THE Amy Tan took my drawing class (but here’s what I learned from HER!)
Yep, that’s right. I was honored to have The Joy Luck Club’s Amy Tan attend a drawing class that I taught at a nature journaling conference in California.
Let me set the stage.
It was 2019 and I had just returned from 2 months in Costa Rica, trying to heal from the worst heartbreak of my life. I was thrilled to return to the states to begin a new chapter, starting with teaching at John Muir Law’s Wild Wonder conference in the beautiful coastal village of Pacific Grove.
Over the course of the 4-day conference I led several field trips and drawing classes, including one on ‘whole brain drawing techniques’.
When I saw THE Amy Tan enter my classroom, my heart skipped a beat!
Of course she’s an acclaimed author, but nature sketching was new to her. I imagined that it would be challenging to be so accomplished in one area of life and still be willing to risk judgement and self-criticism in her journey to develop a new and challenging skill starting from zero!
As she chose a seat and sat down, I recalled seeing her posts of early attempts at drawing birds in her backyard and truthfully, they were, to be blunt, childlike. But, SHE PERSISTED and steadily improved. And like a child, she maintained a growth mindset and put in the ‘pencil miles’ as her main mentor, Jack Laws, suggests we do.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM AMY TAN
Oftentimes, as adults, we refrain from building new skills or starting new hobbies. We expect to gain quick and perfect mastery right out of the gate. But Amy adopted a growth mindset which includes several key elements:
- Holds belief that talents can be developed through dedication and practice.
- Views challenges as opportunities and persists in the face of setbacks.
- Focuses on the process not the product.
- Learns and grows from failures.
- Is inspired by other’s success.
- Steps out of one’s comfort zone.
Of course, six year later Amy has mastered realistic drawing (and observation) skills and has a new book; The Backyard Bird Chronicles, filled with beautiful drawings and observations of the birds in her California garden.
THE NATURE NOTEBOOK CLUB IS HERE!
If you’d like to learn to draw and journal in nature, I’ve got a new program for you!
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My monthly membership, The Nature Notebook Club is ready for enrollment. Here’s what you get inside:
👩👦 A community of like-minded, nature-loving members.
📚 A library of sketching, painting, and journaling lessons (more added monthly).
✏ Weekly sketching and journaling challenges (to keep you motivated).
🌻🍄🦉 Monthly masterclass on flora and fauna of the world (to help you sketch plants and animals with more confidence and accuracy).
🤼 End of month community sharing of nature observations and journal pages.
✨ Founding Member Bonus: 30-minute introductory 1-on-1 coaching call.
Plus, Founding Members get to decide the content and direction of the program so that we can co-create it together as a community.
By the way, an online version of the class that Amy Tan took from me is included inside The Nature Notebook Club. And, there’s no better time to start a nature journaling practice than on the first day of summer!
