Summer Retreat Recap :: CMI Western Conference 2018

This is the first of TWO posts recapping the conferences I attended this past July. First up: the West Coast event!

The Charlotte Mason Institute's western conference takes place about a six-hours drive from me. Last year, I stayed home with a newborn, so I was happy to be able to go this year.

I drove down with a friend, through the Central Valley, halfway over the Grapevine, and then through the desert. Since I was passenger, I got to take a bunch of pictures from the road. You'll have to pardon the window glare, but I couldn't resist sharing some of these because the landscape is just so striking. We drove straight into a dust storm. We marveled over the joshua trees and yucca of Angeles Forest. (I love you, California.)

But. Did I mention it was 110 degrees? 

Yeah.

It stayed over 100 for the whole conference, and the evenings dipped maybe into the high 70s...maybe.  Thankfully the campus was beautiful, because we did a lot of very hot walking.

I presented workshops on exams and foreign language. (My exams talk was a version of the webinar I did for Learning How to Live last year, and the foreign language was a significant reworking of a talk from CM West two years ago.)

I went to several great presentations on a variety of topics, including math, upper-level science, masterly inactivity and more.

Even better were the chats at meals and breaks. Charlotte Mason mamas are wonderful.

Another highlight was nature journaling on the lawn on Friday night. It was shady and the temps had dipped down just enough to make it very pleasant.

But I have to say: probably my favorite part was the detour my friend and I took on the way home to the Getty in Los Angeles! LOL We spent about three hours wandering and enjoying and it was fabulous. Goodness, I love that place.

 

I found a couple Turners, our artist for this term. I made sure to snap photos to show the kids!

A few last looks at the view...

Sun was setting as we came back through Angeles National Forest and down into the Valley.

 

We were hoping to get home by midnight despite our long museum detour, but our GPS kept playing time estimate games with us and we didn't get home until well after. 

Totally worth it!

Nature Study Outing :: The Art of Nature

The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History has an annual Art of Nature exhibit that we have visited in the past.  This year's showing fell during our vacation dates, so I was happy to return and see some new work by local scientific illustrators.

Vincent with his favorite bird, the golden eagle

There were two additions this year that particularly drew our interest...

For my own journaling, I focus on dry-brushing, but I love looking at watercolor of all sorts.  This comprehensive tide-scape done in watercolor was a special treat to examine.  It's called "The Great Tide Pool" by Emily Underwood.

The kids spent a few minutes pointing out all the marine life they could identify.  All the usual sights were included, a sort of compendium of our local coastline.

I especially liked how she captured the cormorants that cover the white-washed rocks just off shore in that last shot.  It's so similar to what we see on our drive down to Asilomar but I have never been able to express it in ink or paint.

We all were also drawn to this exhibit by Megan Gnekow.  They look as if they are pinned butterflies, and certainly the museum has more than its share of preserved creatures to observe.  But these were actually of paper!  The artist-naturalist described her process of creation, and I took careful photos so that we could attempt to duplicate the activity at home.

It involves careful observation and brushwork of both under- and over-wings, then mounting for view.  The artist used tabs so that the wings could be moved up and down to make both sides visible. 

I'm looking forward to trying this out alongside my butterfly-and-and-craft-loving children.

And I can't leave out this rendition of one of my favorite birds, the kingfisher, along with his stuffed brother nearby:

It reminded me of this lovely mention from Elizabeth Goudge's Pilgrim's Inn:

"One sees the oddest things in the woods," agreed David.
"What were you seeing?" asked Sally.
"Nothing out of the ordinary.  Just a kingfisher.  Though actually a kingfisher is a bit out of the ordinary, isn't he?  A heavenly bird."

Each year they have out a table of treasures, along with microscopes and magnifying glasses and lots of drawing paper and pencils.  It's great for keeping the littles occupied while my big kids and I make our rounds of the place!

They have signs posted near the table describing what nature journaling is, as well as docents nearby to guide children in how to go about it--but my kids all just hunker down and get to work!  Love those Charlotte Mason habits. :)