Meet the Correspondents--Cathy Johnson, otherwise known as Kate

Hi all--it occurred to me that I'd never introduced myself--I was in such a flurry getting the group blog up and going and getting correspondents on board, I just forgot!

I've written 34 books, both on natural history and on art (watercolor, drawing, sketching, working in nature) including The Sierra Club Guide to Sketching in Nature, Revised Edition and my newest North Light book, Creating Nature in Watercolor: An Artist's Guide, pictured below.



I'm very excited about how this blog has grown in such a short time--and delighted with the quality of our correspondents. Learning more about nature in other parts of the planet makes the whole world feel more like home, even the more exotic ones.

Gabi Campanario's Urban Sketchers blog made me realize the global possibilities of a group blog, so with his support and suggestions, I jumped into the pond and here we are! (Thanks, Gabi!)

I was Staff Naturalist for Country Living Magazine for 11 years, but freelanced with both writing and art for Country Life, Early American Life, Sports Afield and more--the illustration below was done for Sports Afield.




And if I EVER get around to doing the CD/slideshow for working in nature, this is the photo I'd planned to use!

Mainly, I wanted to encourage and enable this group effort because working in nature has been part of my life as long as I can remember, and wanted to share it with others, like-minded. I love getting nose-to-nose with nature, I love drawing and sketching, I love plein air painting. I know how healing this is, how full of learning and magic, and how necessary. I believe most of our correspondents feel the same!