Winter Solstice: Bringing Nature Indoors
Winter doesn't mean your nature journaling practice has to go on ice. Here's how to make the most of the long winter and stay connected to your practice.
Today marks the Winter Solstice—the shortest day of the year and the official start of winter. The light shifts, the air gets colder (okay, the air already is colder), and for many of us, spending long hours outside becomes more challenging. But the solstice also brings a chance to slow down and find new ways to stay connected to nature.
For nature journalers, winter can feel tricky. Gloves make sketching awkward, and cold fingers cut observation time short—but take heart! You don't need to put your nature journaling practice on ice just because the temperature has dipped. Here are some ways to keep on noticing even on the darkest of days.
Try bringing small pieces of the outdoors inside. Leaves from a recent walk, acorns from near the doorstep, or seashells from earlier in the year make excellent subjects. When you look closely, even familiar objects reveal new details, such as leaf veins, subtle color shifts, and tiny surface textures you might have missed before.
Another option is painting windowscapes. When it's too cold to linger outside, the sky becomes an ever-changing subject you can watch from indoors. Note the weather data alongside a small sky study for some helpful context.
Working from reference photos offers another way to keep your practice going. Photos taken during warmer months can become subjects for careful study during winter evenings. You might revisit a favorite hiking spot, work through details you didn't have time to sketch in the field, or simply enjoy spending more time with a scene you can revisit in your mind whenever you turn back to continue working on a special page. Reference photos let you practice observation and technique without battling the cold.
Nature is already inside your home, too. Houseplants make patient subjects and their leaves, stems, and growth patterns can generate endless questions. The produce in your kitchen provides a different kind of variety since you can also taste your subject! The cross-section of an onion, the texture of citrus peel, the shape of a garlic clove. All can be little kitchen explorations.
If you have pets, they're nature too, even if sketching your napping cat or wiggle-pup requires quick work. And don't overlook the uninvited spider in the corner!
You can also journal in unexpected moments, like sketching landscapes through a car window while traveling (just make sure you look up often and maybe don't attempt if you're prone to motion sickness). Definitely don't attempt unless you're a passenger! 😅
What's just outside your door that you could bring indoors to observe? The goal isn't to replicate summer's abundance but to keep your nature journaling habit on fire regardless of the season.
Light will slowly return, but for now, bring some nature indoors and keep on noticing, one page at a time.
