The spirit of the Montana woman was in evidence last weekend as 22 hard working and talented artists gathered in Billings to study together at my workshop sponsored by Big Sky Scribes, the state calligraphers' guild. Eight of the participants were from Billings; the other 14 drove long distances over the plains and prairies to be there. From a wide range of skill levels came an outpouring of beautiful nature journal work. Working both outside from the paths and on the micro-prairie (shown above, with 4 workshop students) of ACEC (Audubon Community Education Center), studious work was also done in the classroom. Each participant completed several small journal pages plus a decorated case for those pages. The paper had been pre-dyed with tea, giving it a warm color that enhances watercolors with an autumnal undertone. Each student also did numerous contour drawings and landscape sketches on ordinary paper.
Photos from the weekend, with captions, are below. I took more photos than I usually do when teaching, so another post will include additional images of the journal pages:
For some, landscape sketching was a new and slightly terrifying skill to learn. Small viewfinders isolated sections of the softly-hued surroundings, helping keep the scale of the sketches suitable for journal work. In this photo, all of the viewfinders are a noticeable red.
To the right are three pages created by Becky Smith. Students varied their page layouts, practiced pen and ink shading techniques, worked to enhance color, and incorporated handwriting, lettering, and decorative capital letters into their compositions.
On the left are Cyndy Aten's pages showing field notes, various monoline lettering styles, and a bold palette of colors. A unique heart-shaped stone is featured on the page of Cyndy's own reflective writings.
Edie Owen's pages to the right show a variety of layouts, careful landscape studies, and the addition of spatters and freely painted lines.
Please come back to see more examples from the workshop. I'll be posting another collection tomorrow. Thank you!
Jocelyn Curry 
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