Birds to help heal

This spring, a local hospital purchased a few of my bird prints. The pediatric ward had been recently re-modeled and the hospital's art consultant wanted to give the space a cheerful, playful decor with a connection to nature. She was familiar with my work and thought a bird focus might work well here.

Each room with assigned a songbird identity. Thus, there is a Blue Jay room, a Chickadee room, A Cedar Waxwing room and a Goldfinch room! Every room has a set of prints of the boy and girl birder from my "Where Do Bird Live?" picture book. There is also a poster sized print of an Iowa wetlands landscape with heron (from the Iowa Nature Calendar), the "Wilson's Orchard" indigo buntings piece and several other miscellaneous bird portraits.

Today, I had a chance to see the work, now framed and hanging in the pediatric wing. It is unique to see so many of my pieces together as a collection. I loved the room identification birds! It's great to see the larger sized wetland piece; the heron is a welcoming, friendly face in one corridor.

It is also satisfying to see my art interacting with the functional aspects of hospital care-giving. My red-winged blackbird is poised right over a fire alarm. This is perfect. He is a good alarmist! All in all, I am honored to be part of this healing place and hope my birds bring some brightness to a child's time there.

Summer at Plum Grove

Plum Grove is nestled off a main traffic artery in residential Iowa City. Beyond the entrance, the property, shaded with mature oaks and fruit trees and a spanse of lawn, has an immediate air of serenity. An elegant red-bricked Greek revival home stands sentry near the middle of the four acres. Birds, squirrels, and rabbits forage around the unexpectedly large green sanctuary.

One can time travel here. The founders of Iowa City were wise to protect this small parcel of regional heritage. Iowa’s first governor Robert Lucas, along with his wife Friendly and their family lived at Plum Grove in the mid 1800’s. History and archaeology tell us quite a lot about what the property was like then. The Johnson County Historical Society have done an admirable preservation job in interpreting this record for us.

I’m enchanted with Plum Grove. It was here when the tallgrass prairie still lapped against the edge of town. I love the surprising vastness of the site, and always have a peek inside the house with all it’s to-the-period furnishings. Somehow, it still feel very much like a home.

I connect with Friendly. We know she had a kitchen garden, most people did in these days. There was also a plum orchard with many kinds of heirloom varieties. I like to think of Friendly walking the grove on a mid-summer night’s eve. It is humid but she’s used to it. She’s wearing a long dress of the day. She’s thinking about the preserves she’ll make from the basketful of plums at her hip. The preserves will be a sweet surprise for her family on some January morning. One last yellow gage should do it. Time to light the lanterns. Robert will be home soon.

Eastside Artist Show- this week!

I'll be again one of the the twenty-two artists at the downtown Iowa City Eastside Artist show this coming weekend.

As I package and price new items, it seems a blink ago I was doing this for last year's gig. Kind of like that movie "Ground Hog's Day", where the characters wake up each day to the repeat of the same day before! Participating in this annual event has a way of warping time.

Please drop by if you're in the neighborhood. I'll be sharing some new art that will be at the show soon.