As the year starts to come to a close we’re looking back on time spent creatively engaging with the nature around us, whether through walks, nature journaling, or photography, and looking forward to our final (rather festive) creative activities of the year.
‘Creativity’ can seem daunting, with some thinking of artistic skills or out-of-the-box ideas, but we hope that after reading this blog you’ll realise that nature can be explored through many different lenses, and maybe be enouraged to give one of them a go yourself!
Nature Journaling
Nature journaling is a method of recording and collecting observations of nature in a variety of ways - note making, sketching, writing, or illustration. Our artist in residence Shilpa Agashe leads two workshops a month guiding participants on short walks around the Heath, helping them transfer their visual observations to the page. Nature journaling is a wonderful mindful activity helping you switch off from the outside world and focus in on your surroundings, noticing the little things you might have previously walked past without a second glance. You can view our upcoming nature journaling workshop dates here.
This year, in addition to running workshops, we’ve worked with Shilpa on developing a Nature Journaling Workbook that can be used by anyone, anywhere, providing short prompts to encourage a conscious exploration of your surroundings. This workbook can be purchased from our webshop.
Our Nature Journaling Workbook, available to purchase here.
Creativity with young people
This creative exploration of nature is not limited by age, as proven during our popular Family Creative Walks last summer summer. Different generations came together to re-discover the Heath through an artistic lens, culminating in a mini exhibition at the end of the session. It was fascinating to see so many interpretations of the same area, proving how unique each person’s relationship was to the Heath. Look out for more creative family walks in the coming months.
In addition to our creative walks, we were happy to collaborate with local youth arts project HVH arts on a programme of collaborative nature and arts workshops this summer. The workshops helped the young people involved form a connection with nature through butterfly walks, pond dipping and potting on plants in our onsite nursery, translating these new relationships into their art by making butterfly masks, sketching trees, and taking photographs throughout.
Pond dipping in our Hive Wildlife Pond with the HVH crew
Creative family walk participants working on their exhibition pieces
Photo Competition and Exhibition
Many visitors to the Heath love taking photos, and our annual photo competition had a record number of submissions this year, all competing for the chance to be featured in the official Hampstead Heath 2027 calendar. The submissions provided a great insight into how people interact with the Heath in different ways: watching a frosty sunrise, flying kites, enjoying a summer with friends or birdwatching at one of our famous ponds.
The winning images from our Adult and Under 18 categories as well as a selection from our finalists will be on display at our Photo Exhibition at the Kenwood Dairy from 10am-3pm on 26th, 27th and 28th November.
Adult photo compeition winnter - Joe Hayman
Youth photo competition winner - Milo Dawes
Wreath Making
Our last (but by no means least) creative events of the year will be our popular wreath-making workshops. Using all-natural materials collected from across Hampstead Heath and beyond, participants will learn how to create gorgeous wreaths from scratch.
This year we’re partnering with Daisy Green, new proprietors of the Parliament Hill Café, to bring you two joint workshop with festive snacks provided by the Daisy Green team. It’s sure to be a popular one so don’t miss out! All workshop dates can be viewed on our what’s on page.
The finished result!
