Seal Cove artist and gardener Becky Keefe will share her curiosity, passion for lifelong learning, and her artwork at the Gilley on Tuesday, Nov. 4 as the Museum’s People-Nature-Art presenter for November. There will be a 6pm artist’s reception followed by her presentation at 7pm, which will be in person and simultaneously livecast. Both in-person and online attendance is free, but registration is required at www.wendellgilleymuseum.org/calendar.

Keefe is a lifelong gardener, botany nerd, birdwatcher, hiker, mushroom hunter, and wildlife enthusiast, who has lived on MDI since 1987. Her careers have inspired her creativity and expanded her horizons: cook, landscape design for a well-known Maine landscape architect, an administrative job at College of the Atlantic and, most recently, teaching special education at Mount Desert Island High School for twenty years. During all that time, art was Keefe’s respite.

“My connection to outdoor activities and my art have kept me grounded,” she says. 

She retired from teaching in 2020 and embraced more time to create, using all the many natural materials she gathered over the years, including her garden which is a years-long passion project.

Recently, Keefe has focused on work with fiber. This includes making natural dyes, eco-prints, felting, spinning yarn, sewing, and knitting. She has also combined art and nature by creating large-scale flower arrangements for events, and she has made several paintings.

 “I want to try my hand at nearly everything,” she says.

Becky approaches her creative explorations with questions: Why does that look like that? What is the science behind the medium or phenomena so I can recreate it? How can I capture this reaction to what I am seeing and feeling?

“The expression may change, but the inspiration stays the same,” she says. “It’s the beauty, colors and designs in nature.” 

People-Nature-Art is a monthly series that brings artists, writers, carvers, and creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to explore how nature and art interact in their work, and how their art impacts their own approach to nature.  

Join us for our monthly evening paint ‘n’ sip workshops with instructor Erika Elizabeth at the Gilley for a fun evening of learning and art. Students are guided step by step through the process of painting, with plenty of explanation and instruction along the way.

Each month has a different theme and inspiration-painting. For November, it will be the sprightly little Tufted Titmouse on a branch surrounded by autumn berries.

Sip on wine, tea or seltzer as part of this adults-only class, which is suitable for artists of all levels who are at least 21 years old. All materials and beverages provided.

Poet and naturalist Kristen Lindquist will be with us at the Gilley on Nov. 15 to teach an introductory haiku workshop. She’ll share a brief history of this intriguing art form, which originated in Japan more than 500 years ago and evolved as a nature poem. Kristen will share what makes a poem a haiku (it’s probably not what you think), and how haiku are written today in the United States. Then she will guide students through writing their own haiku.

This session of Bird Chatter will begin indoors at Wendell Gilley Museum. After a brief update on the latest bird news, participants will car caravan to a local hotspot or two, led by field ornithologist Seth Benz. The destination depends upon area bird activity – tentative stops include the Southwest Harbor Coast Guard Station and Seawall Beach/Picnic Area. Grebes, loons, and sea ducks are likely species to share the spotlight. And at least one prediction, from the Finch Research Network, forecasts a good finch incursion in 2025 – think Crossbills!

Bring binoculars; a spotting scope will be provided. Binoculars are available to borrow from the Gilley with advance notice; make a note in the comments section when you sign up. Be sure to dress in layers suitable for the weather. Group size is limited to 14.