Catching up…

Time has been slipping by so quickly – which is what happens when you are busy!  In Florida, our busy season reflects an increase in population when our winter visitors flood the city and beaches.  So I’ve been busy on several other fronts, which leaves me little time for sketching and posting.  So…maybe I can catch up here!  Here’s an update if you’re interested.

Butterflies, gardens and nature journals

In November I was invited to speak at the 14^th Annual SW Florida Butterfly Conference held at the EdisonFord Estate in Fort Myers, Florida.  I shared some inspiring journal pages from various artists on gardening for butterflies, with observations on caterpillars and nectaring butterflies.  I also included some images of early and contemporary naturalists as well as butterflies interpreted through an artistic lens.  I left feeling that participants were inspired to start their own nature journals, perhaps documenting their own butterfly gardens or just capturing images from their travels.  I was inspired in turn by the warm response and friendly comments, and learned quite a bit about butterflies!

Watercolor Pencil Workshop: Botany Through Art

Through November and December I had the opportunity to teach a workshop on watercolor pencils via nature journaling at the fabulous NaplesBotanical Garden.  We had a wonderful group of participants, each one adding a unique viewpoint to experience.  I love the mix of perspectives: a college science teacher, a pulmonary physician, artists whose specialties are acrylic and watercolors, a professional writer, and more.  Each of us sees the world in a slightly different way, and our journal pages are shaped by our personalities as well as our life experiences.  Each week was a joy.

Something different! 

I was invited to paint a ceramic piece for the annual Empty Bowls Silent Auction held in January.  For every dollar that they raise, the Harry Chapin Food Bank turns it into $6 worth of food for the local food banks in Collier County.  Painting on clay is a very different and challenging experience!  This is the third year I’ve done this, and each time I’m delighted with the variety and creativity of the ceramic pieces offered.

A twisted bald cypress tree at the edge of a cypress dome.

Back to the Fakahatchee

Our sketch group met for one more time in the Fakahatchee in January, choosing the same location as last November.  Last fall Ipainted a view of the Lake Gloria extension, edged by a cypress dome on one side.  This time I chose a lone cypress tree that caught my eye.  All the trees around were straight and tall, but this particular tree had such an interesting twist to it.  The morning sun caught each ridge of the delineated trunk.  What made this tree grow so differently?  Why the twist?  It seemed a striking testament to the will to survive and thrive, each curve and twist reflecting some event in its growth cycle.  Sort of like the scars, gray hairs and wrinkles we accumulate as we move through the events of our lives.  I could relate to this tree!

Environmental Art and the Food Forest

Later in January I was invited I was invited to share my sketch journals and give an introduction to watercolor pencils at a class at Florida Gulf Coast University.  After a slide show and short discussion we adjourned to the Food Forest to sketch.  This is an amazing place, and I cannot possibly tell you all about it here.  Look for more details in a future post.  I was so impressed by the groups of students in the class as well as the students who created and maintain the garden.  Let me say that if you are interested in gardening and what young people are doing with it, you need to read more or better yet, arrange a visit.  You can visit their webpage here, see the listing on the FGCU site here, and finally, check out their Facebook page for the latest news.  I appreciate Professor Mary Voytek for arranging this wonderful opportunity, and for encouraging and inspiring her class of artists and environmental studies students to explore their natural surroundings through art. 

Also in January…

I had an opportunity to share my sketchbooks and talk about nature journaling at the Family 4-H Day event, Lehigh Acres.

I presented a Nature Journal Workshop for the FNPS Coccoloba Chapter at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve.  I met a group of friendly and native-plant knowledgeable folks who did a great job with just a few hours of introduction to a new media. I can only visualize how far they’ve taken their new skills and where they will take them!

A gopher tortoise emerging from his burrow.

And in February…

A group of us went to TheNaples Preserve to sketch.  I had a chance to meet and sketch with an online friend, and we ended up taking part in a promotional film clip for the Preserve.  The Preserve is an amazing place, a little patch of scrub and pines right smack in the middle of the city.  If you live in or visit Naples, you should visit this rapidly disappearing habitat. 

And now for March…

I started another Watercolor Pencil Workshop at The Naples Botanical Garden in March, which is ongoing through April.  We have another great group of artists of all ranges and backgrounds, and I’m enjoying this class as well!  There are old friends and new, and the Garden is at it’s flowering peak.  One of our challenges is that there are too many subjects to sketch!

Leaf demonstration in watercolor pencils at the Enabling Garden..

At some point I hope to get back to sketching more regularly.  I get so much joy from teaching and sharing what I’ve learned, though.  I just need a few more hours in each day…

Thanks for stopping in to catch up!

The above sketches are done with:
6 x 9 inch Aquabee Super Deluxe sketch pad
Various watercolor pencils: Faber Castell Aquarelle and Albrecht Durer, Derwent Inktense
Mechanical pencil
Micron Pigma 01 black ink pen

Click on any image to view larger.

Nature journal tip learned at the 2014 FNPS conference Nature Journal Workshop

My demonstration page - complete with clear contact paper!

One of the things I love about facilitating workshops and classes is that we all learn from each other.  In mid-May, seven participants joined me for a 3-hour nature journal workshop at the annual Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) conference at Florida Gulf Coast University. 

We normally start out getting to know each other and talk about what we’d like to get out of our time together.  We had a great group of people, some who had very little sketching experience and some who were looking to brush up on rusty skills.  One of our group was Dr. William(Bill) Hammond, professor emeritus at FGCU, and long-time visual journal keeper.

During our time together, Bill shared a tip he’s been using for years in his sketchbooks.  When he comes across a plant he’s unfamiliar with, either to identify or to learn more about, he flattens it out on the page of his sketch (or the page opposite) and seals it to the paper with a piece of clear contact paper.  What a great idea, and one I wish I’d tried years ago! 

Two months later!

Bill donated a bit of clear contact paper that I used on a sprig of winged sumac that served as my subject for a demonstration sketch during the workshop.  Even though flattening the plant against paper doesn’t allow for the play of light through and reflected by the leaves, it does allow for a general color reference, accurate measuring, and a record of the shape, number, and placement of leaves. 

Now you’re wondering, how does that leaflet look since two months have gone by?  Answer: as good as the day I mounted it!  The clear film seems to darken the colors a bit, but they are still vivid.  This is a great tool, especially for those times when you’re only able to get in a rudimentary sketch.

A few marks describe the habit.

The demonstration plant is Winged (or Shining) Sumac, Rhus copallina, which was growing alongside a nearby road.  On my sketchbook page, I typically note the date (sometimes the time), and the context of the sketch.  The context here was the FNPS workshop in Palmetto Hall at FGCU, and I included the weather (hot! and windy).  On the page opposite my drawing, you can see that I was showing how to mix and test out colors. 

I like to quickly sketch in the habit of the plants I’m drawing: whether it’s a tree, shrub, vine or herb including quick color notes.  In this case, most of the shrub was green, only some of the leaflets were bright red/magenta.  As I washed the leaves with a watercolor wash, I attempted to show the shininess of the leaves by drawing up pigment with a clean, nearly dry brush. 

Variations in color bring it alive.

If time permitted, I would have completed the entire leaflet, but now that I look at this page after the passage of time, I like the look of just the few leaves in color.  At the time I also wondered about the bright red coloring of some of the leaves – I noticed that the nearby area had burned, perhaps causing the coloring that I associate sumac having in the fall and winter. 

Looking at my sketch again brought all of these memories back to me.  This is one of the reasons I love keeping a nature journal!  Seeing my drawing and reading my notes brought back a vivid recollection of creating those two pages.  I can almost experience again the hot wind and the bright sun when I collected this specimen.

By the way, clear contact paper is now a staple in my sketch kit!

The sketch was done in my:

Aquabee Super Deluxe  spiral-bound sketchbook
9x6 in, (22.86 x 15.24 cm), 93 lb. paper
Sakura Micron Pigma pen 01,
Daniel Smith watercolors.

To read more about Winged or Shining Sumac:

Floridata 

Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida factsheet  

Nature Journaling at the FNPS Conference!

This Thursday I’m thrilled to be leading a Nature Journal Workshop for the 34^th annual Florida Native Plant Conference in Ft. Myers, Florida!  Just one of the many exciting events at the 4-day event, the Nature Journal Workshop is open to 10 aspiring journal-keepers.  The workshop takes place Thursday, May 15^th, from 1 to 4 pm at Florida Gulf Coast University (see conference site for exact location).  We still have spaces open!

At the workshop, you’ll learn the basics of starting a nature journal and have the opportunity to start a journal page with the art supplies provided.  Yes – a starter kit of artist-quality supplies is included in the cost of the workshop!  Each participant receives a lightweight tote bag with the FNPS logo, a 6 x 9 inch spiral-bound sketchbook, Micron Pigma ink pen, pencil, and eraser.  A small folding palette with primary colors and a medium size waterbrush rounds out the kit, along with a few other items.  You’ll also receive a handout of drawing tips to take home, a great reference for beginners and experienced artists alike to use later. 

If you’re not sure that this workshop is for you, I invite you to read some of my thoughts.  Scroll to the bottom for links and contact information.

Keeping a Visual Nature Journal

The process of keeping a visual nature journal is a path.  It isn’t about creating a finished product or a pretty picture, but is rather a reflection of my curiosity and explorations.  Every time I sketch something, I deepen my relationship with my subject by experiencing it differently.  I ask questions and think more deeply, and get to know my subject on an intimate level.

Those of us who draw and write about the natural world carry on a long historical tradition of curiosity, exploration, and investigation.  We need not be accomplished artists – just alight with the fire of curiosity and a desire to put thoughts and observations on paper.

Our own visual journals may contain quick sketches, detailed studies, photos, maps, poetry, or scientific observations.  We might record the progress of our garden, our explorations of nearby habitats, or simply our emotional responses to the beauty and diversity of the natural world.

Here’s what I’ve discovered that makes these journals valuable to me:  my drawing and painting skills have sharpened, especially when I draw on a weekly basis.  My observation has improved – I find myself specifically seeking out details in order to capture them on the fly or to write them down later.  My knowledge base has become more dimensional; not only have I learned more, my emotional connection to nature has become more specific and I have a deeper sense of how individual parts fit into the whole.

I recommend that you try to keep in mind the process, and not get over-involved with the outcome of each page.  As you practice, you’ll find your skills improving in every area.  Don’t be discouraged if you start and then stop.  When you’re ready, you’ll pick up your journal again and the words and pictures will flow onto the page.  Remember that it all “begins at the beginning” with that first step.  This is your exploration of  the natural world around you!

For more information: 

FNPS Conference home: http://www.fnps.org/conference

Nature Journaling Workshop at the conference: http://fnps.org/conference/workshops

FGCU: http://www.fgcu.edu 

 

Contact Marlene Rodak (rodakma@msn.com or 239-273-8945) for more information on the conference and how to register for the workshop.

Contact Elizabeth Smith for more information or questions on the Nature Journal Workshop (lizardart@gmail.com).