Workshop at Rose Castle
I was recently lucky enough to be asked to run a nature journal workshop at Rose Castle near Carlisle. Apart from the fact it is an amazing place, full of ancient history, and a friendship that can be felt in the walls, reflected in the grounds and manifested by the welcome.
Rose Castle near Carlisle
The workshop at Rose Castle was attended by a small and intimate group of artists and as we had a full day we were able to spend time outdoors in the grounds and were able to reflect on the history and beauty of the venue. this can be seen in the lovely illustrations created by the artists.
A small group of artists reflecting on the beauty of Rose Castle
The day began with my usual ramble about various things but all relevant. It is all about N-O-E-L, Notice Observe Empathise Learn. After that it is about slowing down. Drawing directly onto the journals with a pen (no pencil - argh!) and drawing really, really slowly!!
A lovely nature journal observed directly from nature.
I provided all the materials and the focus was on creating chapbook journals using the blank concertinas. This allows for a very random creation of observations that somehow just seem to fit together no matter what the scale or subject is.
A beautiful bumblebee - buff tailed.
Within the gardens there was plenty of wildlife going - apart from the planted there was also plenty of lovely self seeded specimens to observe. I was particularly struck by the hoverflies - I am going through a hoverfly thing at the moment - once I discovered how to tell a male from the a female as well as discovering there are loads of different species!
Male marmalade hoverfly.
How can you tell a male from a female? Note the eyes - they are close together - the female has a gap between the eyes. And of course the patterns are all different - and aren’t they the most beautiful of things? Once you get close to their little lives you can’t help but to observe that they live in a fully formed world of their own - one without us. I find that really reassuring - the fact that their is a world that doesn’t have humans in it!
I had already created my own chapbook of Rose Castle - the chapbook process allows for a degree of interpretation and creative freedom. So not just observation but also a bit of my own personality and interests have been embedded into the sporty of place.
One side of my Chapbook - Rose Castle.
Whilst I am of course interested in the nature of the places I visit and principle I am teaching how to observe nature, I am also really interested in creating a sense of place. So the historic setting of the place is really important and of course this brings the history into the conversation.
The inner spread of the chapbook.
Nature Journalling at Derwent Bank for HF Holidays
Nature Journalling at Derwent Bank for HF Holidays began with a walk around the lovely grounds of this beautiful location in Keswick, Lake District. We will be spending two days creating nature journals, looking at and enjoying nature. Our motto: N-O-E-L: Notice - Observe - Empathise - Learn. And Noel means “to be born” so we are looking at everything through “new born eyes”.
A detail from my journal - I dodn’t get a chance to do as much as everybody else!
A loosely created log of my Nature Journalling course at Derwent Bank.
Friday evening, I spoke with the group and introduced a little bit about how I teach and the process I follow to allow everyone, whatever their ability, to take part in journalling.
This, in part, includes a little bit of story telling, an exploration of words and their meaning and where to find nature.
Saturday morning, we walked around the grounds of the hotel and discovered wild strawberry, maidenhair spleenwort growing out of the walls, a beautiful meadow of bugle, lady fern crouching beneath the trees, dog lichen spreading over the lawn, pine cones, a half of a walnut shell with a slug inside trying to be a snail. Dandelions of course and an exciting fine, an alderfly. All over are dandelions and sweet violet and constant chatter of chiffchaff, greenfinch and coal tit.
Nature journal in progress
Back indoors we began the slow drawing exercise. For this we all used one of the pens provided in the packs and drew a dandelion very, very slowly. The slowing down is the key, here, as it allows for a mindful approach to drawing, without it feeling like a mindfulness exercise. Sort of like meditation without realising it.
After that it was straight into creating the notes of our walk in the provided notebooks. And these notes are not just observations but feelings and personal impressions of how we felt when discovering new things. One lady commented that she is going to curse me as she will no longer be able to go for a walk without stopping at every step to explore the tiny “new” plants she was discovering. Plants that she probably, as we all do, pass everyday without paying attention.
Making notes from observation
The drawing session continued adding the notes and finds into the concertina journals provided. This format allows for such freedom as they are not confined to a single page with a rectangle shape, but rather they have a more cinematic feel as they open and reveal - as if you are recreating the walk you had just been on.
The afternoon session brought into play the really fun stuff - watercolour. Some of the group hadn’t painted before and so were feeling a little daunted by the prospect of painting. But this soon dissapated as I explain the simple process I use. The resulting work was so charming and beautifully done. One lady told me that she had been trying to paint for years and had been put off but found the accessibility of the course really helpful and encouraging and so thanked me personally.
Notes, observations and a pheasant feather
Day two was a continuation of the nature journalling and of course by now everyone is flying and expert observers! The journals are developing nicely with some lovely note taking, beautiful watercolours and creations. The simplicity of this nature journalling process allows for a great deal of freedom of expression and everybody has made their own journal distinctive and different and unique to them.
The next workshop at HF Holidays - at Alnmouth - can be found here. The next Derwent Bank workshop is in November and can be found here.
Alnmouth - mystery and discovery
Welcome to Alnmouth - I am soon to be teaching here for HF Holidays - see this link for the HF Holidays website. I will be showing artists how to create a themed nature journal and will offer some tips and tricks on how to draw what you see.
A full spread of the Alnmouth Chapbook outer.
The Northumberland coastline is one of mystery and discovery. And it starts before you get near the sea. That transition space between the land and the sea - the “Strand”. Which is why the Strand in London is so named as the river extended hear before the “Embankment” was built.
At Alnmouth you may look at the sea and sand and discover wonderful wildlife along the windswept and often stretches of beaches. But before you even get to the beach the dunes offer some secrets of their own. Bloody cranesbill shine out from the marram grass and equally burning red are the six spot burnet moths.
Detail of owls and curlew
This chapbook shows the subjects that can be included. I have taken a bit of artistic license (of course!) by adding some nature encounters that I have had over the years. The short-eared owl couples two experiences I have had - one along the Northumberland coast near Holy Island and the other near Allendale. The six owls sitting on the posts were just before the causeway to Holy Island and had just arrived as migrants - perhaps they were resting. The other was near Allendale where the owl seemed to see me from far off and then flew closer and closer and then veered off at the last moment - it was like a scene from a “Bird of Prey Show”.
Running sanderling
Also look for the little sanderlings scuttling along the strand line and the lumbering shelduck flying low over the sands. You may not see puffins but to be honest I couldn't leave this little gem out of the picture. And of course Cuthbert’s relationship with otters has to be included.
A full spread of the Alnmouth Chapbook inside.
The notion of adding historical context to a nature journal is valid using the Chapbook Process which I have developed over the years. This gives you permission to have fun and develop a narrative around the place you visit. For me this allows me to have so much fun and allows for some creative expression along with the noticing of nature.
A detail of Cuthbert and his otters.
NHSN exploring the archives - December 2025
The course of workshops at the Great North Museum at the Hancock brought forth Monsters, budgies, parrots, turtles, tortoises, harvest mice, puffins and a host of other creatures, plants and stories inspired by the archives.
A fantastic chapbook with a tea stain background.
This was another fabulous course full of wonder and delight - exploring the archives that carry history and truth from explorers, naturalists, artists and scientists through the ages.
The set up was to spend three afternoons over six weeks exploring the archives. This was a starting point for inspiration and everyone chose something that resonated with them. For myself I was interested in the idea that evolution was explored by different people and that there were sometimes different interpretations of natural selection. So “Hopeful Monsters” became my theme and the theory that evolution was thought, by some, to have macro changes - or jumps - in development - rather than small changes over long periods of time.
The cover of my chapbook - Hopeful Monsters.
The variety of subjects chosen was so interesting and inspirational and every artist created a fascinating and engaging chapbook. The styles were all so very different but they all had such charm and you just wanted to pick them up and read them cover to cover.
The concertina format of the chapbooks are really sympathetic to being created in different and individual ways, and each artist was able to start with small drawings building up the storylines over the course of the three workshops resulting in a variety of narratives. On completion, each of the chapbooks will be printed and then accessioned into the archives to sit alongside historic books such as Charles Darwin’s Evolution of Species and Sparky the budgies’ vocabulary list.
Highlights Tour - Gilsland
The last of the workshops for the Highlights Tour took place on the Threshing Barn in Greencroft this week and was a wonderful way to finish off this season. the artworks created were so lovely and offered such variety too.
The final workshop for the Highlights Tour took place in Gilsland. The venue was provided by the amazing Threshing Barn at Greencroft - see here.
We had an amazing group of artists both new and established who for different reasons had wanted to begin creating nature journals but just need a little helping hand. And, really it didn’t require too much of a helping hand as they were so talented.
Isle of Wight revisited
This May I spent two days Nature Journalling on the Isle of Wight centred around Newtown Nature reserve with the National Trust and some lovely artists who created wonderful pieces of art and are now on their way creating their own nature journals.
Nature Journal in the ancient Town Hall of Newtown
What a privilege for me to be invited to the wonderful Newtown Town Hall to deliver a nature journal workshop centred around the nature of the nearby Newtown Nature Reserve. Many thanks to the National Trust for providing the venue and support. The Town Hall itself is such an interesting building and carries with it a depth of history. Imagine - we were working on a table that was used for meetings since the 1700s.
Newtown developed as a commercial centre and a borough in the 14th century, however, it failed to recover after a French raid in 1377 but Queen Elizabeth I awarded the town two parliamentary seats to try to stimulate economic development in 1584.
In the late 17th century, the mayor and burgesses decided to commission a town hall in order to be able to exercise the privileges afforded to them of holding dinners at which they would confirm the names of the candidates for the two seats.
Newtown Town Hall
I ran three workshops with the attendees being taken through my introduction about the “History of Monkeys” (don’t ask?), the love story that is the Sexton Beetle lifecycle and of course the three types of mucus that slugs are blessed with - Oh noble slug!.
After that it is the creation of the Chapbook form that I have made a specialism - this is a concertina journal allowing people who perhaps have that fear of paper to simply make a mark without fear!
A beautiful chapbook creation
Everyone who attends my workshops go away (I hope) with a new found confidence in their own ability as artists. My main aim is to bring this out so that the attendees can continue their journaling using their own unique style and voice. They are certainly not copying my work.
I love the different interpretations and charm that each artist brings to the workshops.
Some people are aware of their ability but some are not - my job is to tease and nurture this ability - I am not imposing my style on them but simply nudging a little bit. After that each person seems to flourish and their own joy of nature comes out.
Quirky Workshops revisited
The two sessions of nature journalling at Quirky Workshops took place on Wednesday and as usual I was surrounded by very talented artists who put their own spin on the day. The sessions are really about me passing on my tips and secrets as well as my stories about the wildlife around us. I love to share my own special observations of everything I see from a tangle of worms to sexton beetles falling in love.
The latest workshop at Quirky Workshops in Greystoke.
The latest workshop at Quirky Workshops included two sessions of artists exploring the nature around this wonderful location. the venue itself is inspiring enough and coupled with Annie’s warm welcome and homemade biscuits made for an enjoyable day for everyone taking part - including myself!
I provide a small kit of materials for each session, comprising of two finalisers, a blank journal and a how to create a journal guide. I also provide the watercolour sets and brushes. One of the great things, though, is the “no pencil rule”. So we draw straight onto our nature journals. For some this is a bit scary - but only for a while. Soon you forget that you are not using a pencil and you basically just get on with things and create a lovely record of nature observations.
Barningham Workshop Day
The first of our Highlights Tour workshops saw us in the lovely village of Barningham for a Shortcut to Nature Journalling. We had a wonderful group of artists who created some lovely nature journals full of colour and joy.
Everything in place for a day of nature journalling
Last week was the first of the Highlights Tour Workshops. This was in the lovely village of Barningham. The weather was kind allowing us to do a bit of exploring the on the village green.
The session involved us in discussing nature at its smallest - there is always an opportunity to see the everyday nature around us such as slugs, dandelions, last years leaves and new growth coming through such as Celandine leaves.
Everyone was able to begin their nature journal using my specially designed and created journal concertina nature blanks, and this, coupled with my short guide to creating your own nature journal we were up and running.
It is somewhat of a challenge, initially, to draw using pen rather than pencil - no rubbing out here! But after a while everyone found it liberating to get straight into the drawing. The final hour was all about adding colour to our nature journals.
