Exploring the Food Forest through art

Nature journaling at FGCU

On February 11th and 18th I visited Professor Mary Voytek’s Environmental Art class at Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers.  One of the projects for class is to keep a nature art journal – a wonderful and effective tool for exploring our natural world.  I shared my own nature journals and a presentation on how to use watercolor pencils with ideas on themes, as well as a wealth of reference books and art tools.    No better way to spend the hours than to explore art and nature!

This is my third or fourth annual visit here, and each time I get to connect with a brand-new group of students.   And each time, I’m inspired by their creativity and unique viewpoints.  Some of the students are artists, some are environmental or biology majors.  They share one thing in common: all are invested in our environment.

In the studio: drawing and painting natural specimens that resonated with each artist.

Part 1 (Feb. 11) 

Because the class session is nearly three hours long, we have a nice chunk of time to draw after my part is done.  The found nature objects brought in to class for drawing range from pine cones to a sand dollar and shells, to leaves and wood and a dead honeybee.  And – wow! – the range of expression is quite remarkable.

Observation is the key to a great drawing!

Mary and Elizabeth,and the joy of making art.

Completed artwork from our class time.  Sharing at the start of our Food Forest jaunt.

Part 2 (Feb. 18)

The week following our indoor class time typically takes us to the Food Forest at FGCU, and we spend our class hours drawing the plants and trees that line the trails.  Professor Voytek fills us in on the history of how one student’s initiative brought the Forest into being.  The project emerged into reality in 2011, and the half acre site continues to thrive (even after Hurricane Irma!), serving as a classroom and a food source, but also as a space for inspiration.  Apart from the cycles of predator-and-prey, it is a safe place for living things, with no pesticides or herbicides used.

So yes, there are honeybees and spiders, and the occasional black snake.  They are as essential to the ecosystem as butterflies, birds, and bunnies.  It makes me happy to see the abundance of pollinators busy doing their job, buzzing from flower to flower, trying to dodge the large humans blocking their flight path.   

ohana means welcome in the Hawaiian language, but it also honors community and our connections to each other.

The new signs are filled with useful information.

Sketching a  Firebush.

The smile says it all!

My mission there is to inspire these artists, but they inspire me in turn.  I feel competent to guide someone through a sticky color choice or a composition question, but only when needed, and it’s not needed often.  This is an invested and mindful group (regardless of skill level), so I get to do more admiring than assisting!  They inspire me with their unique viewpoints, willingness to take a risk and try new materials, and even their choice of subject.

Sharing after our outing.

We take time to share our work before and after our foray.  Sharing is important for any group of artists.  It takes courage to put our work and ourselves out there.  But it creates a place to learn from each other and to grow as artists.  It creates a space for support, and for caring for each other, if we will allow it.  We get to see our work with new eyes.

The Food Forest is free and open to the public.  It’s created by students, maintained by students, and promoted by students.  This is their website (by students, of course!) for more information: http://fgcufoodforest.weebly.com/

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Online about FGCU’s Food  Forest

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My past post on the Food Forest 

A glimpse into our nature journal class…

...and an invitation

We are currently in the middle of Nature Journaling: Botany Through Art. Our class meets Monday mornings at the Naples Botanical Garden for 3 hours as part of an 8-week series underwritten by a grant from Aroha Philanthropies.  This foundation supports creative expression in  the arts through community involvement in a variety of ways.  Our class series is part of their Vitality Arts  program – creative expression for adults 55 and over.  

Sue Slick, one of our talented participants, created the video below of our last class as we sketched and painted on the Performance Lawn.  She took video clips and photos, put them together and made something wonderful to share.

Our class wasn’t publicized because of the full waiting list, so you won’t find us on the Garden’s calendar.  What you will find there is the art show we’ll be having at the end of February!  You are invited to join our nature journalers and visit with them as you view their final art project and enjoy a tour through their nature journals.

Nature Journaling: Botany Through Art Show

10 am-12 pm ~ Saturday, February 29, 2020 

(Included with regular Garden admission)

Kapnick Hall Terrace, Naples Botanical Garden

4820 Bayshore Drive, Naples, FL 34112

We range from beginners to practicing artists, with varied backgrounds that shape our connections to nature and art.  What you will see is the unique story each artist tells through the skills they’ve learned.  None of us need to have the skills of professional artists – our nature journals reflect a very personal journey and our learning process.

This is the important take-away: this connection to place, our creative insights, even the missteps.  These are all part of the process.  We hope we inspire others to make their own personal connections to the beauty of nature found throughout the gardens inside.  There is a new adventure open to us all, no matter our age or limitations.  This is it.  Nature. A page, a pen, a brush.  And you.  

Last session: preparing materials
for plein air sketching.

Last session: capturing a landscape!

Overlooking the lake
in the Florida Garden.