Bonding With The Landscape

It took a few days to develop a rhythm and to allow a process to unfold naturally and without restrictions. I said “yes” to everything. This was the result:
1.) Sketched from natural objects (branches/study skins).
2.) Practice sketched in my journal to create a memory for color and form.
3.) Conversed daily with my husband/naturalist, Michael, to discuss anatomical accuracy and overall authenticity and first impression.
4.) Formulated ideas to support the narrative part of the project. What initially catches our attention can lead to a greater curiosity about parts of supporting organisms we might not otherwise notice and appreciate.

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About Raven

I am a naturalist. I co-founded Headwaters Environmental Station, a non-profit/tax-exempt environmental education facility at Misery Bay in the Keweenaw Peninsula with my husband, Michael Scheiwe. As a licensed Master Bird Bander and Scientific Collector, I had unprecedented opportunities to teach environment/ecological education to children for 20 years. I co-produced the program, Journeys Into A Sense Of Place, narrative readings that heighten consciousness of community and landscape (6 yrs.) for MN Public Radio. I have a working knowledge of taxidermy (study skins) and annotated and mounted plant specimens at the UWO herbarium. I appreciate the freedom of kayaking, biking, fly fishing, birding, harvesting/drying wild edibles. Illustrating, writing, hiking, photography, and cooking are essential daily activities. I earned a BS in Psychology and an MA in Education from NMU.

4 thoughts on “Bonding With The Landscape

  1. Thank you Janeen. I have been a naturalist since childhood and taught environmental/ ecological education for 20 years, but still miss so many vital details, like the four sides of a Spruce needle. Bringing this sort of detail into view has always been an exiting aspect of sharing that “sense of wonder” and awareness Rachel Carson (THE SEA AROUND US) and Barry Lopez (CROSSING OPEN GROUND) speak of. I’m using .13, .18, and .30 rapidograph pens for this series. The brushes are 00 and 000 Grumbacher rounds. Also, I wear an old geology optivisor. Yes, I know…weird 🙂 Final thought…My world changed dramatically when I discovered the Fibonacci Sequence on a tree, a beaver tail, a pine cone…

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