PPF: Nature Three Ways

In the Alisa Burke class, Ode to Nature, the first assignment has been to reflect on nature.  I made this art journal page to record some of my thoughts and then added some collage elements. The butterfly and bee photographs are ones which I took. For the background, I wrote about some of my favorite memories of being in nature:
*bicycling through the Yosemite floor one Thanksgiving morning;
*watching whales in Glacier Bay, Alaska;
*cutting Christmas trees at Rancho Siempre Verde;
*seeing bioluminescence on a secluded beach in Mexico.
While journaling, I realized that I am inspired by the color and space and light in Nature. 
I also reflected on my natural environment, which I divide into four different areas:

I start with my yard, which has fruit trees, flowers and a garden to inspire me.

{Photos taken in instagram}
Further out are the open spaces - wild fields and farm lands - which surround my hometown. And then there's the beach. Of course.  Always the beach. For me, nature begins and ends with the sand and the ocean and the shells and the sky. I could never live far from the beach.  If I venture further out, I can visit deep forests where I find peace and serenity.  
Alisa encouraged us to go out and play in nature.  So, today, I went for a run in the Purisima Creek Redwoods, instead of in my neighborhood. It was beautiful!

I came home and and painted this simple watercolor of the creek.  Alisa just posted this fantastic Q&A/tutorial on sketching which totally inspired me.
It was nice to reflect on nature in an art journal page; photography; and a watercolor sketch. I think I'm going to like this class. 
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I'm posting this to Paint Party Friday.  For more painterly goodness, check out this link.