drawing

Drawing Under the Salish Sea & Upcoming Activities/Events

/ natashavannetten

Life gets busy and its easy to forget to pay attention to what we see—especially when it comes to nature. We see things we’ve seen before and automatically catalogue an object or creature, ticking a check box in our mind. Seen it.

This is the big hurdle when it comes to drawing from life: trying to teach your brain to slow down and try to look at something with fresh eyes, like its something you’ve never seen before. If you take time to draw what you see, as you see it in front of you, you will discover so much about it! Trust me, your brain and eyes will thank you for doing this. We humans are curious creatures, so do yourself a favoure and indulge yourself in watching nature.

I was recently asked to instruct a scientific drawing workshop supported by a grant from Early Career Ocean Professionals Canada (ECOP)…..which is why I found myself with an amazing group of curious humans at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea last Monday. This grant provided the opportunity, support and tools to offer this workshop, making it accessible and inviting to people who consider themselves early in an ocean-related career/studying ocean-related fields/interested in learning about our local marine ecosystems.

Photos from the Observational Drawing Workshop

Photo credit: Rosie Poirier & Natasha van Netten

My heart-felt thanks to Rosie Poirier , ECOP Canada, the Victoria Foundation and the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea for making this event possible.

Upcoming Events

Watercolour Animal Pop-Ups Workshop: Saturday Sept 20

This quirky and whimsical workshop is inspired by historical zoological illustrations, such as those from the Encyclopedia of Nature, where the images are created in layers that you can lift to discover the anatomy inside. We will use watercolour, collage, drawing and paper cutting during this workshop. Happening at the Vancouver Island School of Art, downtown Victoria.

For more information and to register, click here
(it’s already over half full)

Cadboro Bay Fest: Sunday August 10

Come check out the live music, community drumming, delicious food, engaging kids’ crafts, and informative interactive booths! Connect with ocean sports enthusiasts, learn about marine wildlife and discover how you can enjoy and support our oceans. 
If you know any young humans, bring them by to the craft tent! I have prepared a fun craft activity and will be facilitating it between 11am-3pm.

This is a FREE, family-friendly event 🙂 Find more info here

Ucluelet Market: Sunday August 31

At the end of August I will be participating in the Ucluelet Sunday Market. If you are in the area, come by and check it out! There will be loads of amazing vendors, live music, food and it in such a beautiful location 🙂 10am-2pm

For more info, click here.

Field Sketching & Summer Activities

/ natashavannetten

A couple weeks ago I found myself somewhere new (for me). I was on Galiano Island, instructing a field sketching workshop to a class of students. But they weren’t art students… they were a university class studying marine biology..

Ferry switch at Mayne Island (BTW this is my favourite way to commute)

If you have spent any time around me, you’ve likely heard me talking about the importance of drawing. It’s good for our mental health, increases our observation skills, develops empathy, enhances our memory and can help connect us to nature. It is also practical (not that those other points aren’t practical). Have you tried explaining something complicated to someone—like the directions to a secret beach or your plans for how you are going to build a cupboard—and you find yourself searching for the words and end up grabbing a pencil and sketching something on a scrap of paper. Drawing is important for communicating. This is where science comes in. Art and science have been closely linked for hundreds of years because there is a need to be able to communicate visually as well as through words.

So I found myself ferry hopping my way to Galiano Island. I am so grateful to have been invited to lead this workshop to a group of marine biology students. A large part of their program involves maintaining an active field journal, where they record their observations and include sketches of the organisms they observe. During our time together I shared a slide show about the connection between art and science, provided them with practical tips for observational drawing and offered support as the students spent the afternoon exploring the low tide and documenting their observations. This was such an uplifting day for me—spending time doing what I love, talking about subjects I care about and hopefully encouraging a desire in these future researchers to spend time drawing. Despite the easily accessible phone cameras in our pockets, no technology has been able to replace the quality and clarity of field sketching, which is why it is so exciting to see these students spending time to build and develop observational drawing skills.

Waiting for the ferry & doing a little field sketching myself
Active Pass
I picked up a butter clam shell on the beach to draw on the ferry

Also, not pictured here: 5-6 orcas that I saw on the ferry ride home. A perfect ending to the day! (and the students saw them the following day)

Thank you Dr Z. for inviting me to take over your class for the afternoon!

Upcoming Events

This Sunday, June 8th . . . . . . . . . . . The Cook Street Village Block Party
First up, and coming up fast, is this super fun event happening in Cook Street Village. I am thrilled to be joining an amazing group of local artists and makers. At my booth you will find my sweater whales, wire whales, prints etc. and I have 100 special humpback tail postcards that I will be GIVING AWAY! So come by to pick one up 🙂 You will also find a variety of food and bevy vendors, music performances, a magic show and the “Fastest Dog in Cook Street” races.
For more info, click here.

Tuesday, July 1st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gorge on Art at the Canada Day Gorge Picnic
This is a super fun, family orientated event full of celebration, patriotism, pancakes, strawberry cheese cake, street hockey, a community parade, vintage cars, food, music, a lot of art and more! Here is a list of the artists participating this year. And here is more info on the Canada Day Picnic event.

Saturday, July 19th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The AGGV Paint In
I am honoured to be participating in the Paint In again! Did you know, this is one of the largest art festivals of its kind in Canada? It’s true! This event features artists, activities, music, food and fun lining the length of Moss Street, from the gallery to the ocean. This beloved festival draws 50,000 visitors annually to explore art along Moss Street and brings Vancouver Island artists together in celebration of art! For more information, click here.

September TBA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a workshop at the Vancouver Island School of Art
Oh! Something very fresh is cooking up for the fall. I have an exciting watercolour workshop brewing. Here are a few hints: sciency…. small creatures… whimsical… cutaways. Details will be coming out when VISA publishes their fall schedule. These workshops tend to fill up fast, so if you want me to send you an email when it goes live—let me know. I can add you to my workshop notification email list. Just send me a quick message on my Contact Form and let me know.

Imaginative Nature Drawing Workshop

/ natashavannetten / 3 Comments

I had the great pleasure of instructing a drawing workshop at Shawnigan Lake School last week as part of the MISSA 2024 programing. This two-day workshop was called Imaginative Nature Drawing and involved drawing with graphite, ink and watercolour.

I enjoyed preparing the projects, slide shows and content for this weekend and was reminded again of just how important imagination is. It helps us handle stress, achieve goals, maintain a positive outlook, grow our problem solving skills, strengthen our brains and even can help us live longer. Imagination is considered a skill, which means we can strength and build it through practice.

One way to activate our imagination is through creating combinations. During one of the workshop projects, the participants drew plants outside… but with a twist. They were to draw a variety of botanical species plein air (drawing outside) as though each plant were a twig sprouting from the same branch. The resulting drawings were whimsical yet also felt reminiscent of historical botanical illustrations. I love how each drawing turned out so unique!

Another way to help boost our imagination is to find a fresh perspective. Such as, in this workshop, creating “botaniquariums”. Observational drawing allows us to immerse ourselves in the natural world and make discoveries. “Oh! I didn’t realize that _____”. “I’ve never noticed that ____ had ____ before.” It is amazing what you will see when you pay attention by looking. There are endless drawing possibilities within each microcosm the participants created.

It was a full weekend of focus, creativity and community. For lunch we meet at the dining hall to eat together, which was catered by Shawnigan Lake School. This was an good halfway break in the day as it offered the opportunity to connect with other MISSA people, share about the projects we have been working on and recharge for the afternoon. At the end of the day many of us walked to the lake (which was just across the street) and cooled down with a well deserved dip. I have always been a summer camp person, and this type of an art retreat, where you have the opportunity to sleep over, eat together and enjoy the grounds, very much suites me. I am already looking forward to next year!

Plein air drawing by the pond at Shawnigan Lake School

Before I end this post, I also wanted to share the final project from our weekend: microramas. This project used imagination to problem solve as the participants created shadow boxes that incorporated three mystery words in some way or form. I would also like to say a big thank you to my friend Shirley for giving me with her mint tin collection. It was a fun way to end the workshop! 🙂