What is your connection to Nature?  Do you occasionally go to the beach?  Enjoy the view, the sand between your fingers and toes, wade in the water, poke a starfish.  Maybe you enjoy hiking.  The exhilaration as you march up the trail, surrounded by trees, birds, occasional streams crossing your path.  The views take your breath away.  These are cherished experiences, and they connect you to the natural world of the Salish Sea.  They make you want to have a closer connection, one you can be a part of, and take home with you.

The Raven’s Backyard Arts in Nature series provides opportunities to deepen your connection to the natural world you so love.  To become a part of it, and to take it home with you.  Two current offerings take you to the heart of arts in nature:

Drawing From Nature has long been a core Raven’s Backyard class offering, loved and re-taken by many for the numerous layers of skills and connections with nature it provides.  It’s not just about drawing, and it’s not just about nature.  It brings both in close interrelation with each other in your experience.  The drawing is an intimate absorption that makes you feel a part of the natural world you study.  The direct contact with nature inspires your drawing to be more than a visual representation.  It is an expression of knowledge and deep connection with your subject.

Nature Photography in Raven’s Backyard is not just about photographing nature.  It is about close observation.  It is seeing what nature presents before you with new eyes.  Just looking at Jack McCleod’s photographs is enough to convince you that you will have a new experience of the natural world in this class.  Be sure, this class is not focused on equipment, technology and technique – though all of those will be addressed.  Really those elements will be a slave to your intimate moments with a dewy leaf, a sky full of stars, or the reflection on the water in the bay.

If you love nature, if you want to find ways to be closer to nature, consider the Raven’s Backyard Arts in Nature series.  It could alter the way you experience your day on the beach or the trail.