The week of June 15th offered a two day workshop with the Lignonberries, a music duo (Stephanie and Erick Quirth) from Kodiak who stopped in Homer to offer a music construction workshop after ending a road tour. The Lignonberries offered workshops in Kenai and Homer through the public libraries and share similar music construction workshops for homeschool students during the school year in Kodiak when they’re home.
In Homer, the workshop focused on creating a musical loop by adding various sounds and experimenting with different effects like reverb. During the workshop youth participants discussed the rhythm and ambiance of the sounds they created, suggesting elements such as atmospheric sounds, reverb, and layering of high and low pitches. As a group, they imagined a scene involving a fight with magical powers, a police chase, and a superhero in a city setting. Specific sounds like rain, honking, and sirens were recorded and layered to enhance the urban atmosphere. The session emphasized the importance of listening and riffing off each other's ideas to build a cohesive musical piece.
Erick Quirth explained, “that's kind of like the message with my workshops in general, is like this is how easy making music could be. It doesn't have to require years and years of practice. You can make quality things right here, right now. I would say that's my main message with these workshops.”
On Thursday this week, the library will offer “Nature Journaling for Teens” with Kristen Link. Kristen’s website introduces her as “a science illustrator, field artist, and writer based in an off-the-grid cabin near McCarthy, Alaska, on the edge of Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Her work combines careful observation, scientific accuracy, and drawing from life to communicate the complexity and beauty of the natural world.”
Her first book, Discover the Art of Field Sketching (published by Timber Press in April 2026), draws on a decade of teaching field sketching in Alaska. She has led artist-in-schools residencies in rural Alaska communities from Gambell to Metlakatla for all age ranges.
Link explains that the book shares her process for doing field sketching from the perspective of being a science illustrator: looking at all different kinds of subjects, starting with like flatter subjects like leaves and feathers, and then building up form, looking at plants, landscapes.
In terms of the workshop, she explains:
“Nature journaling is a super fun tool, because you can think about art and make art, but also it’s really not about making art that you're going to hang up on the wall, it's kind of about spending time with whatever you're sketching, and about the process. Drawing diagrams and sketches can be a part of it, but so is writing notes or making measurements, asking questions. It's a really fun kind of a way to look at something from different perspectives, and if people aren't comfortable drawing, it's a great place to start. It can take some of the pressure off of the art aspect of how does it look, or am I a good artist?”
Link is also in Homer to participate in a collaborative project coordinated through the University of Alaska:
“I am also here because I'm participating in In a Time of Change retreat. There's a project that's kind of just starting this year with artists collaborating with scientists doing research in the Gulf of Alaska, so we're going to see the exhibit that's up at the Pratt Museum right now, “Boreal Forest Stories Echoes,” something that came out of another Boreal Forest Stories: In a Time of Change project, and then we're going to go across the bay and do a retreat in Peterson Bay Field Station.”
Cinda Nofziger is the Homer Public Library children’s librarian who coordinates most of the events for the summer. Additional upcoming events for youth and more are available by searching the Homer library website. For the nature journaling workshop no experience is needed and all materials are provided. Registration is required through the library website.
Reporting from Homer, this is Emilie Springer.
