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Keeping a Nature Journal
By Lotti Brown
Keeping a nature journal is a gentle way to slow down, notice the natural world around you, and reconnect with creativity and curiosity in everyday life...
Here you can explore nature journaling with me - learning how keeping a nature journal can help you feel calmer, more attentive, and quietly re-energised by the changing seasons.
Nature journaling my Sunday morning walkWelcome to my Nature Journal Hub
Nature with Lotti is my companion space within Lotti Brown Designs - a gentle, practical place where I share ideas for nature journaling, drawing, and connecting creatively with the natural world.
It began as its own small project a few years ago, and I still love sharing its spirit here - a space for learning, noticing, and simply enjoying nature in your own way.
This is where I share pages from my own nature journals, seasonal reflections, and all the little quirks and stories I notice outdoors. For me, nature journaling is a way to slow down, notice the turning of the year, and reconnect with what really matters.
I’d love for you to explore all this with me and perhaps find your own gentle rhythm of creativity and connection with nature too.
Whether you're just beginning to think about starting a nature journal or looking for fresh inspiration, this page will help you as I share my experience of keeping a nature journal, along with ideas, prompts, seasonal reflections, and practical guides to support your journey of noticing and recording nature...
Together, the pages you'll find here explore many aspects of keeping a nature journal, from beginner guides and prompts to seasonal observations and creative inspiration.
Each section below will guide you deeper into the practice of keeping a nature journal and help you find your own way of noticing the natural world...
Keeping a Nature Journal
Keeping a nature journal is simply the practice of regularly recording your observations of the natural world - through sketches, notes, reflections, and small discoveries you notice along the way.
Some people keep a nature journal daily, others weekly, and some simply return to it whenever something in nature catches their attention. Over time, the pages become a quiet record of seasons, memories, and moments of curiosity.
On this page you can explore many ways of keeping a nature journal - from simple prompts and beginner guides to seasonal reflections and examples from my own journals.
A Gentle Path to Begin
If you’d like to move from noticing nature to keeping your own journal, you’ll find a few gentle ways to begin here…
Getting Started with Nature Journaling
If you're just getting started with nature journaling, or even just curious about what nature journaling involves, you're in the right place.
Let's explore what nature journaling actually is, how to get mindful with it, and how to get started...
Nature journaling is for everyone. It’s not about making 'perfect' art, but about noticing, enjoying, and connecting with the natural world around you.
Start here...
If you're new to nature journaling, this is the perfect place to start...
I'll take you through:
- what nature journaling is
- what you need
- how to nature journal
- your first few pages
- beginner tips, techniques & materials
- journaling ideas and weekly prompts
- mindful nature journaling
Start here with my nature journaling for beginners section...
Nature journal with red pelargoniumsCourses & Guides
Seasonal Inspiration & Folklore
Follow along with me as I explore the seasons in my nature journal...
Real life nature sketches, notes and folklore findings as we tread each month in the fields and hedgerows of Yorkshire...
Monthly prompts and inspiration...
A Gentle Practice for Everyday Life
Nature journaling doesn't have to be saved for holidays, long walks or perfect weather. Some of the most meaningful journal pages begin in the middle of ordinary life – noticing a bird while the kettle boils, watching the changing sky at the end of the day, or pausing to admire a flower on the way to the shops.
These articles explore gentle ways to make nature journaling part of everyday life, wherever you are and whatever season you're in. Whether you have five minutes to spare or a whole afternoon outdoors, there's always something waiting to be noticed.
Noticing wildlife in the garden
Keeping a nature journal doesn't require artistic skill, expensive materials or a perfect routine. All it asks is a little curiosity and the willingness to pay attention to the natural world that's already unfolding around you.
- A leaf on the path
- A blackbird drinking from a bird bath
- The first autumn berries
- The scent of rain after a hot day
Over time, these small moments become something more than journal pages. They become a way of seeing the world with greater curiosity, creativity and connection.
If you'd like to begin, you can start with my free Nature Journaling Guide, then explore my ideas for Nature Journaling in Everyday Life, including journaling from home, weekly prompts and seasonal inspiration for keeping your practice gentle, flexible and joyful.
Or simply open a notebook, look a little closer, and begin noticing.
My Year of Nature Journaling
'A Year of Nature Journaling' is a quiet companion to the seasons - a way of noticing how the world shifts, softens, and returns again as you continue keeping a nature journal through the turning year.
I share what it’s been like to keep a nature journal through a full calendar year, (during my very first year of nature journaling) following the rhythms of winter stillness, spring song, summer abundance, and autumn gathering, one imperfect, attentive moment at a time.
Read about my year of nature journaling here...
Watch me flip through my first full nature journal in the video below - you can also see more detail month by month in this section, too...
This nature journal is 200 pages and took me around 10 months to fill.
I've really enjoyed looking back through it and it's surprising how well I can remember some of the things I saw when I see my drawings and read my page and relive that feeling of feeling connected to nature too! This is why I love keeping a nature journal!
Click play above to watch the video.
You can also check out one or more of the pages below to explore month by month...
If you enjoyed seeing inside my first nature journal, I just finished my second nature journal - this also took me 10 months to fill. I love looking back inside it as it reminds me what I was doing each month...
If you'd like to see inside my second nature journal, click play on the video below (many of the pages also appear in the 'Seasonal Inspiration & Folklore' section above)...
Turning the pages of my second full nature journal
Explore all the pages from my year of nature journaling here...
Nature Journaling Books
Nature book recommendationsExtra inspiration, tips and ideas with some of my favourite nature journaling and nature-lover books - explore with me here...
A Year of Trees
A Year of Trees - nature journal course inspired by the Celtic Tree CalendarIf you enjoy nature journaling and would like a gentle, seasonal focus, you might enjoy A Year of Trees - a nature journaling journey inspired by the Celtic Tree Calendar.
Explore thirteen beautiful trees through folklore, observation and seasonal prompts, moving at your own pace through the changing year. You can follow the full 13-tree cycle or simply spend time with a single tree that calls to you, as each tree journey is also available individually.
FAQ: Keeping a Nature Journal
Do
you have to be good at drawing to keep a nature journal?
Do
you have to be good at drawing to keep a nature journal?
Not at all. Keeping a nature journal is about observing and recording what you notice in nature. Simple sketches, notes, and observations are perfect.
What
do people put in a nature journal?
What
do people put in a nature journal?
Nature journals often include sketches, written observations, weather notes, bird sightings, plants, seasonal changes, and personal reflections.
More to Explore
Keeping a nature journal has become one of my favourite ways to notice the small wonders of the natural world - and it often inspires my nature artwork and illustrations too.
If you'd like to explore further, you might enjoy:
- nature journaling for beginners
- my weekly nature journaling prompts
- seasonal folklore and journal reflections
- pages from my first year of nature journaling
- my free guide to starting your first nature journal
- my 'Gentle Introduction to Nature Journaling' guide to ease you into your first few pages
- my 'Imperfect Nature Journaling' course for when you're ready to go a little deeper
- nature journaling book suggestions
Or you can explore my nature-inspired art collections here - my Folklore hub here - or my Celtic Trees section here...
Deepen Your Nature Journaling Practice
Deepen your nature journaling practice with me...If you’ve enjoyed my nature journaling reflections, you might also like my 20-lesson course, Imperfect Nature Journaling.
It’s a gently structured, self-paced journey designed to help you:
• Slow down and notice more deeply
• Build confidence in drawing and observing
• Create a calming journaling ritual you can return to
• Feel more connected to the seasons and the natural world
No perfection required. Just curiosity and a notebook.
You can explore the course here whenever you’re ready...
P.S. If you’re just beginning - or would like something quieter and more simple to start with - you might first like to get started with my free 'Getting Started' guide or gain momentum with my 'Gentle Introduction' guide to help you through your first few pages - here...
Shall we stay in touch..?
Each month, I share stories from my own nature journal, new art from my studio, and simple seasonal inspiration to help you feel more connected with the turning year - if you'd like to stay updated, please sign up with your email address below...
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Shop My Current Artwork Collections
My art is available as sustainable art prints, notebooks, greetings cards, tote bags and clothing in my Teemill shop.
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Lotti Brown is a self-taught nature artist and nature journaling educator whose hand-drawn work is inspired by wildlife, folklore, and close observation. With 18 years in creative fields and 10 years creating nature art, she brings deep practical experience to her work. Trained by the Wild Wonder Foundation, she shares nature journaling courses and guides online. Her artwork has been licensed internationally and exhibited at Goole Museum and Bridlington Spa in the East Riding of Yorkshire, UK.
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