Beau Romero hosts a springtime journaling workshop series at NOMA. In this beginner-friendly course, participants will be guided in journaling with their preferred medium through each session’s focus—Observing, Illustrating, Inquiry, and Embodiment—letting their creativity support them in this exploration.

Through each session, participants will tune into the seasonal plant life of NOMA’s Besthoff Sculpture Garden. These exercises in curiosity, observation, and recording can be applied to one’s own home and the natural world around us in New Orleans and beyond.

This workshop series will be hosted on March 22, April 12, May 10, and May 17. Each date in this series is a unique, stand alone class, so you can attend just one or all four to build on your skills.

Workshop registration is $25 for NOMA members and $30 for General Admission (materials not included). Advance registration is required to receive relevant prep materials. In case of inclement weather sessions will be rescheduled.

Register for March 22’s Observation workshop

Register for April 12’s Illustration workshop

Register for May 10’s Inquiry workshop

Register for May 17’s Embodiment workshop

About the Sessions and Required Materials

Class 1 – Observation: Participants will orient themselves to the plants and landscape of the sculpture garden. There we will develop and explore the practice of having a sit spot. Tapping into our sensory awareness, we start to build the internal framework that guides how we choose to record the worlds around us. We will learn basic introductory botany so as to more deeply familiarize ourselves with what we are recording.

Class 2 – Illustration: Participants will develop a language of illustration and/or visual representation (watercoloring, markers, pencils, etc.) for their journals. They will learn the basics of drawing from life, botanical illustration, and more importantly be encouraged to find the path of least resistance in order to gain confidence in the pursuit. All skill levels encouraged and all mediums,  demonstrations will be in watercolors.

Class 3 – Inquiry: Now that some participants have spent some time in the garden, we are seeing seasonal shifts take place. As new cycles of life emerge before us, we fine tune our natural curiosities into scientific inquiries of our garden observations. We build a practice of story telling to convey what we are seeing, feeling, observing over a period of time.

Class 4 – Embodiment: Drawing from the skills we’ve learned in previous classes, (and introducing them for our first time students) – we will incorporate our new practices. What is it to be embodied and present in a place, how do we use a journal to capture this? Participants will become cartographers as they make a map that is relevant to their journalistic practice throughout the series.

Materials requirements: 

Journaling should be affordable and accessible. If you already have a journal that’s been languishing in your closet for years or colored pencils getting dusty in the bottom of a drawer, by all means bring them to share with your fellow students for the duration of the class. Markers, materials for collage, whatever gets you excited. The only requirement is to bring a journal (or spare paper), pencil, and eraser. The NOMA Museum Shop will have supplies available for purchase with a discount for registered attendees.

Registrants will receive an email with suggested materials and where to purchase them as well as readings ahead of the class date. Each session in this four part Embodied Magic of Nature Journaling series can be a stand alone class, but participation in all four is encouraged to get the most out of this journaling practice and observe the change of the seasons. This is an outdoor class, so dress appropriately to spend the full class time outdoors.

About Beau Romero

Beau Romero is a botanical illustrator, naturalist, field botanist, and farmer living between New Orleans and Mississippi where they co-run Rotglow Research Farm and Nursery. They are passionate about the living world and want to inspire people of all ages to get out in it. They believe in demystifying and opening up scientific fields to be accessible to people of all skill levels and backgrounds. They can be found canoeing through the swamps to collect seeds for their nursery, organizing classes at Rotglow Farm, or drawing for the new edition of the Earthbound Farmers Almanac.

Instagram: @rotglowfarm

Email: rattlesnakeorchid@gmail.com