Phenology Wheel: Avoid these Mistakes
A phenology wheel can be a fun, beautiful, and fulfilling addition to your nature journal. It can also be a project from hell. Avoid the mistakes that I made and learn some key tips before you start pulling out your hair. Don’t miss the premiere of this episode on my YouTube channel. Why Phenology? Before […]
Your rejuvenating alternative
It’s a dark first week of December, you are stressed about the holidays. Icy rain falls outside. It’s cold, it’s bleak. You are still recovering from Thanksgiving. Sheesh, you are still recovering from the US elections. You feel cooped up, your creativity feels blocked, your body feels bloated, and your mind is going in anxious […]
Nature Journaling in the Páramo
Nature journaling in the Páramo is like nature journaling inside an ecosystem invented by Dr Seuss. Maybe that is why I like it. What is the Páramo? The Páramo is an under appreciated neotropical environment. This high altitude ecosystem is lacking in trees but makes up for it with lots of weird plants, the world’s […]
Why I like Nature Journaling in the Cloud Forest
First, the good parts. Nature journaling in the cloud forest is especially fun and exciting because of the mind-boggling diversity of colors, textures, plants, and creatures. I can think of few other places that compare. Lichens, mosses, orchids, tree ferns, and flowering bromeliads vie for your attention. Wisps of fog swirl around jagged ridgelines covered […]
Nature Journal in the Amazon?
We sketch piranhas in a canoe while blue and yellow macaws fly overhead. Red howler monkeys roar and prehistoric-looking hoatzin birds watch us drift by. You already have three types of toucans and four species of shimmering kingfishers on today’s nature journal page. And this is just one of the locations we will visit. Would […]
This is NOT nature journaling but that’s ok
Cool nature journal page right? Actually, I have something to admit. This is not nature journaling. I did the page above while looking at a variety of photos online. That is what I will call homework, not nature journaling. Why this is not nature journaling Making “nature journal” pages solely from photos and articles you […]
Nature Journaling in Your Neighborhood
Why is nature journaling in your neighborhood harder to imagine than going someplace “special?” Do you really have to go to a forest, a lake, or a park to nature journal? Is nature journaling about the place or the process? Recently, I talked to Kirsten Croswell of Fernheart Designs about these and other questions. Since […]
Nature Journaling Birds or Plants?
I sometimes struggle deciding between nature journaling birds or plants. Focusing can be hard in nature. Sometimes, I tell myself I am going to go to a certain spot to nature journal a certain plant. I might even have a clear idea of what my drawing is going to look like. Then, I get there, […]
Perpetual Journal with Pam Johnson Brickell
What is a perpetual journal and how can I try perpetual journaling? How are perpetual journals different from nature journals? To answer some of these questions I recently interviewed Pam Johnson Brickell. How she got started with Perpetual Journaling While Pam has been journaling for over 50 years she just got started with a perpetual […]
Nature Journal Mushrooms with Me!
Do you want to nature journal mushrooms? Now is your chance to join me nature journaling one of the most iconic mushrooms ever! Yes, the Amanita muscaria, the one that is in all the fairy tale drawings. It is a wet winter in Northern California this year and a perfect time for seeing lots of […]