About

In our busy lives, we often look without truly seeing. This two-day workshop invites you to slow down and rediscover the natural world through careful observation, simple sketching, and reflective writing.

Through guided outdoor observation, you'll learn how writing transforms attention into meaning and how drawing helps train the eye. You'll learn how to use words to express what you see and then practice sketching an element that visually enhances those words.

• How to slow down and observe carefully.
• The foundations of nature writing.
• Simple techniques for beginning nature sketching
• How paying attention can deepen our relationship with the living world.

You'll leave with a one-page nature essay and accompanying sketch plus practical tools you can continue using to help you embrace summer more deeply.

Details

• Day One: Saturday, March 13 at IslandWood
  • You'll start your day with lunch at IslandWood, a 255-acre nonprofit environmental education center with beautiful, forested trails. Its restaurant, only for people participating in IslandWood programs, is known for offering seasonally inspired, locally sourced meals.
  • After lunch, you'll take a guided nature walk with a staff naturalist before working on your nature essay.
  • Bring a smart phone with access to a search engine and camera, a notebook, and a ruler.
• Day Two: Sunday, March 14 at BARN 
  • You'll continue work on your writing and drawing in the Writers' Studio.
  • Bring a sack lunch for Monday's class. There is a refrigerator and microwave on the lower level you can use.

Materials

• A $68 materials fee, included in the cost of the class, covers your lunch and the naturalist guide at IslandWood along with workshop supplies of a micron pen, drawing and blending pencils, project paper, and eraser.

Class Policies

• Ages 18 and older are welcome.