Episode 185: James Sisti – Hike and Draw

Victoria is a Chilean artist based in Germany. Her botanical art balances scientific accuracy with creative freedom, exploring themes of social masking, neurodivergence, female identity, and belonging.Listen to hear more about:Victoria’s early connection with nature and creativity.  Moving from Chile to Germany and how art helped her connect with her new environment.Studying botanical art by correspondence. The joys and challenges of working with live plants.The botanical artists that have influenced and inspired Victoria.The differences between traditional and contemporary botanical art. Working from pressed herbarium specimens. Victoria’s relationship with ‘perfectionism’.The tools used by botanical artists.Colour mixing ‘recipes’. Victoria’s body of work exploring identity and the experience of social masking.The reason why Victoria feels an affinity with orchids. Victoria’s online course Botanical Watercolors: Learn to Paint Realistic Flowers. You can find Victoria on her website (www.victoria-beyer.com) and on Instagram @victoria_botanical and @victoria.beyer.artist.Learn from Victoria in her online course Botanical Watercolors: Learn to Paint Realistic Flowers. Sign up to Victoria’s mailing list to receive a 10% discount on her artwork, an art catalogue and more!-----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates each month. You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!

International Nature Journaling Week is coming up again very soon (1-7th June). In this episode we will explore the themes and ways that you can get involved in the celebration. Our overarching theme this year is Conversations With Nature. We will explore ways that we can listen, learn from, and communicate with the natural world. We will have a daily theme to focus our journaling. These daily themes will be:1. Describing the indescribable2. Playing with words3. Exploring nature through poetry4. Storytelling with nature5. Listening attentively6. Sensing the world around us7. Creating a vision for the futureThe website for International Nature Journaling Week is www.naturejournalingweek.com. The best way to stay in touch and not miss anything is by signing up to the newsletter. On the INJW website there is a Journal Share page where you can share your work with others and leave encouragement and support for other people’s pages. You can connect with others from all around the world on the INJW Facebook group. To share your pages on Instagram or Facebook, use the hashtag #naturejournalingweek.com. If you would like to see my daily pages during the week and participate in giveaways, follow @journalingwithnature on Instagram.-----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates. You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!

Maria is an expeditionary artist whose work has led her to some of the planet’s most wild and remote locations. Collaborating with scientific research teams, Maria uses art as a tool for communication. She is the founder of Art Toolkit, a company that specialises in portable materials for adventurous artists.Listen to hear more about:The links between Maria’s early life and her career as an expeditionary artist.The fellowship that allowed Maria to travel the world and make art for a year.The similarities and differences between the Arctic and the Antarctic landscapes.The process of communication between scientific research team and artist.Landscape sketching.Active observation.Using art to communicate the science of climate change.The development of Art Toolkit.Micro-adventures in our everyday lives.  You can find Maria’s art and adventures at www.expeditionaryart.com. To learn more about Art Toolkit, visit their website and Instagram @arttoolkit. Art Toolkit have a wonderful collection of demonstrations and tutorials over on YouTube. Maria and the Art Toolkit team have generously created a discount code for listeners (valid until July 31st, 2025). The code is: NATUREJOURNALING15. You can apply the code at checkout to get 15% off your purchase. -----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates each month.You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!

Seeds are magical little packages of potential! Each seed holds all the genetic information needed to grow into a plant that may feed us, provide shade, or offer food and habitat for wildlife. The diversity of seeds is both fascinating and valuable, making them the perfect subject for our nature journals.I would love to hear about the seeds that you have been exploring in your nature journal. You can leave a comment on the Journaling With Nature website. -----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates.You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!

Jennifer is a gardener, author and podcast host. By examining the intersection between gardens and human culture, her work helps to expand how we think about gardens, positioning gardeners as essential knowledge-holders and change-makers of our time.Listen to hear more about:Jennifer’s first garden.The lessons a garden can teach us.Expanding the definition of gardening and reflecting on what gardening means to us.Our biological and cultural ties to flowers.  The cultivated spaces that make Jennifer feel at home.The feeling of loving a garden.Jennifer’s book What We Sow: On the Personal, Ecological and Cultural Significance of Seeds. Gardens as places of hope during uncertain times.Jennifer’s garden journaling practice. To learn more about Jennifer, you can explore the Cultivating Place website or find her on Instagram @cultivating_place.Jennifer has written three books that you can order from your local, independent bookstore:The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants. Under Western Skies: Visionary Gardens from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast. What We Sow: On the Personal, Ecological and Cultural Significance of Seeds.Jennifer will be a guest speaker at this 2025 Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference. You can buy your ticket to the conference here. -----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates each month. You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!

We are often very good at encouraging others and noticing things to admire in the artwork of those around us, but it can be more challenging to offer those same gentle words to ourselves. This week, we will practice finding things to love about our own creations and speaking to ourselves with kindness and generosity.I noticed this when I was sketching with my son. It was easy to find things to love about the work of the other person, but difficult to say these things about our own work. Do you have the same feeling? I would love to know how you respond to this and how you offer gentle encouragement to yourself.On a recent trip to Sydney, I attended a book event by Amie McNee who is an amazing champion of artists. You can find her book here: We Need Your Art. -----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates. You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!

James is an artist and wilderness guide from New York. Driven by a desire to make the outdoors accessible to more people, James created Hike and Draw - a platform where he combines art and education to help people connect with nature in a meaningful way.Listen to hear more about:The rhythm of the seasons in New York.How the Scouting movement taught James to thrive in a range of outdoor environments.How James developed Hike and Draw.How nature connection can combat loneliness.The early natural historians that inspire James’ work.The difference between and expedition and an adventure and how this relates to nature journaling.How a broken leg led James to nature journaling!How to be guided by ethics when interacting with nature.Nature journaling as a tool for conducting scientific research.Finding your niche.Socialising your research.The power of mountains. You can learn more about James and his work on his website www.hikeanddraw.nyc and on Instagram @james_sisti. Get a hardcopy of the book using this link: A Field Guide to Nature Journaling.-----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates each month.You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!

Learning some facts can be a powerful tool for understanding and connecting with animals. Following on from our conversation with Lee Putman from Facts and Fine Liners, let’s go on our own fact-finding adventure and see what we can learn about our chosen animal species.I would love to hear your experience with researching facts about an animal. Did you feel more connected with the species? You can leave a comment on the Journaling With Nature website. -----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates.You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!

Lee is an artist and educator based in London. Weaving together fine art and storytelling, his compelling videos open us to the fascinating wonders of the animal kingdom.Listen to hear more about:Lee’s creative history, including the development of his street dance and fine art. Incorporating movement into art practice.Creating art that has a positive outlook. Animal activism through art. Storytelling and its influence on Lee’s life and work. Telling the story of animals that might not be typically charismatic. Sketching animals from life.Lee’s upcoming online drawing session for the Saturday Sketch Club at the Royal Academy.How interactions with other artists can help orientate you within your ‘artistic ecosystem’. Communication through the language of art.Find Lee on social media over on Instagram, YouTube and Tiktok.You can find Lee’s beautiful fine art prints in the online store on his website www.factsandfineliners.co.uk.Be sure to sign up to be part of Lee’s online session for the Saturday Sketch Club for the Royal Academy: Saturday Sketch Club - drawing animals. -----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates each month. You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!

Contemplating Earth as part of a vast solar system, galaxy, and universe offers a powerful perspective. Let's explore ways to use nature journaling to connect with our place in space.In the episode I chat about the book Orbital by Samantha Harvey. Listen to episode 175 of this podcast where I talk with Kate Skinner about many things including the book Orbital. You can revisit Roseann Hanson’s field trip to Mars here: Virtual Field Trip: Let’s Explore Mars!I would love to hear your perspective on understanding our place in space through your nature journal. You can leave a comment on the Journaling With Nature website. -----------------Sign-up for Journaling With Nature's Newsletter to receive news and updates. You can support Journaling With Nature Podcast on Patreon. Your contribution is deeply appreciated.Thanks for listening!