Summer Nature Journal Update

Summer has swept me away into hikes, traveling, making art outdoors and teaching classes.  Here's a flip-through of my nature journal to catch you up!

Sometimes nature comes right to your breakfast table.  This cardinal put on a show for us every morning in July, fighting her reflection in the house window and car mirrors, a common cardinal behavior.

I hope you're having a wonderful, artful summer! 

Happy Creating!

Photo Nature Walk in Raccoon Creek State Park

I took a nature walk in Raccoon Creek State Park last Saturday morning with my Sony RX 10 mark 4 camera.  It was exciting to see nature up close, and I thought you might like to make sketches, paintings or other art from these photographs.  Here are my favorites from the day.

An Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly perched on a leaf down by the creek.

A Sphinx Moth found nectar on a bergamot blossom.

Butterfly weed attracted a bunch of different pollinators.

Maidenhair ferns caught a sunbeam in the shadowy woods.

A woodland spiderweb in the morning sunshine.

A dead tree still provides homes for wildlife, and for moss and lichens.

I hope you have fun creating from these photos!

Happy Creating!

Spring Nature Journal: Hiking in Raccoon Creek State Park

Isn't it a beautiful season to hike the woods and carry along a nature journal?  You never know what you'll find.

Stopping for a water break on a recent hike, I spotted this large and curious looking beetle resting on a stump.

It looked like a giant version of the familiar click beetle, one of those black, flat-ish beetles that flip into the air and make an audible click to escape when caught. 

An internet search showed that indeed it was an Eastern Eyed Click Beetle, and that its young eat an abundance of the wood-boring insects that damage hardwood trees. 

In my eyes, that makes this beautiful beetle is a hero!

We also found loads of Great White Trilliums blooming in the woods along the trail, and watched as a Scarlet Tanager warbled just 13' away from us in a sapling.  I didn't dare reach for my nature journal. I didn't want to scare away this magical bird.  

I've been keeping a nature journal for over 25 years, and it's still exciting to sketch and write about nature in my journal.

Would you like to learn more about keeping a nature journal?  I invite you to join me for a Nature Journaling class at the Community College of Beaver County in July.  You can read about and register for the class here:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/course/nature-journaling-washington-county2

Happy Creating! 

Nature Journaling Class at Raccoon Creek State Park

At the end of April, I led a class in Nature Journaling for Beginners at the Wildflower Reserve at Raccoon Creek State Park.  We had a wonderful day -- sunny and warm with loads of wildflowers blooming.

When I arrived at the Wildflower Reserve before class, I warmed up with a quick sketch of Virginia Bluebells, and even watched a hummingbird hawkmoth -- a moth that looks and moves like a hummingbird --  drink nectar from the flowers while I drew!

It was so quick, and I was a bit flummoxed, but here are my quick sketches of this amazing moth.

During class, we found tons of different plants in bloom in the wooded outdoor classroom behind the nature center.

I also found a blister beetle, a large and beautifully iridescent beetle slowly crawling through a rotting log on the forest floor. When picked up, these beetles exude an oily substance that causes blisters.

After class, I walked through the floodplain area and found more gorgeous wildflowers like this Toadshade Trillium and some Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

What a magical day to find so much beauty!

If you'd like to take a Nature Journaling class with me, I'll be leading one at the Community College of Beaver County in July.  You can read more about it and register for class here:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/course/nature-journaling-washington-county2

Here are a few photos I snapped.  I hope they'll inspire you to make sketches!

And I hope you get a chance to take your art supplies outside to create in nature.

Happy Creating! 

Spring Nature Journaling and a New Class!

The warmer weather has arrived, and we can finally sit outside in the sun and paint.  What a beautiful season to keep a nature journal!

I've been wanting to use watercolors to paint scenes in my nature journal, but the paper in my current journal is designed for pencils and dry media only.  It's impossible to move the watercolors once they've been applied to the paper, and it's simply frustrating to work on paper not meant for painting.

I solved the problem by cutting 140 pound Canson watercolor paper to fit my current nature journal.  When I want to paint, I clip a piece of watercolor paper to the front of the journal, and when the page is finished, I tape it into my book.

Would you like to learn more about keeping a nature journal?  I'm teaching a 3 week starter course in Nature Journaling at the Community College of Beaver County in Monaca, PA on Mondays, July 7, 14 and 21st, from 6-9 PM.  We will start indoors with practice activities and inspiration, then go outside to make observations and sketches.  Please dress for the weather, though in rainy or stormy weather, we will create indoors. All materials provided.

For more information, and to sign up, follow this link:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/course/nature-journaling-washington-county2

 

I hope you join me!