NORTHFIELD — A Northfield painter and author is helping children connect with nature through a four-book series that has been distributed to the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, Mass Audubon’s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust and beyond.
Copeland was recently recognized by the Massachusetts Cultural Council for her children’s book series “Seasons in the Forest,” as well as the numerous art workshops and readings she does in area libraries, schools and environmental centers. At an awards ceremony in Boston, Copeland met other creatives from a wide variety of disciplines who have benefited from Cultural Council grants, like herself. She received a $5,000 grant.
The “Seasons in the Forest” books are set in the northeastern deciduous forest. Although the books are intended for children, they portray animals and share information about those animals in a way that is true to the real world.
“If [children] learn the names of things and to see things,” Copeland said, “then they start feeling connected [to nature].”
Her work has not always been focused on nature, though. Copeland began painting while in Paris, and she initially focused more on portraits and townscapes.
“It was really when I came to western Mass that I started painting more in watercolor or drawing more nature,” Copeland said.
This is evident throughout her work, as many of her paintings are directly inspired by things she sees or hears on her daily walks with her dog, Maisie.
“When I’m walking through the woods, things just come to me,” Copeland said. “I heard the geese honking one day, and the phrase ‘Fly away, fly away, fly away goose. There’s a chill in the air, the wind’s on the loose’ just came to me.”
Copeland noted she has always enjoyed working with children. She used to be an elementary school teacher.
“I had that desire to work with children early on,” she said, “and there’s just a kind of simplicity and directness in working with kids that I really appreciate.”
An example of the work Copeland does with children is a 2024 workshop in Holyoke, where she taught children how to paint pileated woodpeckers.
“I think, from that day until forever, they’ll [recognize] a pileated woodpecker, because they’ve drawn it,” she said.
Copeland will hold a similar workshop for parents and children focusing on scale, perspective and proportion before her art show this winter at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst.
Copeland also hopes that her work can have a lasting impact on the children.
“There’s so many children in our world today who just don’t get enough nature,” she said, “and it’s so much a part of who we are as human beings. How we are in nature, how we see ourselves as either part of nature or separate from nature. I hope that we start to see ourselves more as a part of nature.”
Copeland emphasized her appreciation for the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s support of her work, a sentiment that was echoed by state Sen. Jo Comerford.
“I am glad for Christine Copeland’s vision and work, and I am grateful to Mass Cultural Council for supporting creative individuals,” Comerford, D-Northampton, said in a statement. “Caring for and reading to the very youngest members of our society is one of the most creative activities we engage in.”