Nature themed art

Welcome to my website which showcases some of my nature themed work, including greetings cards, nature journal kits, paintings and advice on beginning your own nature journal journey. All my cards and drawn and conceived by me from my own nature journals and observations. Each card is based on a completed journal and follows a theme and carries with it a story of that theme.

I have a range of cards available for sale as well as nature journal kits. I run workshops from time to time - usually organised by organisations such as the Land of Oak and Iron, Quirky Workshops and the Natural History Society of Northumbria. Look out for these on my blog page.

My Nature Journal Kits come with a blank “chapbook”. A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, simply bound and cheaply produced. Our chapbooks are even simpler than that as they are a concertina fold. The term "chapbook" was coined in the 19th century and is derived from the “Chapmen” who sold them. Chap simply means dealing or business so Chapmen were sellers of chapbooks. The surname Chapman means "marketman, monger, merchant".

Subjects covered by Chapbooks included: broadside ballads were popular songs, fairy tales, heroic tales, folklore and music hall. They were particularly important in the dissemination of popular culture to the common people, especially in rural areas. They were a medium of entertainment, information and (generally unreliable) history. Chapbooks were used for reading to family groups or groups in alehouses.

So I have taken this model and applied it to a very simple concertina fold device which can be illustrated with your nature observations or life story or urban sketches.