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.
