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Skagit Land Trust's 2018 Conservation Social: Marine Environments

Join us at the Museum of Northwest Art on Thursday, November 8th to connect with friends, learn about the latest work at the Trust, and hear how the natural world inspires local artists.

Guemes Island poet, Edith M. Walden, and La Conner area poet, Georgia Johnson, will read a selection of poetry inspired by the marine environment found at the shorelines of Skagit County. Samish Island artist and birder, Thais Armstrong, will present a selection of her work and speak on the dynamic collection of wildlife that use these natural areas where the land meets the water. Please see below for full artist biographies. Don Wick will MC the night's program.

Thank you to the Museum of Northwest Art for generously hosting this event and to Don Wick for serving as our MC.

Thank you also to our sponsors - Bert Clay  at John L Scott Real Estate, Terre-Source LLC, Cline Consulting LLC, and Skagit Law Group Pllc.

	Edith M. Walden was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. She received an MFA at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She taught poetry in the Connecticut Poets-in-the-Schools program and at the New Haven Correctional Center. Her poems have appeared in the Iowa Review, Calyx, and Oberon Poetry Magazine, among others. She was a finalist this year in the Phyllis Ennes Poetry Contest, sponsored by the Skagit River Poetry Festival. She lives on Guemes Island where she farms a commercial organic orchard.
	Georgia Johnson now lives on a farm and in a forest next to the Salish Sea, Skagit Valley, with one husband, one dog, and all the critters you would expect. That field of brussel sprouts speaks resistance to her. Over the years she has taken the advice of Robert Sund, Alice Derry, Clifford Burke, David Lee, the Dalai Lama, Julia Child, saints of that nature. In 2000 Desert Rose Press, San Jose, New Mexico, published her first, “Finding Beet Seed” so beautifully. In 2016 Flying Trout Press, Bellingham, Washington, published her second, “Just Past Dew Point” so carefully. She loves the sound of her own voice amongst the coyote song. She still believes in Patience, Pressure and Surprise.
	Thaïs is known for her poetic landscapes in acrylic and watercolor. Her love of birds, nature, international travel, and meditation provides spiritual inspiration in her work. Thaïs studied at Grinnell College in Iowa under pastel master Bobbie McKibbin. Grinnell College hosted her first art show in 1984. Her paintings are held in private collections across the United States, abroad, and in multiple corporate collections. Thaïs’ interest in birds brought her to Skagit County where she moved in 1991. She is an avid international bird watcher and a Charter Member of the Skagit Land Trust. Thaïs lives on Samish Island with owls calling to her under moon light, writing pens, painting and breathing with the tidal movements of Alice Bay.