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Therapy Chickens: Let the Wisdom of the Flock Bring You Joy: 04/11/24

Therapy Chickens: Let the Wisdom of the Flock Bring You Joy

Therapy Chickens: Let the Wisdom of the Flock Bring You Joy by Tedra Hamel (2024) is a short book about the ebb and flow of life and the passing of the seasons from the perspective of a flock of backyard chickens. Tedra Hamel is a critical care nurse and outdoor guide in Washington state. She also happens to keep a small flock of chickens which she started drawing portraits of around the same time my art shifted to almost exclusively chickens.

Well before her book was published, I found her posts on Instagram while searching for things tagged "chickenart." Her pieces are tagged "therapychickenart" and came back in the searches. I was instantly hooked by the personalities captured in her pieces.

This book follows through a year, one season at a time. Under each season are a series of words defined in terms of how a chicken sees the world. At the end of the paragraph there's a short sentence suggesting how as a human being we can take inspiration from the chicken. To accompany the paragraph and advice is one of the author's chicken portraits.

Hamel's artwork is efficient in its use of line, form and color. She brings more to the piece in how patterns are woven into the piece. With concise palettes and clean lines, these portraits often resemble a square from a quilt.

Unfortunately most of the hens in this book died last year after a dog got into the author's backyard. She is currently raising a new flock of hens. She's still sharing photos and artwork of her chickens on a regular basis.

Five stars

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