On Mother’s Day weekend, consider taking your favorite mom to Brushwood Center in Riverwoods to take a yoga class, paint outdoors, listen to music and view and purchase nature-related art.
These activities are part of Brushwood Center’s inaugural Mother Earth Market May 7-8, an extension of its popular holiday market. Brushwood Center is housed within Ryerson Woods, which includes a state-dedicated nature preserve.
“We had a holiday art market for the past five years and it’s been really successful. It’s one of our favorite events,” said Julia Kemerer, director of art and administration at Brushwood Center.
“This year, we decided to expand to have a spring market. The nice thing about it being in May is we can put on some extra events outside,” she said. “We wanted to really emphasize the rejuvenation aspect of spring. It’s a take-a-moment-for-yourself event in honor of Mother’s Day weekend.”
Admission is free to the event, including 9 a.m. outdoor yoga classes on both days. A few activities such as forest bathing and art classes have a fee and require registration. Participants who want to join the outdoor yoga class should bring a mat.
After yoga, the art show and classes, music and other activities begin. Forty artists’ works centered on the theme of nature will be displayed inside Brushwood Center as well as outdoors.
“There’s a wide variety of ways artists interpret the theme of nature,” said Kemerer. For example, some objects are made with natural elements or from recycled materials.
One artist, Kimberly Darovac, creates jewelry pieces out of broken items. She owns ScarabSanctuary, which sells pendants, brooches and rings created from items such as champagne bottle wire.
Another artist takes covers from discarded media such as old library books and turns them into notebooks and sketchbooks. Brian Martin, who creates the books, also makes flower bouquets out of recycled maps, along with other projects.
“My passion for books and keeping the Earth a great place for all of us to live has inspired me to create an eco-friendly business,” Martin said, adding he uses recycled materials in packaging and thermal-printed shipping labels. “I have a form off autism called Asperger’s syndrome, and a customized job is always the best way for me to accentuate my strengths,” he said.
Northbrook-based artist Karen Bonner, paints watercolors on wood and slate. Nature photos she takes while traveling with her husband often become subjects of her art.
Martin and Bonner’s works can be viewed and purchase only on May 7 and 8, but art lovers can also browse other items online from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 30 to May 6, and make early purchases of other artwork. Items purchased online can be shipped or picked up at Brushwood Center.
The weekend will also include free art projects visitors can join. For example, easels will be set up outdoors with paper and watercolors for budding artists to try plein-air (open air) painting, to the backdrop of oak/hickory woodlands.
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Artist and owner of Sepia Rainbow Cari Carlson will lead an art class on creating ancient straw paintings at 11 a.m. May 7. The $30 fee includes materials and instruction. Participants will use colored pieces of straw, assemble them into a picture on recycled paper, and cover them with beeswax. Materials used are sustainably sourced and local.
Sarah Abu-Absi, a certified nature and forest therapy guide, will lead participants through the woods at noon on Saturday for $10 per person. Preregistration is recommended for the art and forest bathing classes.
“Forest bathing is really great,” Kemerer said. “You go into the forest and you have an experience that elevates just going for a hike. You stop and pay attention to all of the sounds and smells. It’s a really wonderful way to slow down and soak in the experience of being in the woods,” she said.
Live music will be performed from 1 to 5 p.m. both days on the stone porch in back of Brushwood Center, overlooking the garden. Performers include a veterans guitar group from the James Lovell Health Center and a brass band called Bone Appetit. The event also includes giveaways, including flower and vegetable seeds from Elawa Farms in Lake Forest.
Mother Earth Market
When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. May 7 and 8
Where: Brushwood Center, 21850 Riverwoods Road, Riverwoods
Tickets: Free admission
Information: 224-633-2424, brushwoodcenter.org
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.