In The Studio

Through the remainder of August and into September we’ll be featuring some local artisans in the studio. If you’d like to get a jump on some holiday gift purchasing and want to support some local artisans, this may be your chance. The studio will be open Wednesday through Sunday, 9-5.
Our friend Sett Balise (brambledragon.com) is an accomplished potter from Liberty, Maine. Sett has a beautiful and functional selection of pottery available ( we eat oatmeal out of some of his bowls all winter!), come check it out!
My friend Sally Savage, photographer and mixed media artist, left a small collection of her polymer clay ‘beach stone’ necklaces for purchase. Sally will also be teaching a class this Fall at Fiber College if you’d like to join the fun and make some stones on your own.
And of course, there will be yarn for sale….handspun, hand-dyed yarn from our own flock of Blue-Face Leicester sheep! It’s never too early to increase your winter yarn stash!
Come check out the studio, wander the gardens, and find out what’s happening these days here at Fernwood!

Still Time To Start Writing!

There are still three spots open for our writing class in May, check out the info and dates below….

If you recall, we offered a writing workshop here at the studio this past February. It was great! The class was taught by Linda Buckmaster, who is an amazing writer and teacher…you can read more about Linda’s credentials below. Everyone who took the class really enjoyed it. There were all levels of writers, some who were interested in writing memoirs, some who wanted to get started on writing a children’s book, and others who simply wanted to improve on their own personal journaling. At the end of the two sessions, each participant agreed that Linda had helped them to improve on their own style of writing. And, everyone was inspired to write more!
This class was such a success that we’ve invited Linda back to teach another class this May. We’ll be gathering in the studio, this time in the early evening. Hopefully, we’ll also have an opportunity to engage in some plein-air writing if the blackflies don’t drive us back indoors. The dates for this class are Tuesday, May 17th and Thursday, May 19th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Of course, tea and scones will be available for refreshment. Any additional information can be found on our ‘classes and more’ page. Linda Buckmaster calls this class:

Writing About Place:

Writing about place includes any of the elements that make a specific place what it is. It can include the layers of history, the natural world, human culture, and the built environment across time to bring us to this present moment. We can be advocates, critics, or lovers. By developing our craft, we can better understand and present our world and experiences.

We will take advantage of the May weather and the beautiful setting of Fernwood for inspiration.

· Open to writers or aspiring writers of any level who will write new poetry, prose, or beyond genre.

· We will discuss readings on craft and the work of other writers for inspiration.

· Through writing exercises and prompts, we will practice the writer’s toolkit of image, voice, language, structure, and more.

We’ll maintain a safe, supportive environment that recognizes there is no such thing as a mistake in writing, just the next draft.

Instructor Linda Buckmaster has taught this popular course in multiple community venues in Maine. She has over thirty publications in regional and national journals and three poetry chapbooks. One of her pieces was named a Notable Essay in “Best American Essays 2013.” Former Belfast, Maine Poet Laureate, she has taught in the University of Maine system for twenty years. She holds an MFA from the Stonecoast writing program at the University of Southern Maine and an MA in Communication from the University of Maine. She was awarded writing residencies in Newfoundland, Oregon, Vermont, Portugal, Florida, and on Kezar Lake in Maine.

Writing In The Studio!

We are offering our first workshop in the studio at the end of this month. A writing workshop, lead by Linda Buckmaster, called the Winter Toolkit. Here’s how Linda describes the class:
The Writer’s Toolkit
Most writers, no matter what their style, topic, or genre, pull from a similar box of tools for their writing. These include image, language, voice, structure, character, time, and narrative. The unique possibilities are endless. Language itself includes word choice, diction, rhythm, metaphor, and even silence.
We will spend time looking at some of these tools and how other writers have used them. Writing prompts and exercises will give you the opportunity to practice what you learn. You will be writing in either prose or poetry, and you will get a start on material you may develop beyond the class. There will be a homework assignment after the first class. You will be writing!

Linda has a remarkable reputation as a writer and poet. She lives fairly close, in the small coastal town of Belfast. She has taught and helped many folks to improve their writing. We’re thrilled to have her! I’ll include a profile from her website, http://lsbuck1.blogspot.com/
‘She’s been a national magazine editor, window washer, waitress, day care teacher, chambermaid, hippie homesteader, journalist, meat wrapper, sales clerk, dance teacher, horse logger, and Belfast Poet Laureate.Now she works for a nonprofit and teaches in the University of Maine System. And . . . she’s writing, working on a collection of essays called “Hullabaloo on the Space Coast: A Memoir of Place’.
I’m really excited about this opportunity. The studio will not be absolutely complete, but the woodstove will be making heat, the lights will be bright, and tea and scones will be available to refresh us. At the moment, we have one spot open if anyone wants to put pen to paper and join us.The workshop consists of two 2 1/2 hour classes. The first class is Saturday, January 30th from 10:00- 12:30, the second is February 5th, 10:00-12:30. (February 12th, snow date). If you are interested, call us at (207) 589-4726 or email us at fernwoodnursery@fairpoint.net, we’ll be happy to provide more detail.
I’ve already begun thinking about the stories I’d like to get started on, and I’m looking forward to having someone like Linda here to guide us in the craft of writing. Winter provides just the right mental landscape for reflection and storytelling……can’t wait!