Elements of Autumn
Nature Journaling for Joy
‘This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.’ - John Muir
If you’ve been following me and reading my blogs for any time, then you’ll know that I like to hold onto summer days for as long as possible. For me Autumn begins after the Autumn Equinox. I solemnly and resolutely dismiss the autumn cosy vibe, autumnal colour palette and endemic pumpkin images up until that point!
But I’ve been noticing the incoming signs of Autumn building through September.
The dew drenched cobwebs on my morning walks, the misty starts, condensation on the windows, cold draughts and the need to reach for a sweater in the evenings.
It’s unmistakably early Autumn now!
Noticing the elements of the seasonal shift into autumn during September and October helps me adjust to the incoming winter months. It’s a way of finding routine again after the freer months of summer.
Nature journaling is a great way to process these seasonal changes.
Nature Journaling
From the outset let’s clear up one misapprehension about journaling - you don’t need to be an artist to nature journal.
Creativity comes in lots of forms so no need to invoke your GCSE or O level Art for this - unless you want to!
This is about noticing - what you see outdoors, how you feel, textures, smells, colours, silhouettes, sounds, weather, changes. It's about finding words and images that sum up the moment.
There are no rules in nature journaling either. You can use whatever medium you are drawn to. In my nature journal I include words, watercolours, magazine cuttings, pressed flowers, photos, collected natural treasures, collage, pen illustrations and the odd quote. I’ve even used grasses, feathers, twigs and wild berry juice to record in my journal! The wilder the better.
You don’t have to constrain yourself to one approach - try something new each year.
No need for an expensive new nature journal either (unless you’re looking for an excuse to indulge your stationery fetish), a simple notebook and pen will suffice.
The format is up to you, although it's useful to be able to lay the pages of the journal flat and to tear pages out if you want to.
tips on how to journal, autumn colour leaves
Some people like to take their journal out with them to make notes in the field. I prefer to enjoy my time outdoors walking, making mental notes and taking photos on my phone. That’s possibly because I'm usually walking the dog too, juggling the associated paraphernalia of lead, treats and poo bags! Plus, at this time of year I rarely come back empty handed – there’s so much autumn bounty to collect!
With all that stuff and not enough hands, I prefer to collect my notes outdoors, then in a quiet moment add them to my journal at home.
My other tip is to record the date on your nature journal entries. It makes a useful record of seasonal change and I like to know when I can expect to see things again next year.
Why Autumn?
‘Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.’ - Albert Camus
This time of year is brilliant for starting or returning to nature journaling because there’s so much significant change to notice. And if we’re lucky autumn is a magnificent visual spectacle.
It’s easy to think that all the beauty in the garden and out in the wild gets packed away at the end of summer, .
The profusion of bright colourful summer flowers have gone and the deciduous leaves are dropping from the trees and shrubs.
But let me assure you there are plenty of plants and natural treasures that can be enjoyed throughout the year. My work as a garden designer, curating beauty in my clients’ gardens throughout autumn, winter and spring, repeatedly proves this to me – you’ve just got to be cleverer in the winter months!
These seasonal glimmers of beauty can be recorded in your nature journal. They can be uplifting on a seemingly grey, wintery day and inherently positive.
Reaffirming we’re part of the great nature cycle of life and the seasonal highlights we’ve enjoyed will again come around again next year.
I’ve never failed to find something interesting to record in my nature journal. Some days you I just have to look closer!
Workshops
‘Great art picks up where nature ends.’ - Marc Chagall
I've been running nature inspired creative workshops for a couple of years now and I've seen just how powerful time spent noticing outdoors and being creative, really is.
That's why I'm running three different autumn themed workshops this year, designed to capture the beauty of the season and help you embrace seasonal change - while convincing myself that the end of summer isn't too disappointing!!!
I’m very excited to share these workshops with you:
Doodle Grasses, Seedheads & Flowers with Nic&Jen
Monday, 30 October 2023
18:00 20:30
The Colour Factory Winchester
We’ll show you how to doodle wild grasses, seedheads and flowers, step by step to create your own seasonal design. Including fun techniques and surprising tools, which you can use to create labels and a greetings card.
Autumnal Nature Printing with Nic&Jen
Thursday, 9 November 2023
18:30 21:00
Lower Norton Flower Farm, Winchester
Design and produce your own individual, botanical printed artwork using an innovative, simple and very effective printing technique. All inspired by the leaves, grasses and late flowers of autumn.
Please do e-mail me at nicola@heroutdoorz.co.uk if you would like to book a place. If you can’t make these dates then I will be running more seasonal workshop over the coming months and my website is the best place to find more details.
You can also sign up for my free monthly newsletter full of seasonal highlights to notice outdoors in your garden and in the wild, seasonal activities and details of my workshops.
Autumn really is a great time for really starting to notice seasonal shifts and I hope my article may have inspired you to give nature journaling a try.
I’ll be posting some of my autumnal nature journal entries over on social media so please do come and find me
On Instagram at Her_Outdoorz and Facebook HerOutdoorz.
I’d love to hear how you get on with your journaling too, so do tag me on your posts.
I’ll be back next month with more nature noticing and seasonal joy until then happy journaling!
