Creative Links of the Week: Nature Journaling

Yesterday, in honor of the first spring day that actually felt like spring, we took our first nature hike of the season and broke out the new nature journals. 

It was so much fun finding links on this theme as we expanded our own ideas of what nature journals could be. Nature journals have long been a source of joy in my life--I pored over The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady over and over as a newlywed, dreaming of creating something half so beautiful. Recently I've come across a couple artists whose nature journals are equally as inspiring--and was pretty psyched to find out that they both offer many resources for aspiring journalists. 

First, John Muir Laws. His website is a treasure trove of resources. Here's the video of his we watched Thursday night, which left my 8-year-old declaring, "I don't know how I'm going to go to sleep tonight, I'm so excited!!!"



That one goes really in depth, but Laws also has some short and sweet videos with excellent advice on sketching.





Another amazing artist is Jan Blencowe, who turns out to be a fellow Connecticut-ite. (Connecticutan? Er... resident of the fine state of Connecticut.) I saw a picture of hers on Pinterest and thought, "Wow, that looks just like the beach where we hike." Turned out it was the beach where we hike. I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for any workshops she may offer around here, but in the meantime--and for those of you who don't live around here--her website is awesome. 




Jan's blog title is great: "Sketchbook Hypothesis: making art makes you happy." I totally agree...and, it so happens, research shows her hypothesis could be correct. Here's a quote I came across in this article while researching a [really fun and awesome!] new project: 

"The AJPH notes that creativity increases our control over emotional pain and depression. This is due to the self-reflection and greater understanding of oneself that often comes with making."

After several rough days around here, it was even better than usual to allow ourselves to pause, observe, reflect, and create. I hope you have the chance to do so yourselves soon!

Happy creating!

Comments

  1. Oh. My. Goodness. The Diary of an Edwardian Lady looks and sounds so lovely!!! I can imagine wanting to be able to write and draw half as well! I used to keep a feather and leaf book as a child and hated to part with it when we left India. Although I'm terrible at drawing, I do enjoy writing outdoors. Just yesterday a storm blew through and I wondered how you all were faring up north. It's been a long winter.

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