Feature for Nurture by Nature magazine exploring the science behind mental health and nature connection
Earth Colour: How a Bristol Based graphic novelist uses the science on nature connection to help others improve mental wellbeing
By Sneha Uplekar
Now if the thought of wandering around the local park rubbing tree barks, seeds, leaves etc. and smelling them seems slightly weird to you – fret not. Emma Burleigh, a visual artist and educator who did exactly that, and for excellent scientific reasons, felt the same way at first. But the risks of appearing slightly odd greatly outweigh the benefits of doing some of the things Emma studies and teaches, writes books about, and highly recommends.
Emma is a Bristol based visual artist, graphic novelist and author, and an ardent believer in the power that nature seems to have to make us feel better. And the science increasingly backs her up. A growing body of scientific research shows that nature connectedness – or the feeling of being connected to the natural environment, has links to long lasting positive impacts on wellbeing and mental health. COVID was a challenging time for most of us, and according to the Mental Health Foundation, spending time outdoors and noticing nature was one of the main factors in helping people cope with the isolation and stresses of the pandemic.
Emma’s love for nature and its place in her art took a somewhat meandering path which included being an art teacher in a school for about 10 years, to working as a gardener in a Buddhist meditation centre. “That was great but actually I’m a wimp – it’s hard work being a gardener full time!”, she smiled. Her longing to be an artist led her to an MA in Illustration and Authorship at the University of Falmouth. Then began journey of over a decade creating her labour of love, a gorgeously delicate graphic novel about an emotionally challenging part of her life, about to be published in the near future. In the book too, every intense experience is followed by a scene in nature. The healing power of nature she undoubtedly experienced seeps through the pages.
“Nature was always threaded into my practice. I’ve always had a really strong love of nature. I go to heal and cry and walk off my rage and emotions. Nature is a place that can hold me emotionally. And I was always interested in science, in school I thought I should do biology…” she recalls, but was self admittedly rubbish at it, at least in the way it was taught.
The way to fold her love for nature and science into her art practice wasn’t always obvious and it took time to get there, but there were clues all along. Doing a University of Derby course on Nature Connection, just before the pandemic, and doing her own research on the science behind nature connection helped put all the pieces together.
In 2022, Emma’s book Earth Colour was published. The book is a vibrant, carefully constructed but practical eight week process to find your own connection with nature, through activities designed to ground yourself with place through art. And what better way to connect with nature than through the senses? By smelling leaves and barks, observing the soil, touching different textures and listening to sounds, before expressing them in your own way through art.
“Nature fills you up. It reminds you that you are nature. You are literally grounding yourself, by noticing what’s around, and moving energy through your body and expressing it – you have something on the paper taking form – which also mirrors something for you. A positive feedback loop”, Emma explains. In 2012 when she lost her father, drawing, always outside in nature, was one of the few things that helped her process her grief and feelings about her dad.
The idea behind Earth Colour, and Emma’s workshops on the same theme, is to incorporate the scientific research on nature connection without losing the creativity and joy of creating an expressive relationship with the natural world. There are meticulous footnotes on all the scientific research referred to in the book.
We recently passed the point where half of all people on the planet now live in cities, separate from the natural world, separate from the world in which we evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. As we become more estranged from nature, the body of research points more and more clearly towards how nature connection can nourish and replenish our mental resources. Emma’s work illustrates that for or all of us, but especially for anyone going through change, stress or isolation, cultivating nature connection can be a way to cultivate a better relationship with life itself.