Children can write a book about Stanley Park in Westfield – pictures are already ready

WESTFIELD — Denise Calvo-Berndt believes strongly that children should get out into nature more and use their imaginations. To help them do that, Calvo-Berndt is offering inspiration in Stanley Park on July 12.

Calvo-Berndt is a local artist who inspires people of all ages to write their own story through her illustrations.

During Friday Morning for Kids in the Park on July 12, Calvo-Berndt will give each participant her illustrated, pre-made book, “The Park,” and help them fill it in with their own words. The illustrations feature Stanley the duck and his friends exploring the park.

Calvo-Berndt said she was inspired by growing up near Stanley Park.

“I’ve been going to Stanley Park for over 50 years,” she said.

And while exploring the park has been a lifelong passion of mine, painting and drawing are a new hobby.

“I didn’t start painting until I was 60,” she says, adding that she has her children to thank for that.

“My kids bought a farm, and I didn’t realize at the time that it would be a vegetable farm and not an animal farm. Jennifer Dorgan from Piece of My Art offered a class to paint a pink cow, so I thought it would be fun to paint one for my kids’ farm,” Calvo-Berndt recalls. “So I went to the class and realized that I had an easy time painting. Jen said I could paint and draw, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

Calvo-Berndt started making illustrated fill-in-the-word books, which she calls “books for the ages” because people can look back on a book they wrote themselves, and sold them at Pilgrim Candle and some craft fairs and ArtWorks events. And people liked them.

“A woman bought me one for herself and her sister so they could write about the farm they grew up on. So it became a lasting memory book and I loved that,” she said.

For the Stanley Park workshop, she hopes children will explore the park and use their imaginations to write an adventure for Stanley and his friends.

“We did it for the first time last year and one boy said it was the best day of his life because he was in the park and wrote his first book, and that was reason enough for us to do it again,” said Calvo-Berndt. In addition to her illustrated books, Calvo-Berndt sells illustrated bookmarks and original drawings and paintings, many of which depict birds.

“I just love painting birds,” she said.

After several requests, Calvo-Berndt is considering expanding her offering to include note cards this year.

Calvo-Berndt said she has never been an artist and still does not consider herself one.

“I enjoy it and I do it for fun and when other people like it and want to buy something I made, that makes me happy,” she said.

Calvo-Berndt worked in the oncology department at Noble Hospital for 15 years and was – and is – a real estate agent. She hesitates to add the word “artist” to her credentials.

“For me, creating is the most relaxing and beautiful thing,” she said. “I have no training, so for me there is no right or wrong – I am just me.”

Registration for the one-hour Friday session is free, but space is limited. Each child will receive an illustrated book with blank pages to write a unique story; participants should bring their favorite writing tool. To register, email [email protected] with the child’s name. A confirmation email will be sent to confirm registration.

Children’s Friday mornings, most of which do not require booking, are held from 10am to 11am throughout the summer in the Beveridge Pavilion and are free, weather permitting. Tables and chairs are provided.