Midwest Birding Symposium-Come With Me!

The Midwest Birding Symposium is almost here! In 34 days, close to a thousand birdwatchers will flutter down upon Lakeside, an idyllic resort on the shore of Lake Erie. It's coming. People are signing up like crazy. I would like you to consider joining the flock. So I shall seduce you with flowers, beautiful architecture, scintillating talks, groovy field trips and a certain charismatic Boston terrier.

This is my favorite birding event aside from the Big Sit, and for many of the same reasons. Most of all, I love seeing so many wonderful people, greeting and yakking with them at my booth. Lakeside is like this big beautiful Victorian summer camp, and seeing groups of birders sauntering through its quaint streets makes me happy. They're going from talk to talk.

About those talks. I sat down to make a list of the speakers I wanted to hear. I got a piece of paper, went to the Speakers link on Midwestbirding.org
and started writing. About halfway through, I started to chuckle, because I'd written every single one down as a can't-miss.

Last year I gave my talk in Orchestra Hall, with its lovely acoustics and intimate atmosphere. Perfect. But a tad small. We don't want to make anyone stand up.

This year, I'll face the cavernous expanse of historic Hoover Auditorium, along with a roster of wonderful speakers. I'm Al Batt's warmup act on Saturday night.

 

Imagine this place packed full of birders. Scary! Fun!  As it happens, Hoover's where I'll have my art booth. So I'll get to hear a bunch of awesome talks, and I'll get to see practically everybody as they come through. Yay! Come and say hi! Remember to blurt "BLOG!" if that's how we know each other. People won't look at you funny.

It's time to pack up the booth. I enjoy the challenge of using my Poor Man's Pickup, the cargo carrier I bought to haul Extra Stuff. Usually that means bales of straw or lots of bungeed garbage cans, but sometimes it means Fine Art.

 

 Many bungee cords, some strapdowns, some tarps and yes, some duct tape will be deployed.

Here's hoping for the same perfect winey-sweet September weather we enjoyed in 2009.

I'll have limited-edition prints and original paintings like this one from my upcoming book.

 

  It's called The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds.

It's due out in early spring 2012. 80,000 words and 320 brand-new color and pencil illustrations...it's been a thing. But it's done now and just about to go to press, and I cannot wait to hold it in my hands. 

I'll be taking the first pre-orders at this Symposium. If you pre-order The Bluebird Effect here, you'll get it before anyone else, and I'll be more than happy to sign it and personalize it as you request.

But enough of my yakkin'. Let me show you Lakeside as I know it and love it.

 

There's a lovely walking path that runs along Erie's shore, past gorgeous homes and luscious gardens.

 

 I walk and gaze and fantasize that Bill and I are sitting in those chairs, sharing a julep as we gaze out on the lake. But of course there would be many more dandelions in our lawn.

  

 There are almost no cars to worry about, just golf carts and bicycles, so you can walk anywhere. 

There are big green spaces with tantalizing squirtles.

We'll be bunking at the Hotel Lakeside, which I understand is full up right now. Liam is spooked by the ghosts that are said to walk its halls, but they're mostly just playing dressup with the sheets.

 

Both kids are hugely looking forward to it. Phoebe loves the architecture and the freedom of riding bikes anywhere she and Liam want to go.

 

Chet Baker loves the place, too. And he'll be with us, so this may be your chance to get your kiss from a very down-to-earth canine cyberstar.

 

As you can see, my Crazy Dog Lady priorities are in order. Chet first, kids second.

We'll all be signing our books, even Phoebe and Liam, who helped Daddy write and design the

Young Birder's Guide.

 2009's Authors' Event was really fun. Here's Lang Elliott, Sharon Stiteler, Paul Baicich, Bill Thompson III, Jim McCormac, Wayne Peterson, Lisa White and Jeff Gordon, all lined up to meet, greet and sign. I was sandwiched in next to Bill, because we both sign copies of several of his books that I've illustrated or helped on.

If all this sounds like fun, please consider attending. There's PLENTY of lodging space left, both on the Lakeside grounds and off, from humble dormitories to bed and breakfasts to cottages to hotels in nearby Port Clinton.

Click here: Lodging Options  

or

Email: hotels@lakesideohio.com 

or 

call: Lakeside's Steve Koenig at 

419-798-4461 x 230 or

1-866-952-5374

What I'm trying to say is It's Not Too Late to Regiser and PLEASE COME SEE US! You'll be so glad you did. Birders are the friendliest people anywhere. And this is such a lovely, smoothly-run event in a lovely, smoothly-run place. It has a huge and an insanely great vendor mart, too, so if you're thinking of upgrading your optics or picking up the latest, hottest books, clothing, or birding accoutrements, this is IT.

Come ogle the many gorgeous homes and gardens.

Come hang out with people who love birds. Come hear terrific talks and watch the sun rise over Lake Erie.

  Come chase fall warblers with people who also think that's fun. Maybe the Kirtland's warbler who graced 2009's event will stop by again. You never know what will show up on migration along Lake Erie.

Hey! I'm a Cape May!

Visit midwestbirding.org for every detail. Check the toolbar across the site's top for links to everything you could want.
 The Thompson/Zickefoose/Baker family is anxious to see you there.

We'll be gassing up down at the Sibley Mart on the way up. Only seems fittin'.

Zickefoose at West Liberty

Zick and Billofthebirds performing music at the conclusion of my talk at the lovely and acoustically perfect Hoover Auditorium, Lakeside, Ohio. Photo by Jim McCormac.

I'm doing my best to catch up on sleep and rest after the Midwest Birding Symposium, which was really fun and stimulating. However upon reflection I've decided that it was like standing in a receiving line for three days. But wait, there's more:

On the off chance that readers live in the Wheeling, WV area, I'll send a shout out into the ether. I'm leaving Tuesday for a three-day Zickapalooza at West Liberty University in West Liberty, WV, not far from Wheeling. Here's the schedule:

Lunch with Authors

Tuesday, September 29, Noon

Ohio County Public Library

Wheeling, W.Va.

Speakeasy

Wednesday, September 30

Noon

Social Room, Interfaith Chapel, WLU

Hughes Lecture

Wednesday, September 30

3:30 p.m.

Boyle Conference Center, ASRC, WLU

refreshments

Art Exhibition Opening "Letters from Eden"

Wednesday, September 30

5:30 p.m.

Nutting Gallery, Hall of Fine Arts WLU

refreshments

Watercolor Master Class

Thursday, October 1

Noon - 2 p.m.

I'm hoping to feel a bit more zippy by Tuesday. Think I'll need to be on top of my game, with a show to hang and four talks to give. Come see me if you're in the area!

Chicken Brain

Chicken brain
Runnin' all night
Chicken brain
Runnin' all night
Chicken brain Chicken brain
Can't get on, can't get off
Chicken brain
Runnin' all night

I'm back from the Midwest Birding Symposium, but just barely. Got in at dinnertime, slept the sleep of the dead, just and righteous, dragged myself up at 5:30, got the kids on the bus, and now I'm de-tarping, de-trailering, and unpacking my art materials in the rain. Ain't it always the way.

The Symposium was stupendous, the weather was wonderful, the tarps didn't so much as flutter on my fabulously packed car, I sold 52 copies of Letters from Eden, and the kids had a marvelous time riding bikes and golf carts and hobnobbing with all our bird world friends in the sunny September weather. Lakeside ROCKS!! Don't expect a lot of photos; we were running nonstop. Now I've got a week to sort it all out and wash what needs to be washed and put everything away before pulling it all out again for the next road trip/Zick art-talk-dog-and-pony show at West Liberty University near Wheeling, WV. Sept 28-Oct. 1. Bill and I are like a couple of post-Apocalypse zombies this morning, but we showed 'em all a good time.

Symposium Time! You Coming?

I am drenched in sweat and happy to be sitting down. I've just completed a dry run of packing for the Midwest Birding Symposium, coming up September 17-20. That is NEXT WEEK. With the Leigh Yawkey show in Wisconsin between. Yiiiikes. Still haven't packed for Wisconsin, but by the time you read this I'll be there. So it's gotta happen some time in the next 24 hours.

I've been prepping for this for several weeks, selecting art and prints and making labels and signs, setting up my ProPanel booth, deciding what goes where, and ordering copies of my books to sign and sell. It's a big deal, a lot of work, but Mighty Mouse is up to it.



Thanks to Facebook friend Eric Fitch for the link. Mighty Mouse was my absolute favorite cartoon when I was about six. I'm way past caring if I date myself by admitting that. Thinking back on it, as the youngest of five, I could identify with a mouse who opened his shirt and became a superhero.

So today I did a dry run of packing my car for the Symposium. Downsizing to a fuel-efficient Subaru means giving up some serious cargo room. It means retrofitting my new little car to accept great big things. Job One was installing a 2" heavy duty trailer hitch, and on that hitch went a metal cargo box. I had never heard of such a thing until I bellyached to my farmer neighbor Rusty about having so little cargo room in the new car. "What you need is a cargo box," Rusty said. Oh. So I got one, from the nice folks at Steve's Vans. I could definitely become a habitue at that place. Figure out how to carry my canoe, get a rocket box for the top...oh yeah.

I could instantly see the point. It's like having a little removeable trailer rigidly affixed to your car. No wheels or brake lights to worry about, and you can even open the hatch with it on, before you load it up. It's heavy--70 pounds--so I need help to get it on the hitch. But I was determined to figure out how to load and secure the cargo myself, so that's what I did this morning.

Geoff Heeter, proprietor of Opossum Creek Resort in West Virginia, turned us on to ratchet straps a few years back. And ratchet straps ROCK. Take it from someone who graduated from ropes (always loose, high stretchability and low tieability) to bungees (you'll poke your eye out!) and is now the biggest ratchet strap fan on the planet. With a couple of turns of a handle and some satisfying clicks, you can get those suckers on so tight they sing. Ain't nothin' goin' nowhere with that bad boy tying it down.

I did need to figure out how to keep everything dry, because you know the minute I strap everything down on that trailer, the skies will open. You know they will. It'll be cloudless and blue and I'll look up and there will be a little black cloud centered right over my car and a bolt of lightning will come down and it will dump two inches of rain on my show panels. That's just how Mr. Murphy works.

So first I strapped everything down and tried to wrap the tarp around it. Can I get a DUH from y'all? Ain't no way to do that.

So I unstrapped it all and put the tarp under the cargo and wrapped it all up like a big Christmas present and THEN strapped it down and that was the way to go. Here it is, ready for the red ratchet straps. I figure there's gonna be some duct tape deployed in there when I do the real deal, any way you cut it. Probably a whole lot of duct tape.

Let it rain. If I'm ready for rain, then it won't rain. That's the idea. But I felt like Mighty Mouse when I was all done, because I'd figured out how to get an oversized load clear across the diagonal width of Ohio in (or on) my new little car. And only put one tiny ding in the paint, right under the license plate. The first ding is the deepest.




I can already see that this demi-trailer is going to have major applications for hauling cockroach-ridden recycling to town, too; hauling trash, bales of straw... Anything that's too big or dirty or nasty to put in the car is going in that cargo box. Hear that, kids?



Speaking of superheroes, I want to acknowledge the work put in by the Bird Watcher's Digest staff, headed up by none other than Bill of the Birds, to make the Midwest Birding Symposium happen. It's a Herculean effort to pull it off, but nobody does it better than BWD. Anyone who attended the MBS at Lakeside in 1997 and 1999 will heartily agree. We are going to have an amazing event. There's nothing like hanging out and yakking with other naturalists, birders, artists, vendors and all-around great people, in a cozy Victorian village on the shore of Lake Erie in September. Lakeside is a mini-Chautauqua, right here in Ohio. If by any chance you've been toying with the idea of attending, but are afraid it's too late, it's not! There's still room for more and time to register.

Go here to find out more. I haven't attended a birding event with a finer roster of speakers. And the relaxed atmosphere means you can actually hang out and talk with them, not just sit obediently in your chair and clap when the lights come up. You can learn what digiscoping's all about, hear about birding in Guatemala and Uganda, ride a boat, find out how and why to start your own blog, chase fall warblers and shorebirds, get books signed by your favorite ornithological demigoddess or -god (I ain't namin' names, just check the speakers' roster), buy art, gear and optics, and pretend you're attending a fabulous college on a beautiful campus that's dedicated to birdwatching and nature appreciation. Come on! I'd love to meet you! Just remember to blurt "BLOG!" when you see me, and I'll know that you know probably just a wee bit too much about practically everything.

We have nearly 800 people attending, with room for a couple hundred more. You get a full pass Sept 17-20 and meals for under $100. Think about it.


This post is for my Mighty Mouse.

Time to Paint!

Another year, another Bird Watcher’s Digest cover. My 18th, I think. Maybe 19th. I’ve been painting covers for this wonderful magazine since 1986. Yow. That’s a long time.

This was to be a special painting, one to mark and commemorate the fact that Bird Watcher’s Digest is hosting the Midwest Birding Symposium Sept. 17-19 in Lakeside, Ohio. The Caspian tern is the Symposium’s logo bird. The last time BWD hosted the MBS at Lakeside, Phoebe was very sparsely furred, pot bellied and little enough to sit under my French easel and arrange my paint tubes by color, and stay happy that way for a long time. Liam wasn’t even here; he was just giving me a distinctly Hitchcockian profile. Now Liam’s nine going on ten, and Phoebe is 14 going on 25. I remember the Bird Watcher's Digest-hosted Symposia of 1997 and 1999 as the most fun I’d had in a long time—so many of our friends from the bird world came and hung out. The weather was divine, the setting was Victorian and gorgeous, the speakers were top-notch, the birding was great, and Bill and I were excited to share our little family with the world, even though as a primary organizer he was running around like a crazy man, walkie-talkie in hand, making it all fall together for the nearly 1,000 participants. That was where I first held a Swarovski EL binocular in my hand and said, “If a pair of these drops down from the ceiling of the delivery room when Liam arrives, I won’t need any Demerol.” And I didn’t, and I got my binoculars and my sweet boy.

I wanted this painting to somehow capture the excitement and sense of camaraderie of the Symposium. I also wanted this cover to be different, looser, more fun. I was determined not to tighten up and get all picky. I was happy with the last one (The Missing Pane), which featured my orphaned eastern Phoebe, Luther. But I wanted to push it farther into the loose, slightly sloppy world of watercolor. I’m a watercolor painter, and at the half-century mark, I’m pretty sure I’ll never be anything else. I just love it. I fall back in love with it every time I pick up a brush.

A BWD cover demands that there be something of interest on both the front and back of the magazine. Of course, the main area of interest needs to be on the front cover, but I don’t want to neglect the back, either. There needs to be room for blurbs and the masthead and the UPC code…it’s a lot to think about. In the end, though, I didn’t want a painting that looked like it was engineered around all those little necessities.

I wanted strong horizontal and diagonal lines, and I wanted the birds to be bathed in light—that most of all. Here’s the sketch, which is actually pretty well realized, with the direction of light already worked out.



The thing about watercolor is that it’s fast. So fast, in fact, that I had already masked the birds with film and liquid masking compound by the time it occurred to me to take a photo. I had already put in the surf and sand flats. I had already made my paper dolls of the cover birds, cut them out, and stuck them to the painting so I could see how their colors would work with the sand and water I'd painted. See how the cutout bird is casting a shadow? It's stuck to the painting with tape.



I’d already started figuring out where the reflections were going to go and how they would look. Whoops. Well, that just goes to show you that sometimes life takes precedence over blogging. Lately it has taken a LOT of precedence over blogging, and that is a beautiful thing.

Next: Birds and reflections.