Article Type Making Art Together Making Art Together Categories Drawing Nature

A Year (almost) in Pictures

Meg Nicoll

Team members and guests have been sharing photographs and drawings of what they observe in Bobbie’s Meadow since April of this year. So we created a visual collection of these images on the Art Studio bulletin board, a calendar showing the change of seasons in the meadow.

Here is an up-close look at some of the images from our year in the meadow so far.

April

4/21/2019: Leaves emerge on the apple trees outside of the Art Studio.

May

5/8/2019: Flowers on the apple trees blossom and are visited by pollinators like this bumble bee.

5/22/2019: Watercolor by a school program participant, made after a nature walk in Bobbie’s Meadow.

5/31/2019: Meadow observation and drawing by Art Studio team member, Dallas Looman.

June

6/27/2019: Grasses grow tall and more flowers bloom.

6/30/2019: Animals find food in the meadow, like this squirrel eating rye grass. 

July

7/6/2019: The meadow brings animals close to the Art Studio, this banded tussock moth visited our windows.

7/11/2019: This eastern bluebird caught a dragonfly in the meadow.

7/15/2019: Meadow observation and drawing by Art Studio guest.

7/11/2019: A monarch butterfly feeding on swamp milkweed in the meadow. Inside the circled area there is a monarch caterpillar. We were excited to see two different stages of the monarch on the same plant!

August

8/1/2019: The meadow has many different kinds of flowers in bloom, such as this purple coneflower and ox-eye.

8/15/2019: Map of Bobbie’s Meadow by Art Studio guest.

September

9/13/2019: Apples ripen in the orchard.

9/20/2019: A red-tailed hawk visits the meadow and catches insects in the lawn outside the Art Studio.

October

10/2/2019: Late season flowers, like this New England aster, are in bloom.

10/1/2019: Participants in the Art Studio’s Nature Prints workshop, with teaching artist Kelsey Pomeroy Murphy, use materials collected from the meadow and gardens to create detailed images of leaves, grasses, and seeds.

10/2/2019: Apples decompose under the trees, while mushrooms grow.

10/15/2019: The maple trees at the edge of the meadow turn bright yellow and orange.

November

11/9/2019: Frost covers the ground in the morning. While we see fewer animals, we find evidence that they are here, this hole was probably made by a meadow vole.

11/12/2019: The days are shorter, and we see more sunsets from the Art Studio. The leaves have fallen off the trees so the branches are silhouetted against the evening sky.

December

12/1/2019: On the first day of December, we have the first ground-covering snowfall.

12/3/2019: Two days after the snow starts, the meadow and orchard are transformed.

12/3/2019: Dried stalks collect the snow in interesting ways.

12/5/2019: The sun comes out and we find deer tracks.

We will continue to be inspired by Bobbie’s Meadow. Together with those who work in and visit the Art Studio, we will share photography, drawings, poetry and installations. We look forward to starting the annual cycle again and seeing what changes this year brings.

Authors

Meg smiling in the Art Studio.

Meg Nicoll

Art Educator at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art from 2016 to 2023, Meg enjoys working with artists, educators, and people of all ages to create opportunities for art-making.