How Nature Journaling helped me to embrace Winter

Around 4 years ago, I began Nature Journaling and have since been creatively experimenting and working out my journaling style, something that I have actually found is ever-changing, but I have settled on some definite styles that I tend to embrace and use most frequently. It began as a way of me being creative that had no ‘endpoint,’ I found I was often racing to get a finished piece and I wanted to find a creative way to enjoy the process of creating. Nature Journaling has turned into one of my most creative practices, it is something that helps me slow down, appreciate nature with a sense of gratitude and allows me to embrace each season for all its magic… including Winter!

I had previously always been someone who wished Winter away, after Christmas, I’d long for Spring but through nature journaling, learning about seasonal cycles, and spending time outside noticing and observing I have learnt to lean into the rhythm of winter and find inspiration in even the darkest days. No matter the weather I always head out for a walk in the morning, something that comes with ease in Summer when the birds are singing at 6 am but in Winter, instead of resentfully waiting until the sun appears like I used to, I now enjoy slowly making a cup of tea at 6 am, lighting a candle and maybe enjoying some journaling in the quiet and stillness before heading for a sunrise walk. Sometimes I don’t journal but I do allow myself to embrace the fact it is dark in the mornings rather than push against it.

So what is Nature Journaling?

Nature journaling is all about observing what is going on outside and then finding ways to document it, it is about slowing down, spending time outside, being still and reflecting on your findings using different creative techniques. You can journal as frequently as you like, there is no point putting pressure on yourself to journal, it should be something you enjoy and want to do, this way you’ll find your own natural rhythm and routine with it. It is quite amazing once you have journaled through a whole year to look back through the seasons and see the changes in nature that you have documented, for me it also offers a book of inspiration for creative work if I am working on a creative project for Summer but it has been commissioned in November I can look to my nature journals for inspiration and transport myself to summer colours, textures, shapes and flowers. A nature journal is essentially a diary of the natural world, what you have noticed and how it makes you feel.

Tips for getting started…

Embrace heading outside to find inspiration, look for colours that catch your eye or interesting shapes and textures in nature. Capture them by taking photos so you have them to refer back to when you get home to journal
Try colour-swatching some of the nature you find, looking at the photo enjoy mixing the colours with paint to create the colours found in nature
Embrace different materials and find out what you enjoy most, I love to use Paints, pens, pencils, oil pastels, collaging techniques, and hand lettering. There is no right or wrong with Nature Journaling, it’s all about finding what works for you.
Find a sketchbook size that you enjoy working in, I used to work with an A3 journal but I realised I felt like it was such a task to fill a page that I wouldn’t do it, since journaling in A5 sketchbooks I’ve increased my nature journaling practice to weekly.

If you're interested in Nature Journaling you might like to join me this month for my workshop ‘How to start a Nature Journal’ on the 28th of January, I will be sharing simple ways to get started, a variety of creative techniques suitable for beginners and you’ll be able to ask questions during the live session. The workshop is also available as a recording if you can’t make the live, everyone will be emailed a copy to watch on catchup.

Book a space

And here is some of my Inspiration so far from the Season, as you can see there is still plenty of beauty to be found in Nature in the Winter, I’m hoping for some more frosts too as I just think it makes everything look magical…