FOCUS ON ART & NATURE JOURNALING
Learn Nature Journaling or improve your practice with these experts. Five of these events are at SLO Botanical Gardens
Born and raised in Northern California, Fiona Clare Gillogly, age 20, is an avid birder, artist, nature journaler, and advocate for nature. She has taught classes and given talks on birding and nature journaling for many organizations, including Audubon California, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, Environment for the Americas/World Migratory Bird Day, the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, and the Point Reyes Birding Festival. In June 2020, the American Birding Association's Birding magazine published Fiona's article and illustrations, "A Birder's Brain on Paper: How keeping a nature journal improves our birding experiences." Over the past 8 years, Fiona has volunteered many hours bird banding, monitoring nest boxes, and helping with Christmas Bird Counts. Learn more at fionasongbird.com.
Melissa Gonzalez, Owner of Earth Green Landscapes, specializes in creating pollinator habitats with healing properties for the human soul. She is a proud Nevada native and inspired by the unique desert flora and fauna for her creative work in her industry. She balances design with landscape management work for the success of the southwestern ecosystem. She believes in conscious landscape practices that sustains and flourishes the land and uplifts its inhabitants. When she discovered nature journaling before the pandemic, she realized her sketching techniques of landscapes and research could be taken to new ways of discoveries and learning possibilities when she looked closely at what the wildlife in her own garden and adventures of the outdoors were teaching her. Growing up Melissa saw her Grandmother pass down knowledge of plants to her mother. She also watched her father run his own landscape business for 25 years. All of the lessons learned from her family instilled an appreciation for the land around her.
Naturalist Sharon Lovejoy is an author and illustrator of award winning books and magazine articles including the National Outdoor Book Award in Children's Literature. Her ten books include A Blessing of Toads: A Guide to Living with Nature and My First Bird Book. She received an Audubon Scholarship to attend Ornithology Camp and worked as a naturalist for the Smithsonian Institution in the lagoons of Baja California. She spent thousands of hours observing and teaching about the Great Blue Herons of Morro Bay. She has been a guest on "Today" on NBC and numerous TV and radio shows including NPR. For thirteen years, she wrote a regular nature column in Country Living Gardener magazine. Her column was also distributed by The New York Times Syndicate to member newspapers in U.S. and Canada. Her nature journals have been featured in books, magazines, and newspapers. Learn more at www.sharonlovejoy.com.
Thursday, January 11, 2024
115 Every Small Wonder: How to Capture Your Moments and Memories on Paper
Sunday, January 14. 2024
438 Every Small Wonder: How to Capture Your Moments and Memories on Paper
John (Jack) Muir Laws is a scientist, educator, and author, who helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. His work intersects science, art, and mindfulness. Trained as a wildlife biologist and an associate of the California Academy of Sciences, he observes the world with rigorous attention. He looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connections in all he sees. Attention, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking are not gifts, but skills that grow with training and deliberate practice. As an educator and author, Jack teaches techniques and supports routines that develop these skills to make them a part of everyday life.