Category: Events

Upcoming and past events are listed here.

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Natural Inventions – Staging in the landscape – Sept. 5-7

Similar to last year’s land-based photo workshop, we invite photographers and non-photographers alike, to engage with the land in constructing site-specific assemblages using natural materials and then to photograph them. The image remains as a record of what will inevitably change and fade in the landscape. Over the weekend we will use alternative printing methods to turn digital images into tangible prints.

Cyanotype print form digital exposure, Will Wright, August 2024

Participants will work with digital cameras, but are free to shoot film for later processing as well. Exercises and photography will take place around the farm property. Digital results will be reviewed onsite and historical cyanotype printing (blueprinting) will be experimented with. All materials will be provided and a basic camera or phone for making exposures is all that is required.

If you are interested in attending a workshop, please register online or contact us at workshops@scff.ca. Participants will stay the weekend at SCFF or arrive for each day’s session.

Practicalities

Participants will arrive in Tamworth on Friday afternoon or evening and may stay an extra night on Sunday to make a long weekend should they desire.

Cost: $575 includes tuition, accommodation and meals;
$390 for those who do not require accommodation and breakfasts.

A deposit of $60 will hold your place with full payment due 2 weeks prior to the workshop. A non-refundable fee of $60 will apply if you cancel less than 2 weeks prior.

Ride sharing can be coordinated where possible. Pick-up and drop-off in Napanee is also possible should one wish to take the bus or train from Toronto area or Montreal.

Registration closed

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Still Center 2025 Men’s Retreat A Success

Greg De Koker and Brian DeCastro opened the SCFF retreat season with their 3 -day men’s retreat with its focus on visioning one’s life, embracing the land as a tangible metaphor for the weekend’s process of reconnecting with oneself.

“It was a very special time at a very special place.“

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Spring Birds Counted – May 11 !

We had a wonderful sunny day walking the property as a group of 6, spotting and identifying by sight and song. Beginning early in the open fields, it was clear and pleasant. With the leaves just budding, one could see a wide variety sitting in the trees, calling and swooping across our view. Scott Russell wrote down the list of more than 30 species in his notebook as we progressed.

Here is the list that has been shared on the eBird site!
https://ebird.org/tripreport/375178

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Book Club and Study with Victoria and Sine

Introducing: A Book Club designed for you to recalibrate, and design your self-image and create more of what you love in your life from the inside out.

Victoria Hirst and Sine Andersen, have come ogether to create a unique on-line book club—a space for conscious growth, honest reflection, and deep transformation. We’re diving into Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz—a timeless classic that still changes lives through its insights on self-image, identity, and the invisible limits we place on our own results.

AND, this is more than just a book club:
It’s a practice.  A community.  A frequency where we:
– Decode the mental patterns that keep us stuck in outdated identities
– Reprogram our inner image of who we are and what we’re capable of
– Train self-leadership, quantum shifts, and aligned action
You won’t just gain insight—you’ll experience transformation. Guided by two women who have lived the work and now live to share it.

We begin Monday, May 12th
12 PM EST Canadian time / 6 PM Scandinavian time.
Every other Monday: May 12th and 26th, June 9 and 23rd, July 7 and 21st

Classes will be 45 mins in length with additional lifework provided to maximize your results. Registered members will have access to all class recordings as the journey unfolds. If you’re ready to create results that match who you truly are, join us, live in person.

This is your moment to step in, your investment is only $99US. 
Please register here (Zoom link will be provided before May 12)

Registration closed

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Spring Bird Count – May 11, 2025

Man with binoculars

The Spring Bird Count on May 11th kicks off our season in Tamworth. Please join us at SCFF for this annual count of birds. Yes it’s Mother’s day and you are welcome to bring your mum, and you can wander the property keeping your eyes and ears open for all you may see and hear. Then share the birds you find with the eBird app. We will also be collecting the list for the day and uploading it. Please register by emailing us at admin@scff.ca so that we know to expect you. This is a free and fun event.

group of 3 people in a field seen from behind
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May 23-25, 2025 – Still Center Men’s Retreat at SCFF

If you’re done spinning your wheels and ready to break free from what’s holding you back, the Still Center’s “Emerging Man” Retreat is for you.

Transformational and Lifestyle Coaches, Greg De Koker and Brian DeCastro will be co-hosting a unique men’s retreat experience at SCFF this spring that will include men’s team building, physical fitness, immersion in nature, journaling and meditation. This isn’t just a weekend away. It’s a reset. A recalibration. A chance to break free and step into your next chapter with confidence and clarity.

This retreat is an opportunity to:

  • Identify and remove the hidden barriers keeping
    you from the life you truly want – and deserve.
  • Reconnect with your personal power and
    step into the man you were meant to be.
  • Gain clarity on your next steps so you can
    stop waiting and start creating.
  • Join a strong brotherhood of like-minded men,
    all committed to growth.

Greg De Koker has been a personal development and human connection junkie for over 3 decades. He is currently a Transformational Coach, Retreat Host and Dream Catalyst. Greg helps people get clear about what they truly want and what gets in their way, and then helps them get out of their own way so they can start living their dream and loving their life even more.

Brian DeCastro, is a Holistic Life Coach & Reiki Master. He helps support entrepreneurs, manage and optimize their health and energetic life force while offering strategic coaching in breaking down and rebuilding winning habits, so that they can bring their best in all of life’s endeavours and come away feeling fulfilled that they contributed massive value to the world and others around them.

If you’re interested in learning more about this Men’s Retreat, please contact Greg at greg@stillcenter.ca or 416-219-5799.

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Drum Leaf Binding – Jan 2025

At a one-day workshop in January, with 5 of us at the Sydenham Library, we went through the process of folding, gluing and trimming the binding which has no sewing, which opens up flat and can use a variety of materials for the spine and the board covers. The binding is attributed to American master binder Tim Ely. Peter learned boxmaking and gold leafing from Tim in workshops and boxmaking is high on the wishlist for this summer’s binding adventures.

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Hand Bookbinding Workshops 2024 with Peter Sramek

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This summer series of workshops introduced making books by hand, covering basic techniques of folding and sewing books without glue and moving on to historical sewing formats appropriate for a wide range of art and bookmaking projects. They were held in Kingston at the Tett Centre and at the Sydenham Library and Heron Point on Eel Lake.

August 9-11
Handbound Artists’ Books: Introduction to Non-adhesive Binding Structures
$300. plus accommodation if required ($175)

This workshop intensive introduced a range of basic sewn structures and each person made a range of samples over the weekend.


Sydenham Library, Ontario and Heron Point on Eel Lake – August 2024

Future sessions will be organized in different locations and take a similar approach with the possibility of diverse content and emphasis. To express your interest and help with planning these offerings, please fill out this form and subscribe to our mailing list to be informed.

Tett Centre Gallery, Kingston, ON – July 2024

Introduction to Basic Hand Bookbinding

Learn how to easily create small, decorative blank books and later assemble your own contents into book form. This workshop will cover basic folding and sewing of small sample bindings, covering a range appropriate for newcomers to book making: single section pamphlets and stab sewings, albums and multi-section formats with paper covers.
Only basic hand tools are required and all materials will be provided. Bring your lunch.


Linkstitch and Album Binding Structures
This workshop will cover two (or more if we have time) formats adapted from historical bindings which allow for the creation of multi-section books. Decorative spine sewings, as well as a format appropriate for use as albums with inserted contents will be constructed. Once again, we will make a number of blank books with paper covers. This workshop will follow well from the skills covered in the Introduction day. Only basic hand tools are required and all materials will be provided. Bring your lunch.

Express Interest in a Future Workshop
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Recent Workshops at the TETT Centre, Kingston

These two one-day workshops took place in the TETT Gallery at 370 King Street West, Kingston, coinciding with an exhibition of photographs and books by Peter Sramek. Future sessions will be organized in different locations and take a similar approach with the possibility of diverse content and emphasis. To express your interest and help with planning these offerings, please fill out this form and subscribe to our mailing list to be informed.

July 6 11:00-4:00
Introduction to Basic Hand Bookbinding
$90.

Learn how to easily create small, decorative blank books and later assemble your own contents into book form. This workshop will cover basic folding and sewing of small sample bindings, covering a range appropriate for newcomers to book making: single section pamphlets and stab sewings, albums and multi-section formats with paper covers.
Only basic hand tools are required and all materials will be provided. Bring your lunch.

July 7 11:00-4:00
Linkstitch and Album Binding Structures
$90.

This workshop will cover two (or more if we have time) formats adapted from historical bindings which allow for the creation of multi-section books. Decorative spine sewings, as well as a format appropriate for use as albums with inserted contents will be constructed. Once again, we will make a number of blank books with paper covers. This workshop will follow well from the skills covered in the Introduction day. Only basic hand tools are required and all materials will be provided. Bring your lunch.

Express Interest in a Future Workshop
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SCFF BioBlitz August 3-4, 2024

In conjunction with the Nature Conservancy of Canada we are inviting you to join us on the August long weekend for our second BioBlitz at Shibagau Creek.

Cuckoo on branch

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is calling for its annual countrywide BioBlitz on the August long weekend and we invite you to participate with us.

"It is the NCC's intention to unite thousands of people across Canada in a collective community effort to celebrate and document the diverse species across our beautiful country. Bioblitzes are a community-led gathering of information about species in a certain area held over a certain length of time. These community science events have led to the documentation of rare or endangered species in many countries, including Canada. Our collective observations can grow our knowledge of native species’ distributions and help conservationists target areas to eradicate invasive species. These efforts may help conservation efforts to restore the balance and health of our local ecosystems. By documenting the natural world and sharing these observations to a global database, anyone can give back to nature."
NCC BioBlitz Call

As we learn more about who and what inhabits the land, we celebrate all that we encounter. 

  • Pick your species be it flora, fauna or both and wander the 100 acre property noting what you see, take pictures to later upload for the Nature Conservancy using the iNaturalist app and enjoy the peace, quiet and beauty of all that’s around. 
  • Bring friends looking for a fun and easy way to support nature this August long weekend. 

Please come for a few hours on Saturday and/or Sunday. We can’t wait to hear/see what we all discover. 
Please fill out the Registration Form
to let us know when you will join us and receive further details.

Registration Form

Victoria and Peter

P.S. See what happened last year!

The Shibagau Forest Farmstead is situated within the traditional territories of the Mississaugas, Anishinabewaki (ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ) and Wendake-Nionwentsïo peoples who are the original owners and custodians of these lands on which we are honoured to gather. As part of the Upper Canada Land Surrenders, under the Crawford Purchase of 1784, no treaty was ever signed.

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