Several months ago members of our sketching group discovered a new winter sketching spot. It was the home of a well-known Quebec naturalist, but it has become a place where school groups come to learn about nature. The place is full of stuffed animals, pinned insects, skulls, shells and other representatives of mother nature.
The best part about it is that the kids can handle all these things rather than the typical hands-off policies of such places. The downside of this, of course, is that many of the specimens aren’t in pristine condition. The good thing for sketchers is that we can move any of these specimens to a table, set them up as we like, and draw them.
While others in our group have been to this place several times, I’ve always missed out due to doctor’s appointments and bad arthritis days. But I got to go this week and it was wonderful. I spent most of my time wandering around, admiring the collections, sort of taking inventory for future trips, but I did finally sit down and got acquainted with a beaver. It’s sure good to be drawing on location again.