Photo: Robin Carlson

When: Tuesday, April 2, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Virtual
Member ticket: $20
Non-member ticket: $30

Nature journaling is a terrific tool for understanding the world around you: species, habitats, and all of their rich interconnections. Join Robin Lee Carlson for a discussion of the ways that field sketching has been an integral part of her explorations of the natural world, from understanding the ways that species and habitats respond to wildfire, to piecing together the bigger picture of stream ecosystems. The workshop will include demonstrations of Robin's sketching techniques, focused on birds and their environments, with lots of lessons learned from the field. The demonstrations will be guided so that you can follow along, with exercises that are accessible to all levels of sketching experience.

Carlson is an author and natural science illustrator, building careful observations of the natural world into deeper commentary on ecology and climate change. Learn how she uses field sketching for “ecoreportage,” close observation of the environment at a specific place and time, followed by repeated returns to build a picture of ecological change. Her sketches document the accelerating transformation of ecosystems by human activity. Her first book, The Cold Canyon Fire Journals, was published in 2022 by Heyday. Her work also has appeared in The Common, the literary journal of Amherst College, and in Arnoldia, the magazine of the Harvard University Arboretum. She has taught workshops that combine drawing, painting, and natural science at the past four Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conferences, as well as other venues up and down the Pacific Coast.