Jenny Coats Create-ED

Here are the wonderful women from ZBD TALENT who joined me to explore the practice of nature journalling at the beautiful Sheffield Botanical Gardens yesterday.
We took time to slow down, notice and appreciate nature - something that in our busy lives can so often get overlooked. Being in nature helped us to relax, share stories and connect with one another - there was laughter and even a few tears.
We also experienced the joy of creating, overcoming fears by learning some techniques to make painting easy.

Thank you to the wonderful attendees for sharing ideas and inspiring stories. You gave me lots to think about. Proof that time out to connect with nature inspires new ideas and creativity!

I hope the session has inspired you too - to keep noticing and maybe journalling through the seasons. As always, I'd love to see what you create!

If you and your colleagues could do with time out like this, get in touch, I'd love to help!

Take care
Jenny x

Such sad news. Absolutely one of my favourite artists. 😥 His use of colour and shape has inspired me since I first saw an exhibition at Salts Mill, saltaire as a teenager. I once saw him talking about his painting in a documentary and he said that on dull days, the colour is still there you just have to look harder to see it. Also that even though something might be red, actually I might not be, you have to look carefully and see the real colour of it in the light. Last year we went to see his light room exhibition and I loved seeing the video of him driving his convertible through the Californian hills with Wagner blasting out!

We are deeply saddened by the death of David Hockney, one of the most influential artists of our time. Our thoughts are with his friends, family and colleagues.

A statement from our Chair, Sir Nicholas Serota:

"David Hockney was an artist of constant invention. From his early pop works to his iconic paintings of California pools, to his Yorkshire landscapes and the abundance of nature that he discovered in Normandy, he explored how we see the world and how we relate to one another.

"He was full of humility about his achievements but his work was admired across the world, with nearly a million visitors to his exhibition in Paris last year, and his legacy is immeasurable. He was, quite simply, a great artist."

Image credit: Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture event Painting the Sky © David Lindsay

New printing workshop alert!!!

Come and join me for a day of creative fun and play in Ecclesall woods this autumn.

You'll have a chance to enjoy the wonderful woods and collect inspiration from the shapes and colours you see there. You'll then use this to create your own print block, learning to carve into it with tools provided. Then the really fun bit - you'll get to play with colours and inks to create your own prints including two -tone and multi-coloured prints.

Come and join me! (It really is fun! 😊)

Full details are on my website (link in bio).







Sheffield Parks & Countryside

Many people who join me for my nature journalling workshops tell me they have been looking for something like this for ages. Something that gives them chance to slow down, connect, learn and make time for regular creative practice.

The big secret is that nature journalling isn't really hard! It just takes a bit of commitment to make a start and ideas and inspiration always helps! In this workshop I share what helped me get started and keep going with nature journalling. We also take some time out in the beautiful Botanical gardens to connect and enjoy nature as well as trying some very accessible painting techniques which you can replicate easily at home.

If this sounds like what you've been looking for, check the link in my bio for more info.

Week 23 of the nature journal
In some ways it feels very like the most Junest of Junes this week. The hedgerows are thick with elderflower and dogrose and I spent a good half hour watching the swallows swooping madly past me in the sunshine yesterday evening. But then the weather goes really weird and we suddenly have torrential rain or even hail!
The plants seem pretty happy with this state of affairs though and I keep seeing these bright red poppies by the side of the road, bobbing around in the wind or gleaming in the sunshine. I feel like they're a couple of weeks earlier than last year which is possibly due to the very hot weather we had last May.
Painting the poppies was quite hard as getting the right red is really tricky. In the end I've used all the reds in different places and though I hated it most of the way through painting it, I actually think it's been pretty successful in

Art Club at Dungworth is booking now and places are filling quickly, especially on the Thursday dates.
Art club is a great way to make time for regular creative practice in your life. We meet monthly on either the first Wednesday or fourth Thursday - you choose which day work best for you. The theme changes each month and I always build in some playful fun activities as well as a longer paint - usually using watercolour. There's a bit of gentle tuition, lovely people and most importantly there is always cake! 🍰
If this sounds like something you're interested in check out the link in my bio.

What's the best thing about running nature journalling sessions?







Hands down it's the wonderful people who attend the classes. It's such a privilege to meet them, hear about their stories and what has drawn them to journalling and also to see what they notice and how they represent it. I love seeing how different all the journal pages are and how everyone supports and encourages one another. These are such special mornings!

My next nature journalling session is in the autumn. Link in bio.