COUNTING CORVIDS: A Workshop for Everyone on Ecology, Mythology and Creative Visualization

For the past 10 years, I have engrossed myself with the study of avian life.  I have examined behavior, song and ecology; worked with ornithologists taxidermists and skydivers; endeavored to identify and identify with every bird species that crosses my path. This workshop series grew out of my experience with The Crow.

The Crow

Humans have always mused over crows, they are in fact one of the most distinct and complex of birds. Crows are often ridiculed for their brash, vulgar barking calls and lack of color, but these birds have been capturing our attention for centuries. Folktales and ancient belief systems call for the examination of crow calls in divining future events, hunting prospects, predicting the weather and even to foretell the birth of a child.   Today we have a new opportunity to learn about ourselves and them, by taking note of their evolution, adaptation, response and behaviors in relation to our human made environments.

The Workshops

I have created a series of multi-disciplinary workshops that ask participants to examine the awareness and insights that marks our human experience with crows while deliberately creating their own auguric (fortune-telling) methodology based on their future desires.   Together we will conduct a crow watch at a local site, and create field guides on local crow behavior and sightings.  Then we will explore the mythical history of crow culture and create paintings based on sacred geometry and visualization.  Finally, we will enjoy a creative writing session to investigate the history and meaning of traditional Counting Crow rhymes, and create our own.

The Exhibition

A curated selection of participant’s work and writing will be printed as a book, and installed at a chosen site within the community.  

Logistics

Workshops are available for children and/or adults, and will be tailored to fit your community.  The maximum group size per session is 20. I work with local Audubon and Land Trust organizations, and am equally comfortable in classroom, gallery, studio or community center locations.   If you are interested, contact me and I will provide a project proposal for your site including time, space and projected costs.