Part One:
Kate will teach each student how to bind papers together using coptic stitch binding- a two thousand year old binding technique originating from North Africa that creates strong, durable book blocks. Once the book piece is created, each student will make a hard cover for their sewn book block and attach it to the cover, making a beautiful one of a kind field journal/sketchbook.
Part Two:
With pen and note/sketchbook in hand, Robin will lead us as we set off for a meandering walk into the nearby desert, stopping frequently to discuss the surrounds before finding a good place to sit and observe. Using all senses to note the details of plant, animal, rock, sky, or whatever else calls for attention, we’ll put pen to paper, portraying the natural world through words and/or sketches. This process heightens awareness even as it builds a closer connection to the world around.
Date: Friday, October 17th
Time: 10:30am-1:30pm
Location:TBD
Cost: $ 35
Number of participants: Up to 10 participants
participants must be at least 14 years old
Robin Patten Biography:
As a freelance writer, naturalist, and teacher, Robin has spent most of her life exploring and writing about the natural world. Her lyrical nonfiction weaves together ecology, environmental history, and personal narrative, often delving into the human relationship with nature and the environment. She received the John Burroughs Nature Essay Award for “The Carcass Chronicle,” and her writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Georgia Review, and elsewhere. Her first book, The Mountain: Journeys in High Places, continues her exploration of people and place.
Kate Aitchison Biography:
Kate Aitchison’s artwork focuses on human interventions in the natural landscape—and her own emotive connection to place. She earned her BA in 2010 from Colorado College in Studio Art, and an MFA in 2016 from the Rhode Island School of Design. Currently, Aitchison runs a small gallery in Bluff, UT working to expand contemporary art into rural spaces and providing opportunities for people to engage with art happening outside of traditional art hubs. She is also currently in residence at the Nature Conservancy’s Dugout Ranch in Indian Creek, UT, collaborating with scientist, Brooke Osborne to create a body of work that speaks to the importance of nitrogen-fixing desert plants in a time of growing aridity. Recent solo exhibitions include“Metaforays” at Lyon College in Batesville, AR (2024), “An Exquisite Extreme” at Bountiful Davis Art Center in Bountiful, UT (2024) and “An Imagined Almanac- A future for the Colorado Plateau” at Ft. Lewis College in Durango, CO (2025).