As a student of nature and art, I'm combining my love of the natural world with my appreciation of watercolor art.
I've discovered nature journaling and have found it is an engaging way to develop my observation skills and feed my curiosity about nature. I am learning how to notice the subtle details of line, shape, color and shadow as I capture sketches in my journal. In addition to drawings and written descriptions of what I see, I record the date, time, location, weather, time of sunrise/sunset and the phase of the moon in my journal.
Then I ask myself questions about what I am observing, what I am curious about:
"I notice..."
"I wonder why/if..."
"It reminds me of..."
"Could it be that...?"
Later, I research the answers to my questions and often use my field drawings as inspiration for larger watercolor paintings.
It is also fun to observe changes over time - seasonal changes, flowers budding through blooming and fading, acorns forming and falling and birds building nests, feeding their young and tending to newly fledged offspring.
Currently, I am especially curious about insects, birds, native plants and the rich salt marshes along the Georgia coast.
