Journaling the wild places within and without

Journaling

What is personal journaling and what is nature journaling? And can you do both?

In my 20's, I began keeping a personal journal using notebooks picked up from the grocery store. I was very shy and it was hard for me to talk to people, but I was very curious about the world and had many questions. My journal was a place to figure out what I was thinking. 

I wrote about my hopes and dreams, my kids, the garden, the goats we kept, and day trips to the lake. It was a safe place for me to comb through the cobwebs in my head and explore what I could not verbalize.

Books on shamanism and animal symbolism brought new meaning to my nature walks and the animals that kept showing up to me in out of the ordinary experiences. I wrote through my experiences, seeing the messages nature was sending me more clearly. Journaling calmed my inner storms and grounded me, giving me the words I could not speak. I journaled to hear myself and to understand what I was thinking. 

Nature Journaling

Years later, I was invited to a writing group and met a lovely older woman with the most beautiful book I’d ever seen. She placed it on the table while the other writers, uninterested, discussed characters, plot holes, and other writerly things, but all I could do was sneak glances over at her book.

When the meeting was finally over and I got to ask her about her book, and she let me look through it. The covers were bark planks, the spine was thin branches woven together and fastened to the bark with twine. I ran my fingers over the textures and carefully turned the pages to reveal, tucked inside, found treasures from her nature walks. Feathers, loose pages of handwritten notes, drawings, leaves, pressed flowers, plant fibers, and shells. I was transported back in time to her journeys.

As she got up to leave, without explanation, she told me I needed to take the Kamana course, and then she walked out the door.  I never saw her again. That night I looked up Kamana and knew this was the next step in my journey.

Kamana taught me how to observe

Kamana (from the Wilderness Awareness School) starts with you picking out a sit spot every day to observe your surroundings. Then you draw in your journal what you see. Sometimes I focused on one thing of interest. Sometimes I drew a map of everything around me.

Through Kamana, I learned how to let go of my inhibitions to drawing (a little!). Knowing it was just for my eyes only, and that it was for recording details more than art, helped me to put pencil to paper.

I started with a coyote and bullfrog. The course taught me to sit with a photograph of the animal for several minutes and do nothing but observe and memorize as many details as possible. Then without looking back at the photo, draw everything I could remember. I was surprised I could remember more details than I initially thought. Then and only then, after memorizing details, did I go and look up information about the bullfrog or coyote and add it to the page. 

Encouraged by this process, the next time I was out in the garden, I practiced with a sparrow that perched on a nearby post. He stayed long enough for me to observe his basic shape and coloring and when I went back inside, I sketched all the details I could remember, and then looked through the bird book to identify him. I was surprised that I knew enough details to narrow down which sparrow he might be. To this day, wherever I am, this sparrow’s details still stick out when I see one. 

Symbolism and meanings

Along the way, I’ve always researched animal meanings and symbolism when I’m drawn to a particular animal. For a time, snakes would show up and I nature journaled their habitats, what they eat, and other fun facts. Since we had western diamondback rattlesnakes on our property, my kids and I did a homeschooling unit study on them, learning the lore surrounding them, their traits, places they liked to den up, and interesting facts about their venom vs other types of rattlesnakes. We even learned how to tan the hide, which I still have with my other nature treasures. 

When I journaled deeper into snakes and animal symbolism, I learned how they were relating to my own life at that time. Snakes take in and slowly digest a whole animal. Likewise, at that time, I could study a topic in-depth, but then I had to back away for a time to “digest” the material and think through it. 

It was claimed in the past, that shamans would ingest very small amounts of venom to build up a tolerance, thereby learning how to “transmute the poisons” and symbolically this taught me to do the same with toxic people and situations in my life.

My compass 

I’m now in midlife and personal journaling is still helping me stay grounded and centered in myself and find my direction when I feel scattered or lost. I’ve found that journaling and nature journaling separately, and then together at times, reflect back to me the precise messages I need to hear. 

For me, journaling will always be a place to write so that I know what I’m thinking and hearing what my intuition is telling me. And through nature journaling, I step outside of myself and observe nature and what it is telling me. And the two together keep me on my path like a compass. I go there to reflect, reconnect, and discover the wild within and without.

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You can find Shanna’s recent titles Nature Day by Day, and the 5 Senses Journal as well as other journals, recipe books, and notebooks on Amazon. You can read her blog at ShannaLeaAuthor.com.

Nature journaling the Alaskan wilderness

“Here skies are clearer and deeper and, for the greater wonders they reveal, a thousand times more eloquent of the eternal mystery than those of softer lands.” - Rockwell Kent

No matter how much or how little you know about Alaska, you know that it’s big. How big, however, is not something that any human imagination can comprehend.

One could cut two-thirds off Alaska and say, “No roads or trails penetrate these parts.” Yet in these roadless regions are hundreds upon hundreds of tiny villages, rich in traditional and indigenous cultures living right on the edge of modernity, subsisting largely on resources directly from the land. In Alaska, rural means off the road system and these villages are accessible only by small plane or boat. 

It is through these places that I have traveled with my partner Bjorn Olson by means of sea kayak, packraft, and fat-bike, in both summer and winter, and I have documented my adventures in a stack of nature journals. 

After traversing thousands of miles across Alaska’s most remote regions, I have gained a completely new perspective on wilderness and nature. Mostly I have learned humility. I have also learned that without trails or human-intervention, nature creates lines and routes that are conducive to human migration.  Like a tiny ant that crosses the yard one blade of grass at a time, humans are adapted to cover ground and water over vast, untamed reaches.  

Most Alaskan landscapes are so remote and so dynamic, that documentation of natural events is sparse. I have used my journal to collect citizen science information on climate-change signals such as shore-zone erosion, seabird die-offs, de-glaciation, and the spread of trees.

Human-powered wilderness trips require tremendous efforts of all kinds. Maintaining a regular practice of journaling while underway requires dedication to overcoming the challenges related to time, energy, and cold.  But the grandeur of the landscapes and the richness of wildlife means that inspiration is never lacking. Over the years I have accumulated a treasury of stories and experiences, often enhanced by the practice of journaling, and I know that I will continue to collect them as long as I am able. 

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See more of Kim’s work at KimsNatureDrawings.com, and Kim’s Nature Drawings on Facebook and Instagram and more of Bjorn’s work at MjolnirofBjorn.com.

Intuitive nature journaling

“You will have to experiment and try things out for yourself and you will not be sure of what you are doing. That's all right, you are feeling your way into the thing.” - Emily Carr

I’m feeling my way into nature journaling, coming to it from a side path of abstract landscape painting. I’m not a nature journaler in the traditional sense but my journals spill open with nature.  

I grew up on the West Coast of Canada at the edge of the big city of Vancouver in a place called “Sea to Sky country”. I spent countless hours sailing the coast, skiing the mountains and camping with my family and friends. I stuffed shells in my pockets to add to my collection, and read Audubon guides while snuggled on the boat. I recounted stories of otters, bears and whales in my lined notebooks. I had a childhood that gave me an opportunity to ‘just be’ in nature; to watch the natural world, to be bored, and to spend time alone with myself. 

Eventually, I went off to art school and trained in all the traditional studio practices, earning my Bachelor of Fine Arts and Art History. I spent years painting abstract landscapes in acrylics on canvas. I had sketchbooks but they were just for keeping notes and planning paintings and projects.

Then a bright little soul, (who wouldn’t sleep), entered my life and my art practice changed. In those early years of motherhood, my lack of energy, space and time forced my practice to evolve. I began art journaling and the process felt like it merged all the things I loved about drawing and painting, with my need to express and transform my energy into something beautiful and tangible; something I could hold in my hands and reflect upon. 

I now have two bright little souls (ages 3.5 & 7), who keep me quite busy (and still sleepless)! Yet I make time to create nature-inspired art almost every day. Journaling is central to my creative practice. Our family spends many hours in the forests, mountains and beaches of the beautiful Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. I don’t find much time to actually journal while we are out adventuring. Instead, I mindfully take note of colours, sounds and imagery, thoughts and emotions, and that I record them in my memory for later use in my studio. I journal in an expressive and intuitive way that is more abstract than representational, capturing the spirit of place and my emotions. 

My most recent journal is a teeny handmade one that I started in March 2020, just as Covid-19 came sweeping into all of our lives. In the first few days of this pandemic, as cancellations, closures and unknowns seemed to roll in like waves of a storm, I wanted to create but just couldn’t focus. I knew from my experience doing the 100 Day Project in 2019, that a project with a few guiding parameters would encourage me. For this journal I chose a small scale, limited colours and just a handful of materials. This journal brought a soothing sense of child-like creation back to me; I was drawing, painting, cutting and pasting. I worked mindfully, taking inspiration from my surrounds, and following my intuition. 

I often write memos to myself in my journals, like mantras or prescriptions for well being. On this page I wrote, “trying to stay rooted in this body and this place”. The tall trees of this coastal rain forest withstand wild storms all winter. They remind me of the need to ground myself; I must trust my roots to weather this storm. 

The loose marks on this daffodil page express the chaos of my ‘monkey mind’, that was jumping around in fear and anxiety as the pandemic spread. Pause. Breathe. I looked to the the tall trees that surrounded me, and the bright greens of new leaves and grass, and I saw and felt the steadiness of nature. I am always reassured if I intentionally focus on the present moment.

I was so grateful for beautiful spring weather during our first few weeks of our shelter in place experience. I spent many hours watching our little girls play in our front garden. I felt more joyous and appreciative this year than ever when the cheerful daffodils popped up. On this journal spread I wrote, “..and as the world felt both chaotic and calm, she watched the daffodils bloom as they always do.” 

Like other things in my life during this time, I allowed this journal a bit more time and  breathing space; I slowed down and considered my elements and next move in my composition. I really enjoyed thinking about how the pages and elements related to each other as the pages were irregular sizes, showing elements peeking out from pages behind them. The journal took on a more structurally interesting and personal feeling than the store-bought journals I often create in. 

With nature as my muse, I can create a rich, layered and expressive ‘home’ on the pages of my journal; a safe place for my thoughts and feelings. I hope that my artwork inspires others to feel that they can be loose and expressive in their journals. What you see in nature is a starting point. What you bring of yourself to the page is what makes your journal unique and wonderful. Like Emily Carr said, you are, “….feeling your way into things.”

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You can find more of Nicole’s work on her website www.nicolewarrington.com and on Instagram @coastalnicole.

Nature journaling as The Way

There are different kinds of treasures in this world. Some of them are created over the years of hard work. Other ones are locked in private collections, museums or galleries.  And there are treasures that live deep in the hearts of people who cherish them and share with others. These treasures are songs, stories and experiences. They are a core of life itself. They are life-giving and inspiring.

My treasure is nature journaling.  One of the first thing I was amazed by when we moved to Montreal, Canada, was the simple plantain. Later I was excited to notice chamomile too.  They became my friends who were the silent witnesses of the power of simplicity and acceptance. 

I was born and raised on the other continent, in Ukraine. As a little baby, I was making my first steps in this life, these two plants became my friends. Seeing the familiar plants in the Northern America opened me to the totally new perspective of getting to know Canada through the wildflowers and birds. It is my way of learning about foreign country, its culture and falling in love with it. It's the similar to finding new friends around the world and enjoy book crossing, sending postcards, recipes. In both ways, we start building our knowledge by pieces of loved glimpses of familiar buildings, landscapes, smells and melodies.

My first journal was very simple and portable. Now I have several of them. One is settled on the shelf next to the books and watercolor paints. It is the perpetual journal (my big shout out to Lara Gastinger @laragastinger for the inspiring idea and explanations).

The other is dedicated to the challenge of #52species (hosted by Jill Wignall @the_little_oak_learning ) through the year. It was a little bit scary to start such a big project!  As I was making a plan I understood that 52 is a bare minimum. The nature is much more generous to reveal the living creatures I can witness and share on the pages of my sketchbook.

Journaling is a deeply therapeutic activity too. Now, when we have scarcely a couple green places open, it is even more important to connect to the nature regularly.  The fact of being locked inside the crowded spaces, with the fear spreading from every media source, created a huge amount of stress.  But when you walk at least a kilometer almost in any weather it seems more bearable. When you cherish the song of the strong wind, winter ice diamonds, or the rainbow in a fountain in summertime - this all makes your blood flow in the same rhythm as the nature around. It makes you feel more alive.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not the most outdoorsy person. I wouldn’t go outside if neither kids nor me feel good enough or the weather is horrible. But if it is possible to spend at least 20 minutes outdoors, we go. We walk and talk, and sketch everything that's possible to find.  Or at least we make photos to admire and sketch later. 

That brings us back to the treasures. It becomes a treasure itself. Living in a tangible harmony in urban spaces is tough but it's worth trying. It is my way to be rooted and flourish where I am. What is your way?

P.S. My deepest gratitude to Bethan @journalingwithnature for the invitation and patience, and Anna @impossible.is.just.opinion for the genuine support and proofreading. My love and respect to my husband for his continuous support and care that made it possible to keep creating.

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Find more of Ingeborgh’s beautiful work on Instagram @ingeborgh.sketcher.

The art of discovery

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the Earth are never alone or weary of life.” – Rachel Carson, American author and biologist (1907-1964)

If you are reading this, you already know that nature journaling is all about discovery. Whether you sketch right in your own backyard or travel to more wild places, whole worlds open when you start to observe and draw from nature. You may start with a tree and find a forest or begin on a rocky ocean shore and discover the amazing realm of tide pools. When you observe and sketch nature, you begin to see things that you may have missed before—bird nests tucked in thickets, golden threads on a butterfly’s chrysalis, the color of shadows on snow.

I have been recording nature in my journals for many years. What I love most about it is the sense of discovery and renewed sense of wonder that is central to my life. My journal is more than a record of what is happening in nature. It is also the place where I am recording what I am experiencing and learning—my journey as an artist and naturalist. Sometimes I make notes about my subject, but more often I include a word, quote, or poem that is a reflection of the moment. I am putting myself on the page, too.  

One of the best parts about nature journaling is that your journal is for you. That may sound obvious, but if there is a message I most want to share it is this:  it is up to you to decide what goes into your nature journal. You decide how much time you put into it, what materials to use, and how you want to approach it. You decide whether it is beautiful or sloppy or scrawled with notes or has no words at all. There simply is no “right way” to keep a nature journal. The only rules are the ones you make for yourself—which, of course, you can break and remake as you see fit. 

Keep looking. Keep exploring. The art of discovery is a beautiful thing.

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Find more of Jean’s nature journals on her website www.jeanmackayart.com and Instagram @jeanmackayart. She offers workshops by request. You can find more about the Arts and Birding program Jean facilitates at https://hogisland.audubon.org.

How to draw a bat: Nature journaling

Bats often get a bad rap, especially in these current times. I think now is a perfect time to show some love to our little bug-eating, flower pollinating friends and what better way to do so than through nature journaling! As a Biologist, I often turn to drawing as a way to better understand and appreciate different organisms in nature, and I recently took a deep dive into learning and discovering more about bats. Here are a few tips to adding some beautiful bats to your nature journal.

 Step 1: Choose a bat reference.

Many people have never had the pleasure of seeing a bat roosting or watching it foraging for its prey. There are many wonderful places throughout the world to view bats as they leave their roosts for the night, some great viewing spots in North America include Bracken Cave Preserve in San Antonio Texas, and the YOLO Bypass in Davis, California. Additionally, some zoos and wildlife centers may also have bats that can serve as great models for your nature journal. But if you cannot venture out at night, I recommend browsing the web or thumbing through your local field guides to find a bat species you would like to learn more about. I like to research local bat species, but they come in all shapes and sizes so I encourage you to choose one that interests you.

Step 2: Bat Anatomy

Bats are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight, and they have evolved some amazing adaptations to support their nocturnal lifestyle. Here are a few diagrams from Encyclopaedia Britannica, inc. to help make sense of what you may be observing on your bat.

Step 3: Block out the basic shape.

Now that you have your bat in mind, start to block out the basic shape. I chose a Mexican free-tailed bat as my reference, using several photos from online sources. I used a non-photo blue pencil to lightly block out the general shape of my bat, but you can also do this lightly in pencil. Pay attention to proportions: how big is the head compared to the body, how big are the ears in proportion to the body, etc. Bats tend to have bulky chests due to the flight muscles.

Step 4: Block in detail

Using the same light touch, I start to carve out the outline of each feature making sure to step back and be mindful of proportions and where features line up and connect. As you draw in these details begin to ask yourself questions about the species; what is the reason for their nose shape, why are the ears shaped that way, where do they roost, etc. Drawing a nice picture is fun, but asking questions helps nurture curiosity and can lead to some fun discoveries along the way. 

Step 5: Outline

Once you are happy with the placement of your lines and proportions, go over your work with a darker pencil. You can stop here with your drawing or take it further by adding color. I like to use watercolor to fill in my work, so I use a Micron 005 to outline my drawings.

Step 6: Add color

I use Winsor Newton and Daniel Smith watercolors to build color on my bat from the lightest tones to the darkest. My bat had brown and purple tones which I tried to reflect by building up the layers. 

I started by adding a light pink base to the skin-areas.

Next I added in the lightest brown tones in the fur.  

I then dropped in some of the darker brown tones to the fur and darker blue-purple tones to the skin to create the shadows. 

Finally, I added some warmer mid tone brown colors to balance the contrast, adding some dashed strokes to create a slight fur texture. 

Hopefully this tutorial has inspired you to try your hand at drawing one of these fascinating little mammals. I also hope this exercise will help you appreciate your local bats a little more and show that they are not just a mysterious and spooky creature, but rather an important part of our local ecosystems.  

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Find more of Lora’s work on her website and on Instagram @loraroameart.

My journey into nature journaling

Nature journaling is a personal dialogue with nature, it helps translate how we experience our place in the natural world as individuals. 

When I started nature journaling it was a way to translate my sense of wonder into something physical I could look back at. A way to hold onto those moments of feeling complete awe and fascination for plants, animals and fungi. I love how we can get lost in the process of observing and documenting and have fond memories of trying to identify a specific plant purely to name it in my journal. All of a sudden I found myself wanting to know plants by their names, to know which butterfly a specific caterpillar turns into and how to successfully press plants. 

For me nature journaling focuses on the details and little patterns in nature. I wasn’t just seeing a flower, but a collection of shapes and variety of colours. It taught me the importance of looking up close, that sometimes the small things in life can bring immense joy. 

So what actually is nature journaling? To be honest it can be anything involving nature and a notebook. While I particularly focus on identifying and getting to know the plant and fungi world around me, you might enjoy drawing birds or landscapes more. 

I always like to encourage people to use the medium that feels most natural to them, whether that’s photography, writing or illustration doesn’t really matter. If your nature journal practice feels exciting and fun, you’re more likely to continue with it long term. So when you’re starting out don’t be afraid to experiment, to ‘mess’ up and try different techniques. Some questions to ask yourself: 

•  How much time can you spend on your journaling practice? Could I schedule time to journal?

• Do I prefer to journal alone or with others, maybe a mix of both? 

• What excites me about nature (journaling)? 

• How do I translate my experience as part of the natural world?  

 Answers to these questions will naturally guide you to a nature journaling that fits your needs and interests. 

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Find more of Johanna’s beautiful work on her website eumycota.com, Instagram and YouTube. Her podcast is called Inevitable Change and you can listen to it here. Her nature journaling classes can be found on Skillshare.

Cultivating a deep sense of place and time

I always feel better when I have a sketchbook in my pocket and a little naked if I’m out in the world without one. I’m a biologist by training and my previous career was in salmon restoration. Then and now, I use field sketching to feel closer to my surroundings and more deeply understand the world around me

In 2015, I was looking for a way to use art in a long-term project to explore local environmental change. I was moving away from data and information and into a career as a natural science illustrator and was hoping to increase my naturalist knowledge and become intimately acquainted with a local landscape. That summer, there was a wildfire in the hills to the west of my town, and one of the areas that burned was a well-loved natural area run by the University of California Natural Reserve System. I went up to take a look at the site shortly afterwards, and realized that this would be a perfect opportunity to watch rapid habitat change as the reserve responded to the fire.

I started to hike the trails at the reserve monthly, drawing and documenting everything I could. The spring after the fire, I watched the first fire-following wildflowers appear, chaparral shrubs begin to sprout new growth from their bases, and animals return to the canyon. It has now been over four and a half years since the fire. The depth of understanding that I have gained from this practice—into fire ecology and into the specifics of the habitats at the reserve­—has given me immeasurable joy. You can find this journey on my blog, Wildfire to Wildflowers.

We are all watching the world change around us in unprecedented ways. With climate change accelerating, many things we once took for granted are no longer certain: weather patterns, seasons, wildfire frequencies and intensities, the composition and behavior of the plants and animals around us. Artists, naturalists and all close observers of the natural world are in a unique position to chronicle this change. We have the tools to document, analyze and share what is happening in our own neighborhoods and the environments we encounter regularly. We have a great power to become more deeply enmeshed in our world: understanding its past and watching as the present unfolds into the future.

This is ecoreportage: close observation of the environment at a specific place and time, repeatedly returning to build a picture of ecological change. As a long-time field sketcher, biologist and artist, I have focused on this practice. I want to know how my surroundings came to look the way they do and I want to understand how they change as I observe them over time. I have come to see the work as a form of journalism, requiring me to understand my subject’s past and ask probing questions about what it looks like now, compiling a detailed picture as I return again and again over the years.  

Just before the pandemic, I had embarked on a new project to explore my immediate surroundings more deeply. I live in Yolo County and am working on an investigation of the history of this landscape, including all of our human impacts over time. With the latest restrictions on movement as we shelter in place, I am currently focusing on my own neighborhood, with suburban homes and agricultural research fields. What plants, animals, fungi are thriving in this built and actively managed environment? Which ones have been or are on their way to being eliminated?

As sketchers, journalers, artists, naturalists and observers, we each have our own fragments of the picture—a full understanding is something we can only discover as a community. Although sketching is often a solitary pursuit, in order to reveal the bigger picture, we must combine our own small parts. As we do, we are seeing the emergence of a great, ever-evolving tapestry of change in the natural world, in our homes, and in ourselves.

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Robin’s work can be found on her website, Instagram, and Wildfire to Wildflowers blog.

Bringing the outdoors in

For me, nature journaling is just as valuable as an indoor practice as it is an outdoor one. Stepping outside, to walk and discover a moment of calm in the natural world is a gift to oneself. Be it beside the beach or surrounded by trees, a stroll in the local park or contemplating a moody sky above while walking the dogs in suburbia can have an effect of peace and gratitude.

I find particularly in this time of COVID 19 and the global need for self-isolation practices, the appreciation of nature is even more heightened. This can happen in small ways. It can just be the practice of walking, noting what catches your eye and inspires you to want to document it further in your art.  By picking up a fallen branch, a feather or a patterned stone and taking it back home and into the pages of my journal serves me as a time to study and reflect. The art of nature journaling is that of focus and meditation. To follow the spirals of a shell whorl, the clumps of lichen growth or the reflective colour of a dropped parrot feather is ultimately an appreciation of life and it’s intricacies.

I think the one singular activity that has helped my art practice is to keep a nature journal. It’s made me slow down and contemplate. It’s also made me more creative, for example, in taking a small clipping of wattle and subsequently building imagery around it in my sketchbook. If I can't sit directly outside, I can remember the bee that flew close to the wattle flower or the time of day and weather.

My medium of choice is watercolour and I find this to be perfect for re-creating the transient moods of nature as watercolour is also unpredictable and spontaneous. A container of water and a few portable colours outdoors is a great choice for documenting nature and it’s changing elements. Yet, as much as I like to work loosely, I also find the practice of a more detailed botanical study of a spider or a leaf in the studio gives me the confidence and better understanding of form and textures that I may not have had with time or weather constraints outside.

Having that time of reflection plus an on-going record in your journal is also a way of recognizing what attracts you in your art-making. Is it colour, texture or a particular subject like trees or birds? Inside my journals, I can look back at past work and see if my drawing style has changed or if there are certain motifs of the natural world I return to.

Most importantly, I love the process of nature journaling, sketching indoors and out. It makes me feel more connected to myself and the environment. It’s an opportunity to keep learning and growing and never to underestimate the living world. It’s made me appreciate not just a beautiful new flower but also the transient beauty of a faded and broken leaf. By bringing the outdoors in, nature journaling keeps me connected to what I most appreciate in the natural world.

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More examples of Sara’s work and process can be found on her website www.saracorren.com and process  on her Instagram Sara Corren (@saracorren).

How I inspire children to nature journal

Hello my name is Amaya. I am 14 years old and a fellow nature journaler. Today I am going to share about how to inspire children to nature journal. I have been nature journaling since I was ten years old. I started encouraging other kids to do it alongside me when I was about twelve.

Encouraging kids to nature journal can seem difficult but it's quite easy. If you want them to start journaling you need to lead by example and journal around them. Allow them to sit with you and watch your process. It will inspire them to do their own. There have been many times where I've been on a hike or in one of my homeschooling groups and children have come up to me and asked me if they could journal with me. Always say yes. It not only encourages them but you can learn from them as well. My friend John Muir Laws teaches others to use these three simple prompts when journaling: I notice, I wonder and it reminds me of. When a child sits with you can use these in your conversation with them. It is amazing what little kids come up with. Make sure to look over their pages and find something you can point out as a positive feedback. Do not just praise their “pretty pictures” try and point out examples of accurate observations. An example of this would be Instead of saying “I love that blue bird you drew”  you can say “ I love how the bird on your page is in a tree. What else do you think lives in this tree?” 

Another important part of inspiring kids to nature journal is to make it as fun as possible! Don’t worry about grammar, spelling or the pretty pictures. The toughest part about journaling with kids is that they get sucked into the world of pretty pictures. Make sure they are having fun and observing what is around them. Be as hands on as possible. Make sure to provide access to kid friendly supplies. Their own paint sets, water brush pens, kid friendly field guides, tape measures and magnify glasses are just a few examples.

Encourage kids to practice everyday. Trust me the more you practice the better you get. Nature journaling is NOT a talent it is more like a skill, like any skill it can be improved over time. I would also add to let them journal their way and journal what they want. What I mean by this is that it’s ok if they want to draw bugs and not birds. Their journal should be the observations of what they see.

The last important key to a successful nature journaling time with kids would be to make sure that the kids have all their basic needs met before you start. Food, water, dressed for the weather and they are not too tired. If you use these few simple suggestions I know you will have the kids in your life nature journaling in no time! Hope this inspires you to start today.

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Introducing ‘Green Sketching’

Sketching is a fantastic tool for nature connection and wellbeing. But if we want to persuade more people to sketch nature, I believe we have to make sketching much more accessible.  

Why? Because the beautifully composed pages of a nature journal can seem pretty unattainable when you’re busy, stressed and convinced you can only draw a stickman.  And if you currently spend most of your life sitting indoors, staring at a screen, it may be a little optimistic to expect you to start keeping an annotated record of your nature observations.  

This is why I decided to develop a new sketching practice, a practice that could help people of all ages connect with nature and enhance their wellbeing. I called it ‘green sketching’. I wanted to make sketching nature as enjoyable and unintimidating as possible by tackling the most common barriers to participation -- perceived lack of ‘talent’, time and nature expertise.

In practice, green sketching has ended up a hybrid of field sketching, nature journaling, mindful drawing, urban sketching and botanical drawing. It’s closely aligned with nature journaling, sharing many of the same values, not least the importance and rewards of careful observation. But there are a few key differences: 

1. You don’t have to keep a dedicated journal

The aim of green sketching is to use the process of sketching to see and enjoy nature. The moment you pick up a pencil with the intention to sketch, you start noticing more beauty, colour and wonder. 

It doesn’t matter whether you sketch in a sketchbook, on a scrap of paper, a Post-it note, or even a receipt. The less precious you about where you sketch (and what you sketch with), the more often you’ll find yourself sketching. 

Of course, you may be inspired to start a traditional nature journal, but don’t worry if (like me!) you haven’t the time, inclination or discipline to keep a dedicated journal.

2. You don’t have to know or learn about nature to enjoy and appreciate it

Nature journaling is a fantastic tool for learning and development, which I hope to see integrated into every school’s curriculum. 

Green sketching, on the other hand, isn’t a tool for environmental education; it’s a practice designed to increase nature connection and wellbeing. And the latest research on nature connection suggests that engaging with nature’s beauty and wonder can be more effective than traditional knowledge and identification-based activities. 

You don’t need to have any scientific interest or expertise to start green sketching. There’s no need to annotate your green sketches with metadata unless you want to.

You don’t have to be a keen birder or tree-hugger; you just need to be a joy-spotter!

3. You can doodle in your own way, for your own wellbeing 

Although mindful observation is at the heart of green sketching, the quality of your sketch is not important. There’s no need to worry about wobbly lines and wonky perspective. It’s the looking — and noticing— that matters, not your ability to accurately represent what you see on paper. 

You don’t need to show your sketches to anyone if you don’t want to. So just relax and embrace what comes out of your hand! And if you call it ‘a doodle’ you’ll avoid taking your efforts too seriously. 

Whether you keep a traditional nature journal or dabble in a little casual green sketching, you’ll find that the more carefully you observe the natural world, the more you learn about yourself, discovering sources of joy and comfort in your life that you never knew you had before. 

This close connection with nature can strengthen your resilience and offer you hope in troubled times. Given the state of the world right now, there’s never been a better time to pick up a pencil!

 Happy doodling!

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Ali has given an inspirational talk about green sketching for TEDx which you can watch here. Find out more about Boggy Doodles and green sketching on Ali’s website boggydoodles.com and connect with her on Instagram.

Visualizing landscapes: How to render 3D block maps

I love field arts—writing in a field notebook (ie: nature journaling), sketching, painting, and drawing maps. Cartography might be one of my favorite, partly because it is one of the oldest field arts—some ancient petroglyphs might actually be maps (there are several at Twyfelfontein in Namibia)—and because maps are just geeky-cool. I love that maps are a combination of the three primary ways to record nature data: written, visual, and numerical.

Here I share a step-by-step pictorial on how to render a cool 3D map. I created this “map” from a photo after a visit to Cave Creek in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains, in the far southeast corner of that U.S. state. 

The biggest challenge for doing a 3D map of a landscape is pulling the "box" out of the 2D image and envisioning the "cut away" part in a way that works in a 3D cube or rectangle. John Muir Laws has an excellent tutorial on how to create a 3D map in his excellent Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling. He recommends practicing on invented landscapes; I’m taking it the next step and showing how I created 3D cube maps from actual landscapes.

Step 1: Study your photo or live landscape and decide where you want to pull out your 3D box. I wanted to be sure to depict the creek, especially the whimsical spillage off the box (idea stolen from John Laws). Getting the landscape right in the box is the hardest part, and you will probably have to do 4 or 5 tries before it feels right. That's how many it took me on this one! I used this photo for inspiration; from the Friends of Cave Creek Canyon (FOCCC) on Facebook, by Steve Wolfe.

Step 2: After studying your photo (or live landscape) and deciding where to pull out your 3D box, use a pencil to draw a square or rectangle on your page (any shape you like, it’s up to you), with all the corners and "bottom" included. Using pencil still, sketch in the upper corners and limits of the landscape within the box. You can see I drew the right-most upper corner too high and fixed it later. Then I added the general creek location and the background.

Step 3: When I was happy with the placement of the landscape elements, I drew over the main parts in pen, using waterproof ink.

Step 4: After the pen dries, carefully erase the pencil lines that marked the structure of the box. Then go back with pencil and add details; I roughed in the rock spires, the slopes, where I wanted to make the darker patches of vegetation, and a few symbols for habitat types. When happy, I finalized in loose pen sketching, keeping the marks fairly light.

Step 5: The final step was adding the watercolor, making sure to make the farthest mountains darker and warmer blue in tone so they feel like they are receding (instead of making them green or cooler blue). Don't go crazy on the details for something this size and this simple.

I decided to add the clouds and hawk as a fun whimsy.

The next four images show another landscape I sketched, my work place at the University of Arizona’s Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, just west of downtown Tucson. For tutorial purposes, I drew a red rectangle in Photoshop over the image to show where I wanted to capture my 3D map. The placement was specific because I wanted to 1) have enough elevation at the back of the cube to fill it up; and 2) I wanted to encompass the sandy “wash” (dry creek) that runs at the base of the hill, because I’m slightly obsessed with the fun of creeks spilling off the cubes (in this case, dry sand . . .). Note that I also sketched in tree roots, that I wanted to show the dark volcanic underground, and that I added a vulture soaring over the northeast side, and added its shadow to help add a sense of space and fun.

The main thing here is to have fun, and keep trying—these are not easy, but they are great practice at visualizing landscapes in new ways. You really have to study a place, including having “x-ray” vision to see below the surface. 

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Learn more about Rosann’s amazing work in field arts and science on her website here. You can find her books and resources, including Nature Journaling for a Wild Life, here. You can also connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

Nature journaling, nature connection and “deep immersion” into experience

“The two questions we should ask of any strong landscape are these: firstly, what do I know when I am in this place that I can know nowhere else? And then, vainly, what does this place know of me that I cannot know of myself?” ― Robert Macfarlane, The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot

I was always an outdoor person. A childhood spent with horses, on the commons near home. Years in the Young Farmers, long evenings playing rounders, tractor races and displays at the county show. After a failed foray into art school, I dropped out and trained as an environmental scientist. Then, after a little fieldwork, I retreated behind a desk and analysed the outside from inside. 

Mid-twenties, I was diagnosed with “Seasonal Affective Disorder”. Not enough light, they said. Too affected by the seasons, they said. Winter blues and anti-depressants, anxious cycles and deepest lethargy. I would sit in front of a light box for several hours after work, clinging to the crisp blue rays, and wishing the winter away.

I remember one lunchtime in February, walking as I always did from my university department to the music practice rooms and passing a low hedge on campus. There, I saw amid the twigs that a few buds had swollen and greened. Each day thereafter, I watched that hedge as withered green peeped through the buds and unfurled, tiny hazel leaves like limp new butterflies with sodden wings, soon plumping and expanding. Shortly after, I found my way through yoga to Buddhism, and the world came alive to me. 

Once the opportunity came to take my work freelance, I did so. My partner was made redundant at a similar time and we left the densely populated London commuter belt for the West Country. The first thing I did, in 2016, was begin my nature journals. 

I keep three different nature journals now. One is like a diary. It keeps track of where I have been and what I saw there, usually drawing at home from photographs taken outdoors. The second is used to follow the plants and trees through the seasons, drawing from life either outdoors or from samples brought home. The last is my field book, a scrawling mess of words and pictures, that is free from ever needing to look “finished” and can be used expressively. 

 “Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished” ― Lao Tzu

These days, I spend a lot of time out of doors, either working on a drawing or piece of writing or just taking in a place. I think of all time outdoors as a meditation on the present, and practise keeping the past and future out of my thoughts. When I am in the field, when walking, or sat in meditation, I like to ask the question “What else is here?” Think on it a moment, what else is here? Other than thoughts, other than breath, other than sight, smell, sound. What moves in this moment? Continuous asking of this question when exploring a landscape or a place can help us to retain focus and experience more. You may even spot things you have never noticed before in a familiar place. 

Try it yourself.

1) Pick a spot outside or by a window to stay in still presence for 5 to 10 minutes.

2) Ask yourself “What is here?” Maybe you notice the song of a great tit. And then “What else is here?” A primrose across the garden. And continue. Include sights, smells, sounds, sensations, thoughts. If you get lost in a thought, never mind. Once you notice, ask again “What else is here?” and continue. All of these things are a part of the experience. 

3) After the time is up (you can use a timer, or just decide naturally when you are done), make a list, do a sketch of one of the things you noticed, or write a short account of your experience. 

Finally, I would like to say that I no longer consider being affected by the seasons a “disorder” at all, but a rather a symptom of how disconnected modern life is from the natural world. After several years of a simpler freelance life, I am able to enjoy the winter, with no pills and no lightbox. My medicine is ensuring at least an hour a day outdoors, regardless of the weather. Most of that time is spent in observation of nature’s cycle and an enjoyment of the simple dormancy of winter, without yearning for spring. By staying connected to nature’s rhythms, we can shed our ritualised detachment from the natural world. Considering that this severance is a source of so many of the threats to nature, and to our own well-being, this can only be encouraged. David Attenborough said, after all, “No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced.”

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Alex’s work can be found on his website and Instagram.

How time in nature helps me be a better mom

We all want it.  That deep assurance that "today I truly connected with my child". That knowing smile between mother and child; the shared experience carved deep in our hearts and minds. It can be so elusive in our distraction-filled world. But I have found a secret to making those moments happen more often - even daily. The secret is so simple, requires no money and actually very little time. The secret is simply exploring nature together.

Nature is Our Ally

As mothers in the 21st century, we have so many things pulling at us!  Finding time for "the simpler things" can seem like anything but simple. I get that adding one more thing to the to-do with kids list can feel like a burden.

But, what if I could promise you that spending just 30 minutes once a week in your own backyard or neighborhood could give you more of what you are longing for? More in the areas of happiness, peace, and rest?  What if that promise included better mental and physical health for both you and your child?

I have found that the natural world isn't just another thing to check off the to-do list. Nature is a powerful ally in making every member of my family (including myself) feel happier and closer to one another.

Here is what you have to gain:

Nature and Emotional Connection

Fact: Our homes are filled with distractions.  Computers, phones, iPads, Netflix, meals to prepare, chores to be done, etc., etc. Connecting with our kids has to be intentional or it just doesn't happen.

I've found that just taking a few steps with my kids into the backyard, nearby park, or neighborhood eliminates those distractions making it so much easier (even instinctive) for me to be there emotionally.

Of course, these moments can happen inside, but there is just something about breathing in the fresh air and feeling a soft breeze on your face that creates peace and a bond that is hard to emulate indoors.  Clarity of mind comes and a refocus happens when we leave all of the inside distractions behind and allow ourselves to soak in the natural world around us.

Nature and Confidence

The way kids interact with nature is pretty awesome to watch.  Because there are no real rules, kids soon find a confidence that normal, inside parameters just don't allow.  Nature provides loose parts - providing infinite ways to play and use their own ingenuity to create and build.  Playing outside increases both physical and mental confidence something all kids need to thrive.

From a mother's perspective, as I've opened my own eyes to nature, I have been reminded of who and Whose I am.  I can always look forward to the feeling of peaceful confidence falling upon me as I re-discover the bounty of beauty that God has given to me and those I love.  I'm reminded that every plant and every creature is unique and offers something different to this world -  that translates to respecting and nurturing my children's unique gifts and well as my own.

Nature and Creativity

For me, nature and creativity go hand in hand.  When I'm feeling stuck or frustrated in a project, just a few minutes of fresh air and nature walking brings a new perspective and lots of inspiration.

Making the time to unplug from all of the distractions at home, helps my brain rest.

In 2012, a ground-breaking study found that after only four days of immersion in nature, a group of hikers tested a 50% improvement in their cognitive functions related to creativity and problem-solving.

The theory is that the more we bury ourselves in technology, ignoring the natural world around us, the more damage we are doing to our brains.  According to the study, exposure to natural stimuli creates a so-called ‘soft-fascination’ effect. This enables the mind to more easily access an introspective, thoughtful state, and allow imagination to do its magic. The parts of our brain that are active during this ‘restful introspection’ are those that are needed for efficient performance on tasks requiring insight, problem-solving, and creative reasoning.

Nature and Happiness

There are so many studies proving a real connection between nature and happiness. This one, in particular, caught my eye: The mental health organization, MIND, published a study that found depression was reduced in 71% of participants after taking a walk in nature. When compared to walking around a shopping center where 22% of participants were more depressed than before the walk.  94% of the participants said that nature walks benefited their mental health.

Anecdotally, I have found over and over again that in our family, when annoyance levels are high and patience is low, a quick walk outside or impromptu nature study changes everything - for both parents and children.

Martha Farrell Erickson, developmental psychologist and founding director of Minnesota's Children, Youth and Family Consortium confirms, "By following a prescription for more nature experience together, families will discover a win/win situation in which both children and adults benefit as individuals, even as they are strengthening those important family bonds that all children (and adults) need." 

How To Make Nature Time Happen

I've always been an "inside person", happy to sit and read or draw in a quiet, climate-controlled house.  So making time for nature had to be a conscious choice for me. Just like most things in motherhood, my kids help me to do what I would never normally do. Now, I love it!

Here are some things that have worked for us:

Sit Spot

Pick a spot in your yard where you can sit comfortably and enjoy nature.  If you want, you can record what you see and how it changes through the seasons.  The kids and I each have our own Sit Spot. I purchased some cheap carpet rugs that we sit on.  The kids love that they each have their own little rug.  It makes the activity feel special while keeping mud and dirt off.  It also helps them stay in their spot and actually focus on the nature around them.

Go For a Walk

Easy and effective.  I try to remember to look around and notice the natural world around us and model curiosity.  Now that the kids are a bit older, I oftentimes just take one kid with me at a time. I love to see them shine with all of that one-on-one attention.

Get a Macro lens for Your Phone

This is a fun one.  I bought mine from Amazon.  Just connect it to your phone and experience nature up close. It is such a fun activity to do with the kids and really makes us appreciate all of the amazing patterns and details nature has to offer!

Start a Nature Journal

The artist in me longs for time to draw and paint but it's hard to fit it in.  I've found that Nature is the best muse so I schedule a time once a week to "Nature Journal". 

Join Nature's Art Club!

If you'd like to include more nature and art into your family's life, I'd like to invite you to join us at Nature's Art Club! It's a club designed to get you and your family into art and nature through monthly watercolor projects, coloring pages, original poetry, and more. You can check it out here.

Watching a honey bee with our micro-lens on my iPhone

A Few Things To Remember

The website Childrenandnature.org gives some more great tips for success:

It's about being there, not getting there

You may be itching to get your daily steps in by taking a nice long walk, but your child may decide he's happiest finding a place to settle down and play by the closest tree.  Follow his lead to prolong the joy.

Nature is everywhere

You don't have to venture into a wilderness preserve to observe nature.  You can reap the benefits of time outdoors by sketching the tree across the street, hanging a bird feeder outside of your window or even planting a mini-garden on your apartment step.

Be prepared

Ranulph Fiennes said, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing." Make sure to dress appropriately! I've also found that a little snack and a water bottle is always a good idea - even if we are only out for a half-hour.

Embrace the elements

Who says you can't have a great time outdoors on a rainy or cold day? Dress right, have a silly adventure, you'll be calmer and more content when you come back indoors - guaranteed.

Model curiosity

If you see plants or animals or holes or nests that you can't identify - don't worry and don't pretend you have all of the answers. Express your curiosity and follow your kids' innate wonder.  Let them be the experts - you can always look things up together when you get home.

Create Stories

At the end of the day, invite your kids to talk about their favorite part of your time outdoors.  Revisit places you've been and retell stories of what you did. When you do, you'll be developing your family lore and supporting the wonderful connections you've built together outdoors in nature.

Conclusion

Nature is our ally - just waiting for us to take advantage of all it has to offer.  Let it help you connect, feel more inner confidence, find more creativity and deeper joy.  It's one of those awesome things in life that only requires a small investment but, pays in huge dividends.

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Find more of Hannah’s writing and e-courses on her website and visit her on Instagram.

What is nature journaling?

Nature journaling is the practice of drawing or writing in response to nature. This fun, relaxing practice helps you to connect more closely with nature, and results in the creation of your own unique nature journal. Both the practice and the end product are important.

The practice calms your mind and increases your attention to detail and appreciation of beauty. It improves your recognition of different animal and plant species, and your understanding of where and how they live. With time, it also improves your ability to observe, to draw and to write. 

A journal allows you to capture the moment (a sunset, a view, a critter, a flower, a fungus…), and recall observations which would otherwise be forgotten. The entries in your journal can give you inspiration for other creative projects, such as writing, painting, textiles, music, other crafts… the opportunities are endless. A nature journal can also be used to compile species sightings and other more scientific observations that are of great value to citizen science projects. 

A journal can be anything you want it to be. Mine ranges from the personal to the scientific, from records of facts and realistic images to imagined beasts, scenes and stories. And many things in between. 

Nature journals can contain carefully composed pages and finely-wrought, detailed pictures, painted with true-to-life colours. But sketches from memory – in words or pictures - can capture the essence of something, or perhaps what it means to you, far more truthfully than a carefully observed transcription at the time. 

It’s up to you how sketchy or finished, how true-to-life or drawn-from-memory your nature journaling will be. Perhaps an eclectic mixture of many things and approaches, each reflecting your mood at the time?

But a journal should never be an onerous chore, one that you feel under pressure to complete every day, or that you feel needs to contain only perfect pictures or writing. That’s not a journal, that’s a rod for your back. 

A journal should be a playful, helpful, adventurous, extension of yourself. A sandpit for exploring your responses to the world. Something a bit frowsy, a bit lop-sided, a bit ramshackle at times. But at other times it will resonate with a rare quality. It might be beauty, it might be insight, it might be as simple as two lines that perfectly capture the bird you glimpsed flying by. But you will catch your breath and be quietly amazed at what you’ve created. That sentence or story or picture will be yours: your unique response to the world.

Want to find out more? This is an excerpt from Paula’s book Make a Date with Nature: An Introduction to Nature Journaling. Download the free ebook from www.paperbarkwriter.com (scroll to the bottom of the homepage) and keep reading.

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Creative hand lettering with children

Creative fonts have become the norm now, especially for children- I guess this is largely due to the availability of thousands of free downloadable fonts from the internet.

 In my childhood days I remember being allowed the dining room all to myself for several hours where I would decorate my projects with creative hand lettering, to accompany my research from the family eencyclopedias. With no computers to download fonts from, my creativity was stretched to design my own fonts. Sadly none of these projects are left, due largely to my fastidiously tidy mother who vowed never to be a hoarder like her mother-in-law (whose house was most exciting to us kids) and also as a child I never saw the value in keeping these works to look back on. Incidentally I did go on to study graphic design and become a book designer, so all those hours of blissful solitude in the dining room paid off.

It was whilst designing and illustrating my New Zealand Nature Journal book, I had the chance to really think about creative hand lettering associated with different themes and habitats. In this book I tried to match the font design of headings with the habitats.

So, with “A Walk in the Park” I designed a font with internal veins to mimic leaves for the page that said Autumn leaves.

With “A Walk in the City Street”- All letter ascenders had a wee light on them.

For “A Walk in the Mountains” I used a blocky 3D font.

“Moonlog” was done with bubble font and 2 moons for the “O”s

And so on.

I enjoyed this so much I have started teaching holiday workshops focusing on creative hand lettering with children. I also teach workshops to children and adults on nature journaling and we look at how we can include creative hand lettering on the journal pages.

In the creative hand lettering workshops I ask children to think about themselves and write their name in a creative way that tells me something about them- their personality or likes etc. 

We also look at words of animals and create fonts that incorporate the particular animal in it. Or part of the alphabet made up of flora and fauna.

Creative fonts in nature journals add another dimension to the page - they add to the drama and mood of the page and extend the  response to that habitat or parts of the ecosystem we are documenting.

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Find a copy of Sandra Morris’ beautifully illustrated book here - Welcome to News Zealand: A Nature Journal. Learn more about Sandra and her publishing work through her website www.illustration.co.nz. You can also find her on Instagram and Facebook.

Encounters with nature: Capturing memories of your natural world

Why keep a nature journal? This is a question I am asked surprisingly often. One somewhat light-hearted answer I give is that someday I’ll be stuck inside, ill or frail, and I want to be able to look back through my nature journalling memories. I’m only half joking, and it seems the stuck inside part has indeed already come to pass. As I write, in the UK, as in other countries, we are being told to stay home because of the covid-19 pandemic.

I’ve always loved nature, and I’ve always enjoyed drawing – nature journalling puts these two things together perfectly, and adds all the benefits of being mindful, slowing down and cultivating an approach of curiosity, and developing an appreciation of, and empathy for, the natural world. Building a relationship with the nature of the everyday, the things that happen right in front of us, if only we take the time to look – that’s what it’s about for me.

I use a few different approaches in my journal. Some pages I draw on site, others I draw after the event, and yet others are a combination, where I start on site and finish up at home. I draw from life and from reference photos. Some entries have added measurements, counts, and data, making them a field journal-type entry; other spreads are more reflective, and might even include quotes or bits of poetry. All are a combination of pictures and words. That’s the joy of keeping a nature journal – there’s no right or wrong way of doing it!

But my favourite pages, the ones that give me the most pleasure when I flip back through old journals, are the ones that record an event, something special or unexpected, even if it’s actually also mundane, everyday, and easily overlooked.

Up there at the top of my list of favourite nature journal entries is a spread I did after an encounter with a LOT of swifts. I was out running, so didn’t have my journal (or even a phone camera) to record the event; I stopped and stared up into a sky filled with screaming swifts, taking in the experience of it all: the sights, the sounds, the sun on my face. I put the spread together later that same day, and it will always bring that sunny, bird-filled blue-sky moment back to life for me.

Another favourite page came about when I glanced out of the window one wintry morning, and saw a female blackbird very energetically tossing leaves about on the driveway, looking for tasty morsels to eat. She was so busy that I watched for a couple of minutes (this is what you tend to do when you keep a nature journal!). Then suddenly she pounced and pulled a huge hibernating queen wasp out of the leaf litter – I was amazed! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bird catching and eating a wasp before. But through the habit of keeping a journal I have also acquired the habit of paying a bit more attention to the everyday natural world around me, and I am rewarded with these small events that make me smile.

And one last favourite from me – and this page is definitely more words than images – an encounter with a badger, again when I was out running. Definitely worth recording!

It feels like the world has been turned upside down, and I think it’s true to say that things will never be quite the same again. But the natural world – your natural world, in your garden, outside your window, in the skies above your house – carries on, and always will. So, take the time to notice the rhythms, the passing of the days, the new arrivals (I can’t wait for the swallows!), and the tiny, overlooked dramas in your flowerbed, veg patch, around your house or on your back doorstep. Reflect on what you find, and perhaps find some peace and distraction there.

And one day, you will look back on these unsettling times in your journal and be reminded of the power of nature, and you’ll treasure your record of it.

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Find more of Sharon’s work on her blog: cambsnaturenotes.blogspot.com as well as on Instagram and Facebook.

Essential nature journaling ideas and lingo for you!

Have you ever encountered nature journal ideas or language that you were unfamiliar with? If so, this article can help. I explain 10 nature journaling ideas and special words that every nature journaler should know. Because every hobby has special concepts and lingo and nature journaling is no exception.

And why should you know these words? You should know these words because we need them to explain the specific ideas that are unique to our practice. In addition, they can be a shortcut to communicate a whole concept. For example, I can just say "pencil miles" to someone and convey a large amount of info succinctly. Otherwise, I would have to use several sentences to communicate the same idea.

Let's get on with the words! Have you seen any of the words below?

Ten Nature Journal Ideas You Need to Know:

1. Pencil Miles: This is a cool phrase that summarizes the importance of repetition and practice for the improvement of drawing. One time, when I was struggling with my art I took a big fat paint pen and wrote pencil miles on the cover of my sketchbook! This visual reminder helped take the pressure off making pretty pictures and instead helped me focus on getting lots of practice.

2. Meta-Data: This heading at the beginning of our page gives info about the location, the time, and the date. In addition, you can add whatever data is relevant to you such as: the tide, who you are with, the humidity as well as symbols for the type of clouds or other weather features. I also like to draw little cartoons of the people that I am with or at least put their names in the metadata. Metadata on your page achieves several things. First, it gives you a reference point if you look back on your journal in the future. What time of year was it when I found chantrelle mushrooms last year? Second, this information provides context for the other observations and drawings you make on that outing. What were the weather conditions when I saw those cool salamanders? Third, if you do your metadata first thing it can provide a sort of warmup and help you deal with the dreaded blank page!

3. Landscapitos:  These are small landscape drawings. Many of us have had the experience of wanting to paint a landscape and just starting with a whole page spread. We did not put any thought into framing or cropping and we just start in the middle of the page. This can be a frustrating experience for many people and often leads to poor painting and not much learning. Instead, we can do many smaller paintings, learn much more, capture more, and usually end up with better results.

4. Non-Photo Blue Pencil: Many nature journalers use these pencils for a faint under-drawing. They do not show up in photocopies or scans. They are not a normal blue colored pencil. According to John Muir Laws they are one of the most important nature journaling tools.

5. The Pretty Picture Trap: So far, we have talked about good nature journaling ideas. But this nature journal idea is one you want to avoid! Even though we all like beautiful drawings the fact of focusing on making pretty pictures can be a problem. When I start with the conscious or unconscious goal of making a pretty picture it creates pressure. It also makes me focused on the outcome. Both of these things can inhibit my learning, make me take fewer risks, and undermine my observation and creativity. Next time you think you are falling into this trap use the mantra “pencil miles, pencil miles, pencil miles!”

6. Precious: Sometimes, when I have a drawing that is looking good, I start to freeze up or get anxious because I start getting precious about it. Sometimes, I will quit too soon. Here is an example. I’m painting a landscapito that is starting to look “good” and I am starting to get attached to the appearance of the page. Suddenly, a hummingbird lands next to me but I don’t make any quick sketches of it because I don’t want to mess up the look of my landscapito page. That is a problem. Similarly, this problem can emerge if you have really fancy materials or watercolor paper and you are hesitant to mess it up.

7. Stealing Ideas: We use the word "stealing" in a positive way because we want people to be able to share ideas and learn from each other. Therefore, next time you are in a journal share "steal" some good ideas from someone instead of just admiring their pretty page. This is a constructive way of sharing nature journal ideas. We consider our community an open source learning environment instead of a proprietary one. In this way our processes and ideas can be used and built upon by other people and our community can learn and develop much more rapidly.

8. Post Hoc: Any nature journaling work that you do after the field trip is called post hoc which means "after" in Latin. Some people like to do their sketches in the field and add watercolor at home. Other people do follow up research at home or add their titles and calligraphy.

9. Sacrificial Pancakes: One of my favorite nature journal ideas is the sacrificial pancake! These are the first drawings we make in a session while we are warming up because you have to make these before you can make good ones! Just like when you cook pancakes and the first few don’t turn out quite right.

10. Growth Mindset: Finally, the most powerful nature journal idea is the idea of the growth mindset. This mindset assumes that all people can develop their skills. In contrast, the fixed mindset assumes that people have fixed levels of talent in a given area. Luckily, we have a lot of growth mindset ideas built into our nature journaling community, however, aspects of the fixed mindset affect all of us. One area where fixed mindset is powerful is when we think about artistic “talent”, mathematical prowess, or verbal abilities. Many nature journalers focus on one more than another because at some point in their life they developed the idea (or were told by others) that they had talent in one and not another. I believe that “talent” should be considered a bad word and that we should focus on growth and practice and learning instead.

Nature Journal Ideas and You

To conclude, I think it is important to remember that words and ideas are tools. These nature journaling ideas are tools that we use to understand, communicate, and learn. Which of these tools work for you? Do you need to make up some new ones for your specific needs or your community? As our movement continues to grow I’m sure there will be lots of new words and nature journaling concepts that will be created.

For more nature journaling ideas and inspiration check out the weekly episodes of The Nature Journal Show.

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Marley is well known for his fun and relaxed approach to nature journaling and shares this with viewers of his YouTube channel. You can also find his work on his website marleypeifer.com and on Instagram.

My place in the world

Hello. I'm Kuniko and live in Tokyo, Japan.

Tokyo has some parks, but it has a little nature compared to my hometown. I used to feel sad about the lack of nature but I enjoy my life lately more than before, that is because I am starting to love this place. I have noticed that there are many special places around me.

I grew up in the countryside surrounded by mountains. When I was a child, I would go to a beach once a year and thought about how big the world was. I believed my world could be spread like the ocean and the sky. I was always searching for a place where I belong. I used to work at a ranch in Nagano and a Japanese inn in Okinawa, but I couldn't find my place in the world.

Last year, I joined The Japan Nature Journal Club.  Since then, I have started nature journaling and my mind has changed in positive ways. So far, I have encountered special moments like these.

Small insects making good soil.

Finding out the criminal who digging holes at the flower-bed.

Observing the cicada having beautiful yet complicated wiry structural wings.

How to tell apart butterflies and moths by seeing their antennas

Being mesmerized by Indian fritillary male and female coupling dance.

Seeing a musical chair of black-headed gulls.

These beauties had always been here around me since the beginning, but I didn't realize them. I wasted my important time absorbing in busy daily life, being frustrated, and listing to gossip. If you can appreciate your current environment and your surroundings, you may not need a nature journal. But If you are feeling like I used to be, I want you to try to go out with a pen and a sketchbook!

I promise you can find a lot of joy! By drawing my nature journal, I have learned how to love myself and know where I should be.    

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Find more of Kuniko’s work on instagram @kumonko0813 and on her YouTube channel 

自然を描こう!チャンネル.

Nature journaling in times of corona/covid 19

Can I even do this? Talk about nature journaling, art and my love for biology in a time like this? Can I focus on nature and art, when each day more and more people are fighting for their lives – and more and more people are losing this battle? A fight in which the “bad guy” is something natural: a naturally mutated virus. No immoral scientist made this, no twisted ideology wants this, no country made this as a weapon. The rapid and global impact of this is unseen, we’re overwhelmed, and we have no better strategy (yet) than to flatten the contamination curve as much as possible.

When I was asked to write this little piece, I was thrilled and had so many ideas. I wanted to put in words what my heart feels when I paint nature. I wanted to tell you that painting a flower or leaf is not only about art, but about noticing details that you would otherwise never have noticed. I wanted to explain how, when making art, you activate the creative side of the brains, and this has a similar effect as meditating. I wanted to point out that by painting outside, your final work gets an extra dimension: the one that attaches to this piece what your senses experienced while painting. A bird that was suddenly loud somewhere in a bush at your left, a bit of unexpected wind that dried the paint too quickly and left some marks, the sudden smell of grass because the wind changed directions. I wanted to tell you that walking through the woods, identification guide in the hands, learning to name plants and animals, erases the lines between “I” and “nature”, and makes you familiar with nature the way you’re familiar with your community. Flowers are no longer “flowers”, but daffodils, wild garlic, mallows, bird’s eyes and shepherd’s purses. I was looking forward to telling you how knowing about the biology and ecology of species, gives animals and plants more than just their appearance. The holly blue is not only a beautiful butterfly, its caterpillar is sneaky and tricks ants to believe it is one of them; the ants will protect it from predators without getting anything in return. A robin is not only a cute bird, it can also be a lazy hunter who follows wild boars who dig through the earth and bring up worms and insects that the robin will feed on.

But can I talk about all this, now?

And yet, I feel it is more than ever important to take time for nature and art. Having a tea in the park and needing to find an even spot of earth to put the cup on, is allowing us to be in the moment and finding a solution for a very small, very manageable problem. Opening the window and seeing and hearing birds fly by hectically, chasing a mate or defending a territory, allows us to realise that there are other things going around than this deadly virus. Seeing young leaves, blossoms or long awaited spring flowers, make us smile and warm our hearts because we’ve been waiting for months to see signs of the end of winter. And those first warmer, sunny days recharge our vitamin D levels, but also our souls.

Most of us are staying home, avoiding social contact, keeping a safe physical distance to others. In many places, life seems to have been put on hold for a few weeks or months. And I think it’s safe to say we’re all anxiously waiting for this to be over. The sooner, the better. This waiting for something to pass, can be dreadful, long, stressful. It can feel like nothing is changing for a long time. In such times, going outside, noticing nature and documenting it, allows us to realise things are indeed still changing and evolving.

I would like to tell you to, if you can, grab some paper, pencils and paint. Go outside to a natural spot where you feel safe and calm. This can be a bench in a park, a old log by a lake, at the side of a dirt road, or even next to a flower pot in your garden or courtyard. Take a moment to just notice what is all around you. Trees, bushes, grasses, flowers, sticks, stones, birds, insects, spiders, empty snail shells, old leaves, some dirt arranged in some way by a little animal. Then pick something you want to draw or paint, and draw or paint it. It’s not about the result; you’re probably not going to frame this or gift it to someone. It’s all about you being here, in the moment, close to nature, noticing and documenting. And in six or so months, you will look back at this drawing or painting, and remember that in this corona crisis unfolding over the world, you had a little moment in which you sat there safely and did something that made you feel peaceful and good.

Take good care of yourself.

Tessina,

Biologist, painter and nature lover

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Find Tessina’s work on Instagram @speckledhandsart. She also sells her beautiful, nature -inspired watercolour art in her Etsy shop.