I made on image search. But terrifying in a good way most of the time, I guess. Sometimes I will make a graphic just to be sarcastic and there it remains, hallowed in the halls of Google images until someone boots it out. Accuracy is not required. I can’t tell you how many capybara or nutria images are missclassified as beaver. I don’t even try to count any more.

Lately I’ve been looking especially for images that show an “over/under” look at a beaver pond, to help our artists get ideas and to work on the kids activity for our festival. Nothing is really perfectly beaver-centric of course, which I guess is why the publisher contacted me about Amy’s image. But this is very nice.

Maybe you have a favorite?

LOCAL BEAVERS MAKE GOOD!

heidi08 Beaver Art March 4, 2018

March has brought us the strangest liony-lamby weather, boldly defying either label. It is brilliant sunshine one moment that makes you squint in every direction and then dark blasting rain the next that sounds so heavy we keep looking for the hail and see only fat pounding drops on the pavement.

Since its beginning defied all description I’m sure it’s end will be equally bizarre. But yesterday there were enough sunny moments to visit the little beaver dam near our house and snap this,

Apparently this little dam is built to last. Being after a river curve it gets less direct water force directed at it. And since it cleverly incorporates that long fallen tree, it has a base to rely on. The interesting part is that it was about originally 5 feet downstream and someone cut that tree (not a beaver) and tossed it into the creek. After their dam was destroyed in the fall they thought, hey! Let’s just move up 5 feet and use that windfall!

Lemonade out of lemons.

This is why beavers are going to outlive us all. A-D-A-P-T is their middle name!

We met a woman on the bridge who said she had actually SEEN a beaver there three mornings ago, before dawn. This is the first sighting I’ve heard about and am very happy to know. That little dam will need lots of new mud soon, maybe we’ll have to pay them a visit to watch the repairs,

Megan Murrell is a talented artist in Minneapolis Minnesota who creates beautiful water color images from her observations of nature. She was happy to donate this little beaver to our auction, and said he was one of her favorites. Megan uses watercolors and gouache paints to get this unique work. When you see this in person you will understand why.

Megan was one of the gracious donors who actually thanked ME for asking her to contribute! Honestly I wish she lived closer, because I know she’d make lots of friends at the festival.

Hello Heidi!

Reading your story is bringing me so much joy. This is honestly the driving force behind my work so I am SO pleased that you reached out to me. Creating artwork is such a joy, but it is even greater when my artwork makes a difference in terms of conservation.

I would LOVE to donate a framed and matted beaver print. I have one ready to go as I type this out. Would you be interested in a few more smaller wildlife pieces? Look over my listings and let you know. If I sent any other wildlife pieces I would send them to you matted and packaged in cellophane.

Honestly, you never know what the response will be when you ask for a donation. But I never even dreamed of this one. I can’t imagine what it’s like to see the world through a lens of so much talent and kindness.

The next time you are looking for an exceptional gift for that nature-loving friend, you must visit her shop and thank her. Go browse her shop and see what a treat her talent is to behold.

BEAVER PONDS: BOTH SIDES NOW

heidi08 Beaver Art February 27, 2018

Yesterday was grant writing number 2 day, where I asked the Martinez Community foundation for funds for an art project at the festival. Artist FROgard Butler plans to return to us and has fellow artists from her gallery lined up to help out. The idea is that we are going to let the children paint the ‘over under’ beaver pond image on cotton curtains which we can use later as a stage backdrop.

Beaver Ponds: Both Sides Now

These funds will purchase supplies for an educational art project held at the 11th annual beaver festival on June 30. Typically 100+ children participate. The theme of the festival is ‘Over/Under’ and will show the impact beaver dams have on the ecosystem – both below the water and above it, – teaching how they improve conditions for invertebrates, fish, amphibians, birds and wildlife. This project will allow children to paint the wildlife at a beaver pond using acrylic paint on large cotton curtains. The decorated curtains later will be used in educational beaver displays to help show what was learned. The pond landscape will be painted ahead of time by supervising artist Frogard Butler. On the day of the festival it will be up to the children “fill in” the wild inhabitants

I’m just happy FRO is back and eager to begin painting with kids again. We missed her so much last year. Besides the activity, the fun part is that we can later use those curtains for a stage backdrop or in our display. And just like the banners kids can recognize their work. I also did my best to plug the festival and say why it matters.

A surprising number of children and their families in Martinez have grown up with the beaver festival and look forward to it every year. Many of our teen volunteers first attended as children and are eager to share their enthusiasm and knowledge about the beavers with newcomers. Martinez gains local, regional and national visibility from the festival, which this year will be featured in the national magazine Ranger Rick and an upcoming book by Chelsea Green Publishing.

Here’s hoping it inspires MCF to direct funds are way! Imagine this with colorful children’s paintings which will be even better!