My Nature Journaling Origin Story
Hello and welcome to A Wild Braid Nature Journal! I am so glad you are here. Nature walking and nature journaling are such rich resources for wellness, creativity, and connection. I am grateful to have you to share my experiences with.
In this newsletter I’ll introduce myself and share the short version of how I started keeping a nature journal and where I am now.
I’ve noticed a lot of artist stories start with, “I was always drawing and painting as a kid.” That’s not my story. Though I have always loved making things- crochet, sewing, flower arrangement, gardening, embroidery (see my A Making Life Newsletter) - I didn’t grow up drawing. My formal artistic instruction can be chalked-up to a single class in middle-school and a single class in college. This means, simply, that I am mostly self-taught. My training is in early-middle childhood and adult education. I was a generalist and taught all subjects but specialized in literacy as well as social justice education.
So how did I start nature journaling? Where does my nature journaling story begin?
Many years ago, when I was already well into adulthood, I was browsing a used bookstore when I came across a used copy of The Art of Field Sketching by Clare Walker Leslie. In it were mostly pencil sketches of a variety of natural subjects. As I flipped through the pages of Leslie’s book, something stirred (back) to life and responded with pleasure,“Oooh! these are lovely,” and longing, “I want to make sketches like these too.”
I have always appreciated the wonder, beauty, and sensory feast that I feel when being in a natural environment - gardens, beaches, woods, parks, wetlands. I even enjoy them when viewed from a moving car, bus, or boat. Keeping a nature journal seemed a great way to prolong this pleasure. I’m also a geek about learning, so the idea of observing and keeping an amateur scientific record of plants and animals appealed on that level too. At the same time I had a parallel desire to paint and to draw (again). What a perfect intersection of these interests!
I wish I could say that it all cascaded from that point but the truth is, that day was almost 20 years ago! Between then and now, I did nature journaling in fits and starts - mostly on camping trips and as a way to keep a record of the life of my garden. I did a little bit of painting and drawing - mainly with my elementary school students. I even taught my students to nature journal while we walked in the woods or visited the school garden. My own regular practice of keeping a nature journal did not start until about 2 years ago.
How did I make the shift from occasionally keeping a nature journal to an almost daily practice?
It took a major life change and global pandemic to make my shift from occasional sketches on camping trips to keeping a regular nature journal. First, shortly before the Washington State Governor closed schools because of COVID-19, I resigned from more than 25 years of teaching. I resigned because teaching had become too stressful. The reality of a pandemic put my nervous system under more stress. Now, not only did I have a LOT of time, I also needed healing.
And here’s where things did start to cascade. At first, I just walked a lot. I walked and enjoyed being outdoors whenever, wherever, and for as long as I wanted. I walked in all weather. Then, I decided I wanted to draw again. I drew a little bit every day. Soon, I was taking a small sketchbook with me on my walks and I experimented with ways and reasons to draw and record. Gradually, I learned what I liked and what worked for me. These days, I take at least a small sketchbook and something to draw with everywhere (because there have been so many times when I have been inspired to draw but found myself empty-handed). I occasionally take a small set of watercolor paints and a water brush too. I take lots and lots of photos. These are my reference photos for when I want to try a more finished piece. That’s it in a nutshell.
Though I have learned much about what works best for me as a naturalist and nature journal keeper, in truth, I continue to evolve and am purposely keeping my eyes, mind, body, and heart open to different ways of keeping a nature journal. Because I found that nature walking and journaling are resources for wellness, I want to pass this knowledge on to others who are looking to access better wellness in nature and in nature journaling. This is the underlying purpose of this newsletter.
I will keep exploring and playing and pass on what I learn in this newsletter. I hope you will join me. For now, this will be a twice monthly newsletter.
You can also find me on Instagram as @alma.walks.in.nature or @alma_ramiro_alonzo_art. You can also find more information about me and my work on my website awildbraid.com.