Priscilla

Sitting and enjoying the calm was no problem. In drawing I noticed details I would not have otherwise...lighting for example made me very aware of the feeling of the atmosphere around me. That led me to notice the way the breeze moved through the area I was sitting in. Writing down my questions did two things. First, it made me relax because I knew I could try to find out more later. Second, I responded by trying to see if I could notice more that would help me answer on my own. That in turn led to new observations. Finally, I was surprised by the level of sound all around me. Usually, I just hear the birds. Of course, I did hear the birds and was intrigued by how many more calls and songs I heard as they adjusted to my presence. But beyond that there was lots of rustling (some turned out to be a busy chipmunk) and buzzing of a variety of insects and the noise of the foliage moving in the wind.

Getting shape, color and correct length and size ratios was difficult. What worked was that as I drew I noticed more and more about the anatomy of the bird. The longer I drew the more questions about what I was seeing emerged. This process really allowed me to "see" better and required more engagement in observing and thinking (clearly better for a nature journal).

Like many of the folks who responded I have joined this class during Covid-19; a nature journal seems like a good way to really be in the world and present to it, while still social distancing. The idea of sharing my observations feels challenging and yet absolutely critical as a way to reach out to others; a way to share the world. Since I retired about 4 years ago I revived my interest in describing the natural world and asking questions about my observations. At that time I began to learn to draw and work with watercolors as well. It seems natural to join learning words to describe what I see (from natural history and gardening) and drawing. I suspect putting both words and art to a page will help me "see" much more. All of the journals in the video gave me ideas for my own journal as did the beautiful examples of other respondents. Having tried to journal before I will be loose about the when of my observations-so the idea of a month of contributions and a record of how things change in the month will work well I think. I like the idea of boxing images and key ideas after writing/drawing. One of the things I loved from the videos was that people went back over their experience of drawing and observing and gained new insights. I would like to take a page each month for a reflection on what I have already drawn or written. I loved the description of what the spider was doing and liked the idea of adding specific notations on behavior where possible. The journalists seemed to both work out the colors and "how to draw" along with how to observe and what to observe. This is exactly the juxtaposition of art and science I would like to try out in a journal.