Jocelyn Curry

How best can I describe the experience of four days in the splendid environment of the North Cascades Institute, located amid the granite peaks and lakes of the North Cascades mountains? I've begun by creating two montages of images shown below. I have more photos and information to add, but will offer these for now. My exceptional group of 15 Nature Journaling students got right down to the task of making their own journals using smooth watercolor paper. The moment the books became functional, we were off to the forest for sketching exercises. The next day, we were up into the mountains for a sketching excursion. During non-classroom hours, students were working in their journals, with many of them having numerous pages filled by the time Sunday lunch came and it was time to leave our temporary home by Diablo Lake.  (Click to enlarge ~ the captions will be legible that way):

One of the changes from the 2008 class's curriculum was the addition of a van excursion for the purpose of practicing plein air sketching. I wish I had taken more photos of the sublime views in our four locations! Thanks to Liz for sending me the photos of the wildflowers, especially. And thanks to NCI's Allen and Katie for cheerfully and safely driving us and catering to our plein air whims.