02/01/2025
Dates are finalized, details are on the website, and registration is now open! Find all the info. here- http://www.explorewildwood.com/p/art-classes.html
Classes start January 22nd and time is running out to get the full session discount. We hope you'll join us!
"Best of Earth Art" returns this spring to the PEA Studio in Marietta! Classes will be on select Wednesdays, January-May, 11AM-Noon. This set of classes are mixed-age and geared towards homeschool students ages 6-12 years old. Topics may include: Earth Paints, Leather Tooling, Charcoal, and Gyotaku (fish prints).
Proposed dates are: January 22, February 26, March 12 or 26, and April 16. Plus, "save the date" for another fun Amphibian Week workshop on Wednesday, May 7th!
We're finalizing a few details this week, so exact dates, full details, and registration coming soon!
17/12/2024
2024 Review: We hosted workshops at 3 different venues, worked with students ages 5-15 years old, offered 12 brand new topics for classes this year, rescued 1 ambassador salamander, created a new logo, completed our very first grant project, sent out 53 cards to conservationists, and worked with 120 individual students. Thank you to everyone who joined us for classes, shared about our program, partnered with us, supported our projects, and understood our vision. We can't wait to see what 2025 will bring, and what WE can bring to our community this next year. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and happy new year!
10/12/2024
That’s a wrap on the fall session of Conservation Club! At our meeting today, students provided anonymous feedback on the club and projects, and finished up the card project. We filled out cards for conservationists, learning about what each person does within the conservation space and the animals they work with- There was a huge variety of roles that our recipients have, from working as ecology professors, to wildlife researchers and biologists, to zookeepers, to veterinarians and rehabbers, to environmental educators, to interpretive rangers.
Students then took the time to make sure they signed each and every card, and sealed, stickered, and stamped 32 cards. Each student also received their own “thank you” card to take home, with their artwork on the front. This project has currently completed 53 cards, with the next batch getting dropped in the mail this week.
Thank you to Garden Gate Homeschool for partnering with us on this special project and club, and thanks to the students for helping to spread the word about threatened and endangered native species 💚
09/12/2024
"Best of Earth Art" returns this spring to the PEA Studio in Marietta! Classes will be on select Wednesdays, January-May, 11AM-Noon. This set of classes are mixed-age and geared towards homeschool students ages 6-12 years old. Topics may include: Earth Paints, Leather Tooling, Charcoal, and Gyotaku (fish prints).
Proposed dates are: January 22, February 26, March 12 or 26, and April 16. Plus, "save the date" for another fun Amphibian Week workshop on Wednesday, May 7th!
We're finalizing a few details this week, so exact dates, full details, and registration coming soon!
04/12/2024
Today just so happens to be World Wildlife Conservation Day, which was the perfect day to wrap up our fall session of Conservation Corner classes!
Our focus today was on Keystone Species. What they are, where the name comes from, and GA’s very own keystone species and state reptile- the Gopher Tortoise! We learned about all the other animals that depend on them for survival, how they use the tortoise burrows for shelter and food, and more. We played a game to reinforce the concept of a keystone supporting an arch (or ecosystem), and created some doodle art to help us remember some of the other species that rely on gopher tortoises.
The students also got to see their artwork printed on greeting cards for our big project, and filled out the first round of cards for recipients. Additionally, they went home with a surprise card from Mrs. Jenn, thanking them for the work they’ve been doing as junior conservationists 💚
03/12/2024
Only ONE spot remaining for the Spring session of Conservation Club! This club is in partnership with Garden Gate Homeschool in Mableton, and meets once a month on select Tuesday afternoons.
In this advanced session of Conservation Club, we're taking a hands-on approach with new, focused content and outdoor immersion. Our spring theme is: Field Conservation.
Topics we will discuss this season include wildlife handling, data collection, scientific studies, community science, survey methods, field gear and safety, and more. Students will get the opportunity to work with live animals (we'll be focusing on amphibians), and to collect real field data.
This session is designed for students 10-14 years old. Students should be able to read and write on their own, and should be able to follow directions. Because we will be working with live animals, priority is given to both the safety of our students and the animals safety and stress levels.
Registered students should have rain boots or other waterproof shoes, a raincoat, and be able to tolerate working outdoors in various conditions (cold weather, hot weather, and rain). Our club meetings will often take place outdoors, as long as the weather is safe to be outside in.
Full details, meeting dates, and registration found here- https://www.hisawyer.com/our-giving-garden/schedules/activity-set/1111011?day=2025-01-14&view=cal&source=semesters
02/12/2024
Sneak peek- Conservation Club & Conservation Corner students have been working hard this season on art works depicting native wildlife for our Cards for Conservationists project. They chose animals that are native to North America and listed as threatened or endangered to highlight for this project. Club students researched their chosen animal, and completed their pieces in their choice of mediums. Club mediums include: Watercolor, colored pencil, markers, graphite, and gel pens. Corner students used mediums including colored pencil, gel pens, and stamp ink.
During December's meetings, students will be filling the cards out to nominated conservationists and sending them appreciation snail mail.
This has been such a wonderful collaborative project, and we couldn't have done it without the support of community partners like Our Giving Garden, The PEA Studio, and of course thanks to Roots & Shoots USA for funding this project and making it possible!
If you would like to view larger images of the student art work, you may take a look here- http://www.explorewildwood.com/2024/10/cards-for-conservationists-art-work.html
Spring 2025 Info: We're still working on the lineup of spring classes at The PEA Studio, so stay tuned for info. coming soon for that location. Conservation Club registration is now open, and there's only ONE spot remaining! In this advanced session of Conservation Club, we're taking a hands-on approach with new, focused content and outdoor immersion. Our spring theme is: Field Conservation. This club is for students 10-14 years, and meets once a month in Mableton. Full details and registration for spring Conservation Club found here- https://www.hisawyer.com/our-giving-garden/schedules/activity-set/1111011?day=2025-01-14&view=cal&source=semesters&fbclid=IwY2xjawG6nltleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZjOLSJAYKFosng55tVZJwzIkjVrd32ZkNA5BB2cKcb00ygogEM2cn_2EQ_aem_Bpez6GFRvlDphaj3it2a2g
14/11/2024
Today’s Conservation Corner class was small, but mighty, as we missed all our friends who were out today. Students learned about the environmental impacts of balloons, listened to a related story (written and illustrated by a child close to their age!), discussed ways we could all help with this issue, pledged to not release balloons (on purpose), and we discussed more earth and wildlife-friendly alternatives to balloons. We then used recycled materials to collage party and holiday decorations!
While the remaining classes for 2024 are full, we do have one spot remaining in this calendar year to book for your private group, big or small! Contact us to discuss options for your special event.
06/11/2024
Yesterday's Conservation Club meeting at Garden Gate Homeschool was SO good! We discussed the role of communication in conservation, and various ways and channels that we can communicate messages. Two successful conservation campaigns were shared- Balloons Blow and Down to the Wire. We looked at aspects from these organizations such as names, slogans, outreach and education, missions, products, and more. Students also took the Balloons Blow pledge to not intentionally release balloons into the air, and picked out some provided goodies from their campaign (like pencils, pins, stickers).
Balloons Blow- https://balloonsblow.org
Down to the Wire- https://www.down2thewire.org
The class then broke down into two groups and we discussed personal ethics, and debated some really TOUGH topics within the conservation world. There was so much great discussion, lots of big ideas, and wonderful participation from everyone!
We DO have a couple of spots remaining for fall Conservation Corner classes at The PEA Studio in Marietta. Join us next Wednesday, November 13th to learn more about Balloons Blow, their mission, and the environmental impacts of balloons (students in next weeks class will also get some goodies from Balloons Blow). We will also be making some recycled collage art in class. Details and registration can be found here- http://www.explorewildwood.com/p/art-classes.html
14/10/2024
LAST CALL to nominate a wildlife worker to receive a special gratitude card with student artwork on it, from our Cards for Conservationists project!
If you know of a wildlife worker who deserves a "thank you" for all of their hard work protecting our native animals, you can pass along the link for them to fill out and get added to our recipient list. Self nominations are also accepted.
We are referring to "wildlife workers" as any conservationist, scientist, wildlife rehabber, educator, researcher, etc. who is working in the US with native wildlife (not exotics), and has a United States mailing address. Cards are expected to be sent out in December 2024.
Artwork printed on these cards has been created by our wonderful homeschool students, ages 5-14 years old. More details and Google Form found here:
Cards For Conservationists Recipient Form
Cards for Conservationists is a multi-faceted project where homeschool students in the Greater Atlanta area will create artwork depicting North American wildlife, which will then get printed on greeting cards. This form is used to gather nominations for conservationists, scientists, wildlife rehabbe...
07/10/2024
Haven't joined us for a class yet? There's only a couple opportunities left in 2024! 🍂🍁
- Only TWO drop-in spots remain for Conservation Corner classes on 11/13 and 12/4. (All other classes are now full)
- And we only have TWO slots available to book a private workshop or visit for your program, co-op, family, or club for this calendar year.
As always, more information and registration is available on our website, but feel free to reach out with any questions.
And if you have a specific class topic, day of the week, age range, special offering, etc. you'd like to see offered in 2025, please leave us a comment and let us know. We're working on planning late winter and spring classes now.
Hope to see you soon!
Send a message to learn more
18/09/2024
In Conservation Club yesterday, we got started on our big art projects for the season. Students shared some of the animal facts they had researched at home about their chosen animals, discussed sketches and overall composition ideas, and started drawing out final compositions. Some students also started getting color down on their paper.
The art projects for this club will be getting worked on over the next month at home, so I’m super excited to see what the students return to our next meeting with. Next month, we’ll add all of the finishing touches and start phase 2 of getting the artworks completed, scanned in, and ready for print.
11/09/2024
In our second Conservation Corner class today, we started off our meeting by taking a group vote on which final image the students liked best for our collaborative turtle art piece. This image will be printed on a greeting card for our Cards for Conservationists Project later this season. Be sure to check out the photo album “Conservation Corner (Finished Art Pieces, Fall 2024)” to see all of the students' individual turtle shell creations, as well as the final image they voted on.
After voting, we moved on to our topics of the day which included "prints", "tracks", "trace", "leave no trace", and "leaving your mark". We followed up the discussion with creating more collaborative art pieces where teams "left their marks" to create images of selected endangered or threatened wildlife species native to the US. (Final images from this project are still to come! They will get uploaded to the same photo album when finishing touches have been completed and images are scanned in.)
05/09/2024
From scrapbooking paper as backgrounds, to headlamps and flashlights, to kids toys, there's loads of ways to use what you have to produce creative imagery. Earlier this week I talked about what I *didn't* have available to shoot the skull photographs on location. But what I DID have was a black pair of pants and a tank top, a hammock, some head lamps, and a digital point and shoot camera with some manual setting capabilities. The clothes were utilized as a background, the hammock was used to help block further background noise and light. Multiple headlamps (for doing night work) were used to light the specimens. A little ingenuity and some minimal post-production, and you'd never know the images weren't shot the same as all my others in the series (in an actual studio setting, with professional lighting equipment).
[Pictured: One of the pre-edited shots, showing the clothing and hammock draped under and behind the skull. See previous post to see final images.]
Don't forget to register for our upcoming photography workshop (advance registration IS required)! We won't be offering another for quite awhile. Details here- https://www.facebook.com/events/492668759914807
03/09/2024
Just because you don't have fancy photography equipment, doesn't mean you can't take a fancy photograph! One of the first lessons I learned was not to focus on the equipment you didn't have, but to focus on what you DID have, and learn to use it well. Having the tools to be able to photograph something well no matter the location or equipment available, is something I've utilized in my own work more than once. On two different field research trips, I found myself with the opportunities to photograph skulls from protected species. These items weren't allowed to leave the island we were working on, but I definitely wanted to be able to include them in one of my fine art series. The problem? I had zero professional photography equipment with me and no studio space.
Curious how I was able to capture the images? Check back later this week to read about a few of the tools I utilized, and sign up NOW for our upcoming Homeschool Studio Photography Workshop (Teens). Your student will learn all kinds of tips and tricks for utilizing what you have available to take a good photograph, no matter the equipment or application!
[Pictured: Collage of final images. Skulls belong to a Loggerhead Sea Turtle and a Bottlenose Dolphin, and were handled under proper permits. If you'd like to see more of my fine art photography, you can visit my website at this link- https://gallery.blondeshotcreative.com ]
💚Ms. Jenn