by Jean Pocha for the Bitterroot Star
Amid fluttering swallowtail butterflies and soaring ospreys on the banks of the Bitterroot River at Skalkaho Bend Park in Hamilton, the second annual Northern Rockies Nature Journaling Conference was held June 24-26. Nature journaling combines intentional curiosity and observation with paper and pencil to record observations using words, diagrams or drawings and numbers to record the moment. The conference was attended by 27 people, primarily Western Montanans with attendees from Utah, Nevada, Washington and New Jersey.
“Keeping an illustrated, observational journal is a centuries-old method that has been reenvisioned and refined through the lens of our understanding of neuroscience, learning and deliberate practice,” said John Muir Laws, naturalist, artist and educator on Johnmuirlaws.com. “There is an infinite amount of wonder and beauty in the commonplace things you walk past every day.”
Forest bathing with Deborah Goslin opened the conference with attendees gathered in a grass field at Skalkaho Bend. Goslin, a certified Forest Bathing Guide, guided participants in slowing down and experiencing nature around them through their senses. The exercise included listening to sounds far away and close by, feeling the soil surface and other exercises that involved the senses and guided participants in awareness of the area around them.
Forest bathing is a term first used in Japan in the early 1980’s. According to Kaiser Permanente, the goal is to live in the present moment while immersing one’s senses in the sights and sounds of a natural setting. Participants at the conference discussed the sense of calm they felt afterwards and one participant shared a poem that the experience brought to her mind. As a nature journaling practice, being aware of what’s happening around oneself helps create a focus for your time journaling, said Goslin.
Keynote speaker was Roseann Hanson of Exploring Overland and coordinator of the art and science program at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Her Friday night talk at O’ Hara Commons taught the art of seeing instead of looking. A lifelong project of observing and recording nature has instilled a great sense of curiosity and a sense of wonder and discovery about the natural world for Hanson.
She said nature journaling requires a brain that powers the eyes to see and the hands to use a pencil for recording observations. The next tool that is needed is taking the time to slow down and observe nature, which tied in well with the earlier Forest Bathing exercise. Hanson emphasized that although drawing can be involved, the focus is on drawing to learn about the natural world, instead of learning to draw.
Sessions taught by Hanson and Kathy Settenvendemie, Blackfoot Native Plants consultant, included simplifying drawing using the shapes seen in nature, such as triangles in the mountain range, and seeing cottonwoods as ovals along the river. Using a one line system to outline a scene or item quickly, mixing watercolor paints to match natural colors, organizing journal pages and including weather, date and place information brought ideas and practice time for the participants. Hanson emphasized the value of accurate record keeping so that the journal can be a record as well as a comparison year to year of the plants and places visited.
Awareness of the land through tracking animal signs and tracks can enhance nature journaling, as taught by Josh Lisbon of MPG Ranch, Florence. Lisbon shared the many ways animals and birds make their presence known in the land around us. For example, chickadees change their normal “chick a dee dee” to “chick a dee dee dee dee dee” when alarmed by dangers. By being aware of that, nature journalists can possibly see what’s alarming the chickadees.
“The best thing [at the conference] was spending so much time in a lovely meadow along the river and beside the mountains, time to really observe swallowtail butterflies that never seem to rest, full-throated red winged blackbirds, and my favorites, damselflies of several kinds. Now my journal has a page remembering this soul filling experience,” commented participant Suzanne Hendricks, Missoula.
“The conference was terrific, I got lots of ideas and met nature journalists from other places. I really appreciated the focus on seeing, not just looking,” commented participant Roberta McElroy, Missoula.
Combining expertise in nature journaling and event management, Woodland Star Nature Journaling and O’Hara Commons co-organized the conference.
Conference planner Valerie Bayer hosts weekly Nature Journaling groups in Hamilton and Missoula areas for gatherings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Contact her and find out about nature journaling gatherings on the Facebook group “Naturalists with Brushes.”