I live in St. Petersburg, Florida. A favorite walk is Weedon Island which has boardwalks among the mangroves.  I've always had a little difficulty identifying red, white, and black mangrove.  A a former project manager, I constructed a spreadsheet and listed their attributes.  No wonder I can't remember which is which.  Drawings will be so much more fun!

I like Holly Faulkner’s approach with filling a page, or pages, each month. Nature Journaling is different than what I thought it would be, but sure I will enjoy anyway. As I was listening to both Liz and the other journalists, I jotted down some notes, some simple sketches, goals, and emotions or adjectives . Joanne

• Out of high school i wanted to be a science  illustrator but found at the time it was hard to make a living doing it
• I turned instead to biology with a minor in art
• I taught college biology at a junior college, but since work as a railroad engineer.
• I have always loved nature and now find the time to feed this joy. I have done things still in the field of biology; owl prowls, nature walks and gardening.
• I like the style of boxed in art with wording surrounding it.

 

The pandemic has "forced" me to enjoy my immediate surroundings. I've never spent so much time in my backyard to observe nature (rather than plowing through a list of to-do's like lawn moving, and cleaning garden beds). My husband, son and I have spent hours walking in the woods trying to enjoy the moment, but also to identify birds, trees, shrubs, mushrooms.  We started buying books, then applications to help us in this journey. Then one day, my son asked me to paint a blue jay for him, and I was so pleased with the result, I feel that documenting this process that came naturally to us is the next thing for me. I absolutely loved the realness and movement of Holly's journals (both 2016 and 2019), her use of colour but also how she placed the dates beside each element in 2016, or how she used a gradient of yellow and green to write 'March 2019' in her second journal. 

I was inspired to begin nature journaling because I felt like it would be a way for me to connect to the environment and wildlife around me. I have dabbled in photography, mostly of birds, but I felt like if I was too concentrated on getting the perfect shot, I couldn't concentrate on watching the birds' behavior. So I feel like taking the time to draw or paint a bird (or plant or other animal) would allow me to connect with it more. I have started sketching without any instruction and I realized after watching the videos that I may have been sketching too many things. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get close to the birds (or they moved away too quickly), so right now I'm just trying to get the shapes. I'd like to get to the point where I can slow down and capture the subject from many different angles. Watercolor is also of interest for me, but I haven't tried that yet. I would like to try to capture the colors, though. With practice, I'm sure my confidence will build.

1. I am more of a nature photographer, but want to expand my observations beyond a single image.  I think the detail of journaling will provide a more fulfilling experience. 2. I like the idea of boxing images after completing them.  I also liked the idea of the journal calendar, though I am hoping my journaling will be more detailed text to complement the image so that I am going beyond what my photography currently does for my observations.  I liked the idea of different angles of observations, like as the environment changes or the bird moves, adding art to match the evolving observation.

My favorite place to go has always been the woods, fields and anywhere outdoors, throughout my life.  I have an artist and naturalist personality and enjoy the process of creating, more than the product, although that is nice, too.  I like how the journaling is an ongoing process and that inspires my creativity.  The combination of sketching and words, and being in the present is appealing to me.  Nature tells me as seasons and time passes and whispers her majesty to us everyday.  I can’t wait to start my journal and listen to her whispers and record her creations.

I was inspired to nature journal after installing bird feeders on our property and, having more time on my hands due to COVID-19, gave me a way to pass the time. Two days ago a baby fox squirrel fell from a palm tree, so here’s the image I drew to remember him since he is now recovering at a local rescue organization.  I plan on incorporating weather conditions and very much like the boxing idea for organizing.  Knowing that some sketches will be unfinished and mistakes will happen are also helpful tips. 

I'm a naturalist, have been a nature guide in two different organizations but have relied on photo taking to capture my observations.  Recently I started studying drawing and watercolor, and I'd like to take these two disciplines into the field which should also enhance my observational skills.  I'd like to try the daily entry, paint in watercolor, and include in words my observations.  This I hope would help me to  be more focused and detailed in my learning about nature.

I wanted to get better at visual journaling for work and also for outdoor adventures and day-to-day strolls. I like the daily/monthly approach.

1. I already was drawing and painting various birds and animals, normally from birds in my bird or animal books, but almost never from observation, and thought it would be interesting to try a new way of capturing an image of an animal or bird in a different way. 2. I like the idea of bringing the drawings out of their boxes, because it seems like you are ‘freeing’ the drawing a bit more. 3. I like to add notes on my sketches, because if I think differently on a fact or even a photograph in one of my books (coloring off in the photo, a different observation that the book doesn’t cover, etc.) I can write it down, and it’s almost like I’m making my own field guide.

1. What inspired you to begin nature journaling? I love to spend time outdoors, sketch and watercolor. I also took a class with csumb and teach middle school science where we nature journal in the garden. I also saw a talk with John Meir Laws that was very inspiring. 2. Now that you’ve heard from several other journalers about their processes, and had a peek at their journals, which ideas or approaches do you want to try? I really like the monthly 1 page or nature journals. To have a goal to keep working on art with a somewhat flexible goal. 3. Do you have a different journaling idea, not mentioned here, that you’d like to share? I've noticed that I enjoy sketch, watercolors, to just colored pencil. When I write with my drawings, I feel like it takes away from my art.

As an landscape architect and artist, site sketching is my favorite way to experience a space. I love being outside and capturing my feelings of a place in my sketchbook. They aren't always accurate and I definitely take a "creative" approach, sometimes making up things as I go in order to capture the feeling. I hope I can learn to practice a more scientific or observational approach to sketching while still getting creative and capturing the moment. I'm really looking forward to adding my nature journal to my sketchbook collection.  

I really loved how Liz was able to find the answer about bird incubation without looking it up, just by observation. I really feels like a good motivator to keep journaling! Nature journaling feels like a really grounding activity for 2020 and a great way to pay attention to the beautiful things in our world.

Hello fellow journal keepers. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about journaling and some your drawings in this chat box. Although I have kept a nature journal for many years, both during travel and in the backyard, I haven't mastered the art of the quick sketch to capture the essence of a subject. It is so much easier to sit with a plant than with a scurrying beetle or mouse. My goal for this course is to be persistent in skills practice to become a better sketcher and not such a perfectionist.  I am looking forward to joining you on this journey.

These past spring/summer months of 2020 have given me the time to explore my own backyard. The early visitors, their habits, their disappearance, the stalwart year round neighborhood birds and the persistent insects and even the hardy weeds have captured my attention AND my thoughts. Details emerge that were once overlooked. Putting them to paper will sharpen my observation skills. Dating each page and adding a quick weather note will give a time stamp that will be important years/decades later. Freeing up the hand on paper will give me the “flow” —-first impressions and organic thought aside from deduction will help generate creativity. Highlighting smaller details  that stand out, either box or circle form makes the pages cohesive. I may press a few small specimens from non-public spaces as this drying can bring out other details.

I love Nature and this is a new way to enjoy and learn more. I like the different ideas and perspectives. I want to see more of this course to decide how to make my nature journal.

I love spending time in nature and have always enjoyed sketching and painting. I am a K-2 STREAM teacher at an elementary school and began incorporating nature journaling a few years ago. I would like to do more of it with them.   I like the monthly nature journaling approach. I think it would be a nice way to track seasonal changes and document places I have visited. I would be sure to include the date, time, weather and then detailed notes along with my sketches.   I am apprehensive about the watercolors. I never thought of them as being easy to use while on the go but I am excited to give it a try.

I really liked Shayna's journal layout with the subjects breaking free of the boxes.  That seemed like a really effective way of framing the subject and organizing the page, and also was playful and flexible.  I am an elementary teacher and outdoor enthusiast, I am looking to build my own experiences documenting nature through journaling as a way of holding memories.  Also, I hope that as I build confidence nature journaling,  I can better support my students document their experiences, curiosities and learning in nature journals.  I love the idea of mixed media nature journals and am inspired by some older nature books I've read that read like nature journals: Rachel Carson's "The Edge of the Sea", David J. Carroll's "Swamp Walker's Journal: A Wetlands Year" to name a couple.

1. I love written journaling and I love art, nature journaling seems like a great way to connect the two. Also I would like to connect more deeply with nature and give space to notice subtleties. I tend to be a perfectionist, I am hoping that nature journaling helps me to loosen up my art a bit. 2. I like the idea of doing art while out in nature and using it as a way to document experiences in the moment (rather than looking at a photo reference later). 3. I really want to try integrating nature journaling and meditation. Not only documenting direct visual observations but also trying to communicate the emotional experience of connecting with nature or the behavioral personality of certain species.

Hello fellow journalers! Journaling is a way for me to slow down and observe what's around me and to look at nature from different perspectives. I like the journals that show multiple views including the setting, but also present at the detail level with some labeling or explanation about the weather or other conditions. I like the idea of using pencil, ink, and watercolor. I've kept journals on and off and thought this class would be a nice introduction back into journaling again. I look forward to learning with everyone.

1. Reflecting on what I enjoy. Yearning for a way to grow my naturalist skills and document nature's gorgeousness. 2. I especially like the idea of documenting what was actually seen. To quickly, yet elegantly, show the subject, note behaviours and include other interesting snippets. I like the approach of lots of images and sections to accompany text. The pencil work in DJ McNeil's journal really inspired me. 3. I'm thinking about including natural material samples in my journal such as pressed plants and feathers.

I’m a professor and will be teaching a seminar course to first year students this fall and the theme for me will be about nature.  I’d love to have students nature journal but need to learn more about it myself.  I really like the idea of making nature journaling a regular process - I was intrigued by the woman who did a daily journal and then a monthly journal.

I am still in high school, and am absolutely set on pursuing ornithology in college. I am also beginning to take up photography as well, but I think that a journal would be way more fun, and really help me connect more with nature, or even the subjects that I am trying to photograph.

Hello everyone! I'm a science teacher and am excited about honing my nature journaling skills so I can share ideas with teachers and students. We use science notebooks at all grade levels. They are such a great way to inspire curiosity, creativity and learning! I love using Mod Podge, tape, or contact paper to add pressed leaves, bits of sand, flowers, etc. into my notebook. (A great, easily-accessible activity for kids too!)