Welcome friends of Nature! From an early age, my parents instilled in me a deep love of nature and an insatiable curiosity. Nature exploration has opened my eyes to a world of beauty and wonder that has grown into a deep commitment to stewardship. Drawing and sketching is a way to look more carefully at nature. Time and again I discover that there is an infinite world of beauty and wonder waiting to be discovered if I can make myself slow down and observe deeply. Drawing slows you down and makes you look, again and again, until you start to truly see what is before you. Drawing is not a given gift but a skill that anyone can develop when they make nature sketching their habit. I am dedicated to helping people come into a deeper communion with nature through teaching people how to draw and sketch from their own observations. I have completed work on a book to help people draw and sketch birds that will be available soon. Until then, I have put together some online resources to help you sketch birds. Visit my nature drawing links and blog and check back frequently for updates. You may also be interested in the videos posted on my YouTube channel.
The more that people understand and appreciate their local nature, the more will they will be to protect it. I also write and illustrate field guides to deepen people's understanding and appreciation of biodiversity. These field guides are both comprehensive and easy to use. In 2001 I began an ambitious project to create a new and fully illustrated guide to the natural history of the Sierra Nevada. After six years of research, 2,710 original watercolor illustrations and over 1,700 species, the book is complete and The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada is available either through contacting me (signed copy) or in bookstores near you (may I suggest a local independent bookstore). I am now writing a guide to the natural history of the California coast from Monterey to Mendocino. I am now working to get copies of my Sierra guide into the hands of children in the Sierra Nevada. To this end, I have developed an education program called Following Muir's Footsteps, that engenders passionate love of nature, personal understanding of natural history and commitment to stewardship. This program gets students out in the field, learning from their own observations and using field guides and nature journals as the basis for discovering nature around them. The curriculum links to the State of California’s science, math, language, and social studies standards. Funding for this program comes through donations from private individuals or organizations and grants. I hope to see you in the field,
