Birding & Brushstrokes: Cedar Waxwing

A collaboration with the Art Base

Join us at the inspirational setting of Rock Bottom Ranch for an evening of birds and watercolor! The class will start off with a short birding outing with ACES Bird Guide Rebecca focusing on the Cedar Waxwing and other resident birds, their behavior, and how they interact with the environment. The students will then explore with Amy the various techniques, materials, and tools of watercolor to paint several perspectives of the Cedar Waxwing. One of the valley’s most beautiful birds, its silky plumage of browns, grays, and yellows is accented by its bold black mask and expressive crest. Let your creativity fly!

IMPORTANT: Registration is processed through the Art Base. Your normal ACES login will not work – you will be prompted to create an Art Base account if you do not already have one.

About the Instructors:

Amy Beidleman is an Aspen valley local artist. She has been teaching watercolor painting since 2015, at various places in the valley, all the ACES locations, Explore Booksellers, The Art Base, and The Red Brick. She teaches in several plein air workshops for the Independence Pass Foundation, various schools and other entities outside of the valley. Besides Amy’s teaching, she has a greeting card line, sells her paintings in several art shows a year, supports non-profits through the creation of artwork, and does commission work for businesses and individuals as well as volunteer as a Curator for the Aspen Chapel Gallery. She is mostly self-taught, continuously studying and taking classes. At a workshop she learned the joy of being able to do two loves at once, painting while being outside or Plein-air painting. Amy has been in Aspen since 1978, and with Neal has two grown children, Finn and Reed.

Rebecca Weiss Rebecca Weiss is a birding guide and naturalist with thirty years of experience in the Aspen area and Colorado’s mountain regions. She is author of the local guidebook, Birds of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley and the primary guide for ACES’ Birding Program. She is a certified interpretive guide and holds a BS in Biology and a MA in Education. Rebecca’s professional background includes bird banding, field research, and conservation writing as well as outdoor education, program administration, and guide training. Past employers and affiliations include the National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Outward Bound, and the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab.