I’ve mentioned some reasons for reviewing my nature journals, but one of the most obvious is in order to make an index for it. An index makes it possible to quickly locate what you’re looking for. While it seems like a daunting task, it doesn’t have to be.
Continue reading How To Index Your Nature Journal
While I’ve kept journals of all sorts most of my life, it took me a long time to realize the value of them isn’t just in writing them. I started journaling to record my experiences, but I’ve found them even more valuable since I’ve developed the habit of re-reading them.
Continue reading Why You Should Re-read Your Journals
I have been attracted to the idea of nature journaling all of my life. I see myself sitting in the wilderness, journal on my knee, binoculars in hand, sketching birds and painting little landscapes for hours on end.
I look at where I am now and think “I am not a nature journaler” because my nature journaling rarely looks like that. Frequently, I journal indoors, looking out a window. When I sit outside, it’s usually in my backyard. My journal pages are black-and-white, often messy, especially if I’m fortunate enough to be recording bird or animal behaviors. Many of my sessions are only a few minutes long.
Continue reading How to Become A Nature Journaler
I just finished my first sketchbook dedicated entirely to nature journaling and find myself looking back and seeing where I … More First Page of My Nature Journal
I have a skull that I picked up in a field in Texas twenty years ago. It’s simultaneously big and delicate. It was found on a range where cattle graze, but I didn’t think it was broad and squat enough for a cow skull. Those who were with me agreed that it probably belonged to a horse. While I’ve drawn and painted it many times in the years since, I’ve never questioned that decision. I just assumed we were right.
Continue reading The Greatest Obstacle to Discovery