Nature Journaling and Tapestry

Journals, Nature, and Tapestry, oh my!

I’m a big fan of journaling. I haven’t always kept up with it, but since weaving tapestries again, it has become an essential part of my day. No big surprise, given my subject matter, that most of it involves nature.

Do you nature journal? 

This week a lot of my time was spent at the Wild Wonder Workshop. 

Every day from Wednesday through Sunday there are (were) presentations all day long. They did not overlap so you could actually attend every one. The recordings were up super quick, though, so if you missed something or just couldn’t devote that much time to it on a given day, you could go back and view the recordings.

Even though this workshop is on nature journaling - not tapestry(!) I’m hoping it might be of interest to you. Especially if your tapestries - or interests - have anything to do with nature.

notes from one of my journal pages

A lot of tapestry artists work from watercolor paintings and sketches to get to the essence of weaving in their design process. Tommye Scanlin is a perfect example. There are many others. I’ve tried watercolors, but never felt confident I could get the results I was after. I usually do my sketching with an HB pencil or a Faber Castell Pitt Pen. Sometimes I’ll add color with colored pencils (and watercolor pencils). Since my nature journaling is intertwined with my tapestry journaling, I tend to mix my colors in my head with the fiber I have on hand.

This workshop has got me thinking...

I found Wild Wonder through a friend of mine who’d signed up for it. I’d never seen or even heard of the people presenting, but it sounded so interesting I couldn’t resist. It started on Wednesday of this past week and continues through today. If you’re reading this early enough, you might still be able to register for the live event. If not, you’re in luck, because you can still get the recordings.

I find live events hard to fit into my daily schedule or studio time, so most of what I’ve viewed has been from watching the recordings. I’m impressed with the quality of everything I’ve seen so far. One that I did manage to watch live was by Ryan Petterson: Virtual Field Trip, the Geology of Sierra Nevada. It had me so enthralled that during the break, I tracked down my old Geomorphology book from college!

I don’t weave rocks (yet) but I do have a strong interest in them. My father was a geologist and, although he went into petroleum geology, I always associate him with his rocks.

Petterson gave a fascinating presentation. It was - as the title states- a virtual field trip through the Sierra Nevadas with a focus on the rock formations and history. I found myself filling page after page in my journal as I watched/listened.

Just before his presentation, I got in on the last live 30 minutes of John Muir Law’s Nature Colored Pencil Techniques in Your Nature Journal.

Essential colors (the yellow is canary yellow)

His enthusiasm was so infectious, I made it a point to watch his presentation all the way through once the recording was up. I’m so glad I did. I just finished watching it this morning. I learned a lot about using colored pencils and the three essential colors to have to make a multitude of other colors: cyan, magenta, and yellow. He even gave specific color numbers for both Prismacolor Premier (which I have) and Faber-Castel (which I don’t have).  You’ll get an idea of what he recommends on his website. He sells various sets.

The minimal approach

This was a key theme throughout the event. One of the other presentations that piqued my interest was Minimalist On-the-Go Sketch Kit by Roseann Hanson. Most of what I sketch is right outside my studio or from photographs, so I have no need to scale down my materials. But now I know how if the occasion arises.

Distilled down to just a few colors to have on hand, she was able to create an alluring array of colors. What I most especially loved was the focus on aiming for the colors in nature and how to achieve them. Can I translate this to my tapestry yarns? I hope so.

Actually, Roseanne was in nearly every video I have watched up to this point. She was helping out with the workshop so had a moderator role as well as a presenter. One of the panel discussions she moderated was also fascinating. It featured 3 makers of art supplies for the field journalist: Daniel Smith, Expeditionary Art, and Greenleaf & Blueberry. Scott Stevenson, a representative from Daniel Smith watercolors, was the only one I had time to watch. He spoke of the story behind the company and their quest for purity. Amazing that there are only 3 ingredients in their colors! I’ve added Daniel Smith watercolors to my wishlist…

This morning I also watched the recording of the Gesture of Trees by Kristin Meuser.  This was the one I knew I didn’t want to miss. My drawing approach has always leaned to the gestural - and if you’ve seen my work you must know how important trees are to me. I knew this would have to be fun. 

I really enjoyed her approach and choice of materials. She uses graphite to sketch her trees and landscapes (check!), then a water brush to add color (which I also have- check!). And I was totally hooked when she pulled out a stick and ink like I’d used in my seed art classes. Double check!

The tree outside my studio window

I have a favorite little tree at the top of the meadow outside my studio. I’ve photographed it many times and drawn it almost as many. But always just with my pencil. Now I’m looking forward to filling in some color with some of the techniques she showed.

Those are just a few of the many webinars in this event. Here’s another one on my list to watch on fire ecology:

Robin Carlson, Eco-reportage - Fire Ecology and How to Draw a Changing Landscape

And another on tiny worlds by Rosalie Haizlett is also of particular interest to me. I’ve been taking macro photos of seeds over the past year and took a class earlier this year along those lines (seed art lab, mentioned earlier).

A sample is currently on my loom.

Sample weaving- taken from a photo of wild blue indigo seed pod

Other key points worth mentioning about this event:

You can still purchase the recordings and have access to them through April 2021. And the recordings… have a searchable transcript! Can I say that again? Searchable. Transcript. It’s not always transcribed perfectly, but given the context, not hard to decipher.

They also have an auction going on and discounts on various supplies. I do not know how long these will be available.

Well done, Wonder Workshop. You’ve certainly instilled a lot of wonder in me!

sooo… do you Nature Journal? Share your favorite tools in the comments!