Journaling With Nature

Today’s prompt comes from a challenge created by last week’s guest, Sofia Gazarian. Sofia’s idea was to draw or paint the same bird each month for a year. Through this process you will be able to watch your own progress as you develop your skills of drawing birds. You can control the variables by using the same time limit for your sketch, as well as using the same reference photo, materials and paper size. Give it a go if it sounds like a fun challenge to you!

To find inspiration from Sofia’s One Year Bird page, visit her Instagram @printyourbird. If you post your own page on Instagram, use the hashtag #oneyearbird so Sofia can see your birds!

Find royalty free bird photos:

Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/
Pixabay - https://pixabay.com/

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Sofia has a passion for birdwatching. While cultivating a daily sketching habit, Sofia has learned that you can find birds and make amazing discoveries even in the heart of a big city.

Listen to hear more about:

• Making personal discoveries in nature. 
• How Sofia went from selling vintage bird art to drawing and painting her own birds. 
• The bird illustrators that inspire Sofia.
• How a birding challenge helped Sofia make many discoveries her local parks.
• Using a monocular for capturing bird photos on your phone.
• Tips for beginner birdwatchers.
• Keeping a bird journal.
• Drawing the same bird each month to track your artistic progress.
• The calming effect of drawing birds.

Illustrators who have inspired Sofia’s drawing:

John James Audubon
George Edwards
John and Elizabeth Gould
Ohara Koson
David Sibley
John Muir Laws
Danny Gregory 
Felix Scheinberger

Apps that Sofia uses while birdwatching:

Merlin Bird ID
BirdNET
eBird

To follow along with Sofia’s bird drawing journey find her on Instagram @printyourbird.

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Today we are exploring the corners of our environment, the neglected places that we do not normally visit. There are nature stories here too. Take some time to nature journal the things that you notice in a place that might have been overlooked for a while.

While I was playing with my son in the garden, I came across a corner that we never usually visit. It made me think that there are neglected parts of our environment that also have stories to tell. This week I will be nature journaling in a corner of my space, and I invite you to do the same. If you do not have a garden, seek out a corner of your local park, or even a corner of your home. What do you find there? What nature stories are playing out in these neglected spaces?

I would love to see what you find in your local environment. Leave a comment below this post on the Journaling With Nature website. 

I plan to create more videos over on YouTube. If you are interested to see these prompts as videos, head over there and subscribe to stay in touch. 

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Jarod is a poet, author and podcaster who writes intimately about the appreciation of nature, the interconnectedness of all things, and the complex experience of being human.

Listen to hear more about:

• Jarod’s first experiences writing poetry in nature. 
• The wildlife Jarod encounters living between a park and a cemetery.
• The interconnections between all living and non-living parts of our world. 
• Remembering that we are part of nature. 
• The Cryptonaturalist Podcast and finding deeper love for nature through fictional worlds. 
• The joy of living in a world of unanswered questions. 
• Finding balance between destructive and constructive mindsets.
• Jarod’s new book Something in the Woods Loves You. 
• Depression and how nature can be a balm during these times.
• The value of delight and whimsy. 

Find out more about Jarod and his work on his website https://www.jarodkanderson.com/ or connect on Instagram @cryptonaturalist.

You can pre-order a copy of Something in the Woods Loves You here.

Listen to Jarod’s podcast here: The Cryptonaturalist. 

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International Nature Journaling Week is coming up again soon (1-7th June) and in this episode I chat about all the ways that you can get involved during the week.

Our overarching theme this year is ‘Celebrating the Cycles of Life’ and our daily themes will explore the biological processes that organisms might go through in their lifecycles. The daily themes are:

1. Germination and emergence
2. Growth and development
3. Metamorphosis and transformation
4. Reproduction and replication
5. Fruiting and dispersal
6. Decay and decomposition
7. Renewal and regeneration

The website for International Nature Journaling Week is: www.naturejournalingweek.com. The best way to stay in touch with what’s coming up during the week is to subscribe to the newsletter.

You can connect with others from all around the world on the INJW Facebook page. If you would like to see my daily pages during the week and participate in giveaways, follow @journalingwithnature on Instagram.

If you would like to share a short video of yourself talking about one of the prompts, email me at [email protected] and I will share how you can do this. 

If you are interested to see Susanne Swing Thompson’s new book A Closer Look: The Neighborhood, visit her website here. 

We look forward to sharing with you during International Nature Journaling Week 2024!

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Through her work, painter and printmaker Suzy Sharpe explores the ways that humans and nature are interconnected and how humans make meaning from this connection through creative expression.

Listen to hear more about:

• Studying fine art and illustration while raising a family.
• Finding the balance between highlighting environmental issues and celebrating nature.
• The natural environment in rural Cornwall.
• Experiencing history through the landscape.
• The places in nature that inspire the feeling of awe, for Suzy.
• How spending time with children can reignite our experience of awe.
• Nature connection and how it weaves itself into our poetry and folk tales.
• The art and nature writing that have been influential for Suzy as a creative.
• Collaborating with charities.
• Botanical monoprinting.

To learn more about Suzy’s work visit her website: https://www.impressionsofnature.co.uk/. You can also connect on Instagram @ impressionsofnatureprints and on YouTube. 

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Free writing is a technique where we write continuously for a period of time, without censorship or judgment. It can help us connect with our natural surroundings as well as our inner landscape, and can bring clarity, insight and a sense of calm.

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Anastasiia is a watercolour artist, creative mentor, and digital nomad, sharing her travel sketchbook and adventures. Through her courses and online community, Anastasiia helps other artists follow their own creative paths.

Listen to hear more about:

• The classical art training Anastasiia received at art school in Russia.
• The personal project that started Anastasiia on the path of botanical and nature illustration.
• How Anastasiia launched her freelance career and became a digital nomad.
• The challenges of forming a daily sketching habit.
• What it is like sketching in public.
• How words of encouragement at the right time can significantly influence our life path.
• How working on a personal project can attract professional work that you love!
• Cultivating a travel mindset at home
• Anastasiia’s favourite travel sketching tools.
• Travel sketching tips for how to paint on-the-go.
• Anastasiia’s course Make Art with Confidence.

To find out more about Anastasiia and her work visit https://www.anastasiiamorozova.com/ or find her on Instagram @natura.illustrata. 

If you would like to learn more about her signature course you can visit Make Art With Confidence, or for other courses visit her profile on Skillshare. 


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Creating a collection of objects on a nature journal page can help us notice differences and similarities between things within a particular category. It can also be a wonderful way to capture memories of our time spent in nature.

I invite you to start a collection of objects or observations and put them down together on one nature journal page. What do you notice about the differences and similarities between the objects? How do you feel when you look at your collection? 

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Leandra is an artist, environmental scientist, and educator. Through her work she invites others to connect with the joy and wonder that can be found in the outdoors.

Listen to hear more about:

• The experience of monitoring whooping crane data and how that unlocked Leandra’s love of birdwatching. 
• Personal reflections and lessons from nature.
• Making observations and asking questions in nature.
• Leandra’s favourite art media and expressing creativity in different styles. 
• Leandra’s adventure climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and how the team supported each other on the mountain. 
• The important bird that was Leandra’s travel companion during the climb. 
• Leandra’s creative collaborations with Outdoor Afro. 
• The book Nature Swagger: Stories and Visions of Black Joy in the Outdoors by Rue Mapp.

To find out more about Leandra and her work visit https://www.seasonallee.com/ or connect on Instagram @_leandraaaa_.

Watch a Write Out workshop that Leandra did with Outdoor Afro on YouTube.

Read more about the hammock that Leandra designed and watch a video about her creative process on the ENO website.

Check out Leandra’s Keen footwear collaboration – Sandals for Swimmerships.

Purchase the socks Leandra designed here.

Find Phil Henderson on Instagram @phil_henderson.

Learn more about Outdoor Afro online and on Instagram @outdoorafro.

Learn more about Rue Mapp, author of Nature Swagger: Stories and Visions of Black Joy in the Outdoors. 

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Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates each month.
 
You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.

Thanks for listening!