Nature journaling lets refuge guests experience wildlife in new way

I am still learning.

Those words, spoken in Italian, were attributed to the Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect and poet Michelango when he was 87 years old.

Beverly Choltco-Devlin, a retired librarian and trained artist, referenced the famous phrase during a workshop held alongside fellow artist Gary Knudson at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, June 20.

Their free two-hour class served as an introduction to nature journaling, a practice that combines drawing (or painting, if you prefer), writing, cataloging and even scientific observation. Not that classifying plants or animals is necessary, says Choltco-Devlin — though you may want to know what a stinging nettle looks like before you step off the path.
To begin Friday’s class, Choltco-Devlin led a small group of participants through an exercise known as blind contour drawing. The objective: sketch the outline of an item in nature with as much detail as possible — without ever looking down at your page.

Blind contour drawing helps train the artist to fully observe their subject while improving their hand-eye coordination. Choltco-Devlin says the practice also encourages artists to not rely on the use of common symbols. Instead the artist attempts to capture how an object truly looks.

This was the first time Choltco-Devlin and Knudson have teamed up, though they have known each other for years. Knudson and his wife, Martha Scoville, began hosting the sessions last summer at the refuge.

“But this is, I would call it expanded, because of Beverly’s experience,” Knudson said.

Though Friday was also Choltco-Devlin’s first time teaching the workshop at the refuge, the artist and educator has led similar workshops at the North Cascades Institute, as well as with the Tahoma Bird Alliance and the Steilacoom Artists’ Collective.

According to Choltco-Devlin, John Muir Laws is credited with starting the nature journaling movement. He, along with Roseann Hanson and Beth Kelley Gillogly, founded the Wild Wonder Foundation, a nonprofit that Choltco-Devlin says encourages nature journaling “because it helps us to become part of nature by this immersion in it.”

The mission of the refuge, meanwhile, is to help develop a sense of learning to protect and conserve the world in which we all live, Choltco-Devlin said.

In some ways, nature journaling is like an act of mindfulness.

“It’s a matter of, if we care about nature, which gives us sustenance, observing it and understanding our role in nature, and how nature impacts us,” Choltco-Devlin said.

This understanding, she said, helps us to want to protect the world as stewards.

Choltco-Devlin and Knudson aren’t just volunteer teachers; they are practitioners. She calls nature journaling a passion. He carries a notebook whenever he and his wife visit Mt. Rainier.

“Nature journaling falls under what we call an interpretive program, which is a way for visitors of all ages and levels of familiarity with the refuge and the nature in this area (to) participate with representatives from the refuge to learn more about what they’re doing here, what they’re experiencing here,” said Carole Holmson, park ranger at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.

Holmson said the introduction of the workshops was largely driven by the interest of Knudson and Scoville.

“Nature journaling really ties into the individual’s sense of observation, so their sense of curiosity, and encourages them to explore that curiosity through written word, through poetry, through artistry,” Holmson said. “And, really, wildlife observation, it can happen in many different forms, you know, from visitors walking the trails, noticing the different bird songs that they’re hearing, or the different flowers that are blooming.”

Holmson said that visitors to the refuge often take that sense of curiosity home with them. They get curious about what’s in their neighborhood, or the parks they go to in different cities,

As Choltco-Devlin might say, they become stewards. Still learning, like Michelangelo.
Nature journaling is not the only free event offered at the refuge. Volunteers lead regular birding walks, nature walks and history walks throughout the summer. The refuge also presents a weekly lecture series through August hosted by scientists, authors and other local wildlife experts.

To learn more about upcoming events, visit https://www.fws.gov/refuge/billy-frank-jr-nisqually.