"As autumn leaves turn to red and gold, we’ll walk slowly through oak and riparian woodlands wandering, watching, and wondering. Monarch butterflies, sphinx moths, and native bees will be flitting, hovering, and nectaring. Trees and shrubs will be adorned with fruits, nuts, seeds, and exotic galls. Squirrels will be flying through the air or dashing into burrows, and woodrats will be resting quietly in their mansions until dark. 

We’ll see dragonflies and damselflies actively patrolling the river for insects and mates, while lizards, spiders, and antlions quietly wait for their prey to come to them. We might see beavers, mink, otter, and dippers plying the Eel’s lovely pools, as migratory birds fuel up for migration in the willows. Bear scat will be everywhere, filled with manzanita berries and apples, and acorn woodpeckers will be pounding acorns into trees, getting a head start on their winter food supply." 

Instructor:

Kate Marianchild is the author of Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals among California’s Oaks (Heyday, 2014). This award-winning bestseller, now in its 8th printing, is an engaging and beautifully illustrated romp through California’s most life-filled ecosystem. With passion, humor, and scientific accuracy, Kate profiles the behaviors, social structures, anatomical marvels, and interrelationships of twenty-two plants and animals commonly seen among California’s oaks. 

 Kate lives in a yurt near Ukiah, California surrounded by six kinds of oak and abundant wildlife. When she is not giving talks, guiding walks, or observing natural phenomena, she swims, sings, and advocates for the preservation of native plants and the myriad lives they support. To read about and/or purchase signed copies of her book, close-focus binoculars, and oak identification guides, go to katemarianchild.com. 

Cost for ArtStay

To Register for Class

Upcycle old tee shirts into art textiles

Using some of your old tee shirts you no longer wear but can’t bear to give up, we’ll design and,

with a reverse appliqué method, make at least one panel for the wall or as a start to a garment

or a throw.

Materials and supplies:

- 4 or more tee shirts in several colors. Cotton is best but some mixed fiber is ok. Avoid

polyester, nylon, or any woven fabric. The shirts do not need to be in pristine condition. Stains

and holes can be worked around.

- Sewing machine with threads and needles. Hand sewing works too, just takes longer.

- Lots of straight pins

- Good fabric shears and small sharp scissors.

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Cost for ArtStay

Cost for ArtStay

To Register for Class

Crossroads and Milestones: Stories of Decision and Change

 Skill Level: Appropriate for All Skill Levels

 After promising yourself you’re going to write, do you have trouble finding time for it? And when you do find the time, does it feel like nothing much happens? You may have a lot going on psychologically, but simply put, you got overwhelmed by some of the questions that challenge every writer: What should I write about? How do I start? Who’s going to care, anyway?

 But what if you weren’t alone—literally—at your journal or computer? What if you were in an oasis of natural beauty (like Emandal), with some of those questions being taken care of for you? Just imagine what you might write if you were given a strong theme, stimulating prompts, and practical tips for writing memoir. Add your own curiosity, a non-judgmental circle of writers, the magical pressure of deadlines, and you’re on your way to a more satisfying writing life.

 All you need to bring are writing materials (electronic devices are fine, but a paper journal doesn’t need batteries) and a willingness to find out how you think and feel about the trail you’ve blazed through life. 

 Let memories of various turning points start working on you now! And if you’ve been to Emandal before, remember the river, the woods, the people, the peace, the FOOD.

 Susan Bono has facilitated writers of all skill levels as a high school English teacher, writing instructor, and freelance editor in workshops, critique sessions, and free-writing groups for more than 30 years. She edited and published Tiny Lights: A Journal of Personal Narrative from 1995 to 2015 and has presented workshops in places such as Point Reyes National Seashore, Idyllwild’s Spirit Mountain, and Istanbul, Turkey. Her book, What Have We Here: Essays about Keeping House and Finding Home is available through Amazon. Find out more at her website, www.susanbono.com.

Cost for ArtStay

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QUILTED LANDSCAPE COLLAGE CLASS

Expect this to be a fun, creative, beginner-friendly, out-of-the-box class. You do not need to have any quilting skills besides basic knowledge of how to do freehand machine quilting on your home sewing machine, nor do you need to be a recognized artist. You will discover the “artist within” as you play with the fabrics of your choice to create a small (about 2’ by 3’) collage wall quilt. 

Subject matter can be a landscape, a still life, or even a fantasy scene... whatever moves you to want to create it in fabric. 

You will start with a photo of your chosen scene for inspiration and beyond that your own imagination is the limit. (One caution though... for beginners it is smart to avoid subjects that include people, pets or complicated architecture. You will get frustrated trying to get the perspective and details “right.” It will be more fun to stick to nature scenes, where nothing you do can possibly be “wrong.”) 

Basic technique is raw-edge fabric collage, where cut or torn pieces of fabric (and/or other materials) are layered and freely arranged to create as much or as little detail in your piece as you see fit. Nothing is pinned or sewn until you are happy with your design, so the stakes are low and the composition can be changed infinitely. 

There are no patterns, no directions, and no rules. The piece you create can be machine quilted in class or at home once you’ve learned the basics. You will learn how to add borders and create dimensional foreground details in a slightly different raw-edge applique technique.

MATERIALS LIST FOR COLLAGE CLASS

Please read this carefully and bring as much stuff as you possibly can! You will have more fun if you come set up with all the materials you need.

*a photo (or several photos) of some scene or subject that pleases you- this will be your inspiration for your project

*cotton backing fabric for a 2’ x 3’ (maximum size) quilt- YOU CAN WORK SMALLER IF YOU LIKE

*several 2’ x 3’ pieces of tulle ( the lightweight kind also known as “illusion”... NOT coarse netting)- bring several different colors so you can try them out over your collage and choose the one you like best. Dark colors generally work best, unless you want a foggy or washed-out look

*a piece of THIN batting that is big enough to fit your quilt (cotton, bamboo or wool)

*lots of fabric- scraps are fine, but be sure to bring 6 or 8 fabrics in each color you think you might want to use. Include DARK darks and LIGHT lights. Remember... this is a collage and contrast is necessary for images to stand out!

*novelty fabrics- shiny, transparent, metallic, textured

*embellishments- any kind of threads, strings, ribbons, lace, yarn, sequins, buttons

*sharp fabric scissors (rotary cutters are not necessary for this “freehand” style)

*dark chocolate to share

*lots of straight pins- the thin, glass-headed ones are best (I mean LOTS... like a whole big box full!)

*your sewing machine and EVERYTHING that goes with it

*a machine quilting or darning or stippling foot to do freehand quilting around the curving edges of your design elements

*quilting thread- I like to use poly or rayon variegated rayon thread, but anything will do that blends with your fabric choices, except for metallic (too hard to use on a first project!)

*bobbin thread that will blend with your backing fabric

Laura Fogg, Instructor   1143 W Church, Ukiah, CA 95482    fogg.laura@gmail.com

Laura has been quilting for years…. She’s won numerous awards in juried shows for her designs. But the main thing to know, she’s a talented teacher! If you want to be inspired, and tutored, this is the class for you!

Cost for ArtStay

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True Stories: Writing Your Memoir

With Dani Burlison

Do you have an idea brewing for a personal essay or memoir but missing the motivation to get it on paper? Do you already have a completed essay that you’d like to breathe some new life into? Are you in the beginning stages of writing your story but not sure which direction to take it? Whether you’re writing for your own pleasure or have a piece you’d like to send out for publication, this workshop is for you!

In this ArtStay, we’ll discuss the art of memoir and the personal essay and all that comes with it– vulnerability, issues with confidentiality, self-reflection, and more. We’ll also engage in writing activities and you’ll have opportunities to receive feedback and support with fine-tuning manuscripts.

Dani has a Master's Degree from the school of Culture, Ecology & Sustainable Community at New College of California and is an alumna of the Squaw Valley Writer's Workshop, the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference, LitCamp and the Woodland Keep Residency. She was a writer in residence at The Future’s ‘Witch Residency’ in Minneapolis in 2021 and at Cove Park in Scotland in 2022. She has co-hosted the Get Lit! Reading Series with Kara Vernor since 2013, and co-founded the Petals & Bones Writing Workshops with Leilani Clark in 2010.

Dani teaches memoir-writing classes at a local community college (and in various other programs) and is a trauma-informed yoga instructor (RYT 200) developing workshop curriculum to bring yoga and self-care practices to activists. She is also an Ancestral Lineage Healing Practitioner, trained through Ancestral Medicine, and a student of herbal medicine at Heartwood in Bedfordshire, UK. A former housing case manager with veterans, Dani grew up in a large working poor family in a rural farming community in the Northern Sacramento Valley and is a single parent of two young adults. She lives on unceded Southern Pomo and Wappo land aka Sonoma County, California.

Dani’s website: daniburlison.com

To Register for Workshop Cost for ArtStay

After a decade of teaching high school art classes, I took a sabbatical year in 2006 to travel around the world for six months. Just using pencil, watercolors, and ink pens I made a series of 12 sketchbooks. They ended up being in various styles, some with more words, some with less, a few embellished with glued in ephemera. There are no strict rules for making a journal, after all. You own it!

I find delight in this slowed-down, attentive travel as well as the joy of creating a record of my experiences. During the first Covid summer I made a daily journal of the view of a mountain from my home, which ended up documenting the clouds and smokey skies of fire season. All around us are chances to see, to journal, to notice, and deeply experience our environments.

This is an invitation to join me to explore the beautiful Emandal farm. My tools are basic and easy to transport: a 5x8 inch bound sketchbook, a mechanical pencil and a good eraser, pens in a couple of sizes and a portable watercolor set. I believe everyone can draw, and everyone can learn the tricks of watercolor and ink line.

My only caution is that journaling can be addictive. I just counted over 50 on my shelf!

To know more about Laura, here’s her website: lauracorben.com

Cost for ArtStay To register for this workshop, CLICK HERE

Birds will be singing and nesting, flowers will be blooming, and butterflies will be fluttering by. We will meander quietly through Emandal’s 1,000 acres of oak and riparian woodlands, looking, listening, and learning about the social structures, behaviors, anatomical marvels, and interrelationships of the flora and fauna we will encounter. Using close-focus binoculars, we will delight in gloriously magnified flowers, dragonflies, and lizards. We will study bushtit nests and woodrat mansions. We will identify and discuss the ecological roles of oaks, willows, and ceanothus; northern flickers, hummingbirds, and dippers; caterpillars, frogs, and squirrels. We may even see and learn about beavers, mink, otters, foxes, coyotes, bears, and/or eagles! 

Each morning, after a delicious breakfast, we will head out around 10 a.m. with snacks and/or lunches, and will return by 2:30 or 3 pm. The pace will be slow and we will rarely cover more than a mile in a day. We will sometimes be off-trail with uneven footing, such as the rocky riverbed, so walking sticks may be helpful. After returning from our rambles each day, we will have free time for swimming, hiking, reading, studying, napping, socializing, singing, creating art, or … 

You will be welcome to draw, paint, write, or create art in other ways, but artistic expression will not be required. Please bring your own supplies for your preferred art forms. 

And be aware that certain risks, such as ticks, rattlesnakes, and poison oak, are inherent in any outdoor setting in California’s foothills

Kate Marianchild is the author of Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals Among California’s Oaks. In this classic of California nature writing, Kate weaves scientific facts, anecdotes, and humor into intimate portraits of twenty-two plant and animal species, portraying their unique behaviors, adaptations, and interrelationships. As a writer, presenter, and nature guide, Kate is known for her riveting explanations and contagious enthusiasm. Participants come away from her guided walks with “new eyes” for everything that flies, walks, swims, burrows, and blooms.

Essential Items for our Walks

• Daypack

• Water

• Hat

• Comfortable closed-toe shoes with good traction, ideally shoes that burs won’t stick to. (Sturdy sandals with traction might be OK on some days, but not all).

• Fragrance-free sunscreen (if you use sunscreen).

• A piece of lightweight fabric to sit on, at least 4’ x 6’, for partial protection against ticks when we are sitting. (Part of a bedsheet works well––inexpensive at a thrift store). 

• Several pairs of socks long enough to tuck your pant legs into––another partial protection from ticks.

• Close-focus binoculars, if you have them or can borrow them. (I highly recommend that you have your own pair rather than depending on sharing with someone else. Often we have just a moment or two before an insect or lizard disappears!) You can purchase them online, including from my website (www.katemarianchild.com), or buy them once we’re at Emandal and save on shipping). The current price is $134. Please bring cash or check as internet is sketchy at Emandal. 

• Lunch and snack foods.

• Containers for carrying snacks and/or lunch..

• Any medicines you might need, including an epipen if you are subject to anaphylactic shock. (We will be about 45 minutes on a dirt road from any stores, gas stations, or medical facilities.)

• Toilet paper and plastic ziplock bag for used toilet paper.

OPTIONAL ITEMS FOR OUR WALKS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES

• A copy of my book, Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals Among California’s Oaks.

• Field guides of your choice (we will divvy them up so no one is carrying more than one in their pack).

• A small notebook and pen or pencil for taking notes.

• Birding binoculars (Close-focus binoculars are capable of focusing at any distance, but they don’t have the wide field of vision that birding binoculars have. The wider field of vision makes it easier to find birds high up in distant trees or sky). I like to wear both simultaenously, with a binocular harness to take the weight of the heavier birding binocs off my shoulders. Harnesses are available online…a few years ago they cost about $20.) 

• A cell phone with identification and documenting apps such as Merlin, Seek, iNaturalist, and eBird.

• Walking sticks if you need them.

• 1-2 lightweight containers for “treasures”––acorns, feathers, galls, leaves, already-dead butterflies, beetles, or dragonflies, etc. 

• Folding knife for cutting things open.

• Camera

• Cost for ArtStay To Register for Class

Cost for ArtStay Registration for Class

Elizabeth Raybee has been giving mosaic workshops since 1992 and has led Glass Mosaic classes at ArtStays every year.

She will supply tools, safety equipment and materials to help you build the project of your choice - planters, glass bowls, boards and more!  If you have a special item you'd like to cover, you may also bring one. 

Below, links to lots of things Elizabeth!

https://canvasrebel.com/meet-elizabeth-raybee/

eRaybeeMosaics.com

Cost for ArtStay To Register for ArtStay