Sketches and Snapshots: Venman Bushland National Park
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
~ Albert Einstein
I want to share with you on a regular basis, nature’s places that bring me great peace and joy. When I feel troubled, overwhelmed, uninspired and hopeless, I find taking a walk in nature always helps. It’s a great balm for the heart and soul, and visiting these places often brings me great clarity and solutions to often unanswered problems. It’s also a place that inspires and uplifts me and I find that my best ideas come to me and my creativity and hopes and dreams for the future are rekindled.
I hope to share with you about these places on a more regular basis and encourage you to explore the outdoors more frequently, if you aren’t. These natural spaces are what really drive me to photograph, to draw and paint and create art and designs…to dream and to create beauty and magic in my own world. I hope that some of the peace, joy and magic find you too when you are out exploring.
I also want to encourage you to slow down and actually look at the trees, plants, birds and animals that inhabit these spaces. Make it a goal to find out about one native plant, or animal that you come across, each time you go out for a walk. Find out the names of those plants and animals, and why they grow or live there.**HINT** It may have something to do with the geographical location that influences the plants and animals that grow in that area.
Venman Bushland National Park
If you live in South East Queensland, you would be surprised how many bush reserves we have on our door step. Our homes back onto many of them, and one of them I recently visited in the last month with a fellow surface pattern designer and photographer friend was Venmans Bushland National Park, in Mt Cotton, Qld.
Venman Bushland National Park is a 415ha bushland reserve, and is one of the largest remaining Eucalypt forests near coastal lowlands of Brisbane, consisting of a mix of Eucalyptus and Melaleuca (tea tree). It was once privately owned by a local, John (Jack) Venman, who in 1971 sold his land to the Albert Shire Council for one dollar. In exchange, the land was to become an environmental reserve so that Jack could ensure that it was never used for future development. You can read about the history of Venman Bushland National Park and the remarkable story of Jack Venman here. I am forever grateful to visionaries like Jack who left future generations something of such great value for us to enjoy and protect.
As of the writing of this blog post, I’m up to thirty identified native wildflowers (not including fungi), and still counting. My go-to book for identifying plants in SE Qld is Mangroves to Mountains, and it’s the bible of native plant ID in this region. If you’re thinking of buying yourself a copy, visit the M2M website to purchase, as it’s the most affordable and you’re getting it directly from the authors. The book is funded by Native Plants Qld, of which I am a member of. I encourage anyone wanting to learn more about our native plants to join as a member. There are so many knowledgeable and friendly people to help you learn and grow.
From Observing Nature to Documenting to Art Creation
Just as creatives and artists before us have used nature as inspiration for their art, I too use nature to inspire my art. I do this through a number of ways…photography, drawing and nature journaling, and also through creating pattern designs. In fact, that’s mostly the process I use: photograph nature, draw, paint and journal it, and then create patterns from them. I also use my drawings and artwork in my social media and promotional marketing.
I find nature journaling to be the most inspiring when it comes to drawing and/or painting what I see, because I don’t have to be perfect and I don’t have to satisfy anyone but myself. So it takes the pressure off. It’s also highly therapeutic, creates more meaning in my life, and deepens my understanding and connection to the places I visit, and to the plants and creatures I encounter.
After my first visit to Venman Bushland NP, in the last month I created a journal entry to document the native plants I had come across. I was blown away by the number of native plants and wildflowers I had encountered in one place, and especially since it was local. And it wasn’t even during the height of wildflower season. Then only two weeks later, my friend and I started on the same trail and took another trail (we went hunting for orchids), before converging back onto the original track to finish. Just through this detour we discovered so many more native wildflowers. I was just bursting with excitement! I couldn’t wait to document and to identify the plants we’d come across.
So I hope these photos, my nature journal entry and this blog in general, inspires you to step outside and visit some of your local reserves and national parks. You’ll be amazed at what you discover and how good you feel getting out and about, and connecting with nature.
Let us know if you visit any nature spaces. I would love to hear about your adventures and if you’re up for it, please share your experiences, what you’ve discovered (not just observations) and if you’ve done any nature journaling, what work you’ve created.
Until next time, please enjoy…
…good things.
**P.S. Want to know when the next Nature Journaling workshop is happening? JOIN MY MAILING LIST
**P.S.S. Want some regular encouragement and support with your nature journaling? JOIN MY NATURE JOURNALING FB GROUP
