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Artist Fellowship | For Your Free Time

How Nature Inspires Creativity

Feeling stuck in a rut and out of ideas? Maybe Mother Nature has the solution to your lack of imagination.

People who don’t identify as creatives are often caught in a cycle of repeating phrases like I’m not creative or I don’t know how to draw—effectively, they’re stuck in this mindset.

A good way to combat this pattern of thinking is to actually remove yourself from your own everyday routine for a new perspective. Shifting your routine, where you go, how you spend your days, off time and weekends could be a key way to inspire some creativity. As creativity is often times described as making or discovering previously hidden connections, it makes sense that diverting from your daily routine could help you do just that.

Whereas city life can be swamped with patterns, ruts and cycles of doing what is expected; nature can be a powerful source of creativity.

A 2012 study explored the consequences of more time spent with media and technology over nature found that backpackers who spent a few days hiking showed higher levels of creativity in a word association test than before they immersed themselves in nature.

The Science Behind Nature + Creativity

Why is nature so beneficial to the brain? Scientists believe the state of “soft fascination” – in which you can find yourself as you appreciate your surroundings on a hike or watch the water of a river flow by – is believed to calm the prefrontal cortex, allowing the brain to access other regions that can lead to insights and new ideas.

Spending time in nature also inspires a sense of awe. This feeling that the world is so much bigger than you can comprehend leads to “expansive thinking,” which allows us to consider different perspectives and can lead to innovative ideas. This could explain why so many artists – from Ansel Adams to Henry David Thoreau to Georgia O’Keefe – have found spending time in nature essential their work.

Technology Versus Nature

In everyday life in the city, your brain can easily get overwhelmed, making it hard to focus. A simple way to combat the war for our attention is to simply take a break: turn off your phones every now and again. This is especially important if you’re trying to reap the benefits of nature: a study showed that people walking through an arboretum while talking on their cell phone had brain activity levels “consistent with attention overload” while those who strolled among the plants without their phones had higher recollection of detail.

Even a simple walk in the park can boost your creativity, but longer escapes are more beneficial. Three days out in nature seems to be the sweet spot for fully letting your mind calm down from a fast-paced life.

Try getting out of a rut and give your brain a break by taking a deep dive into the outdoors. What patterns can you break? Unplug from everything. Switch up where you sleep and spend a night (or several) in a tent or a cabin in the woods. Explore new natural terrain, watch the sunset and look at the stars – without Instagramming the view. Connect with the world through your eyes instead of through a lens for a while. Bring along your paintbrushes or pencils, and see what being in nature inspires.

Once you get back to daily life, your old routine will feel new again, which is key to sparking your creativity.

Ready for your own creative escape? Book your Getaway today.

Artist Fellowship

Artists Line Johnsen & Andreas Bjørn Hansen

Line Johnsen is an Art Director at Joan Creative and Andreas Bjørn Hansen is designer and animator at Buck Design, and together they created this illustration during their stay at one of our cabins:

The Brooklyn-based couple moved to NYC over three years ago from Copenhagen, and we chatted with them about how they maintain balance in their busy lives.

What occupies most of your time during the day?
Line: As an art director I spend most of my day ideating and coming up with visual concepts for brands.
Andreas: I spend most of my time, designing or animating for all kinds of brands.

What occupies most of your time during the weekend?

The weekends are no work zones.

Some weekends we are better at it than others, but we try to focus our free time on resetting our brains and do things that gets us inspired. We live right in between Prospect Park and the Brooklyn waterfront, so we always try to go to one or the other. Each month we plan to get out of the city and our favorite place to go is Upstate New York. In the summertime we go camping and in the wintertime we either go skiing or find a nice and cozy cabin.

What do you wish you had more time to do?
We wish there were more three day weekends that existed. Then we could go a little farther away and get to see even more places.

What is your favorite non-digital activity?
Hiking is our favorite. The combination of physical activity, fresh air and nature is always super exciting and shakes off any stress and negativity.

We both get inspired when we travel to new places, especially nature places. It’s almost an instant boost of creativity that hits us.

Ideas start flowing and we always come home with new ideas on things we want to make.

What’s your best tip for getting away?
Block out weekends ahead of time in your calendar. Even though you haven’t booked or rented anything yet, just make room for it to happen. It will remind you that it’s time to get out there.


You can follow along on their adventures at @linejohnsen and @andreashansen.

Artist Fellowship | Features

Getaway Artist Fellow Profile: Forage Paper Co.’s Christina Chun

Meet Christina Chun. Christina is a talented illustrator-turned-entrepreneur, running her very own stationery business called Forage Paper Co.

Christina is also one of our recent Artist Fellows in New York. You may have caught some of her work if you purchased our Black Friday deal; she designed beautiful postcards below inspired by her Getaway stay. We loved the postcards so much, we printed them up and sent them along to our guests who booked on Black Friday. Take a look at the design below.

We sat down with Christina to talk about her stationery work, what inspires her, and how she gets away.

Let’s start off by introducing yourself.
Hello! My name is Christina Chun. I currently live and work in New York City with my husband and my studio-mate German Shepherd. After graduating from college with a degree in illustration, I worked as a freelance illustrator for many years until Forage Paper Co. came into the picture.

How did you start Forage Paper Co.?
Several years ago, I started creating my own stationery and sharing them with everyone–friends, family, my local community, and the internet. To my pleasant surprise, people began purchasing them and retailers started carrying my cards in their shops! It was then when I realized that merging my love for illustrations and my passion for stationery was the perfect marriage. After mustering up enough courage, I started my very own business: Forage Paper Co. officially opened in 2015 in Oakland, California.

Where do you go for inspiration?
I forage for inspiration and ideas wherever I go. It can be as grand as my travels around the globe or quotidian as a walk through Central Park with my dog. From there, it all gets recorded in my sketchbook, and then I take it to the literal drawing board.

Forage Paper

How do you recharge?
I recharge by either reading, cooking new recipes, exploring a new part of the city, or spending time with friends.

Where do you go to get away?
Living in New York City, Central Park is my get-away. Thankfully, I live close by and can enjoy it whenever I please.

What sound do you find most relaxing?
There’s nothing like the sound of a heavy downpour with a chorus of thunder. It can put me right to sleep!

Let’s talk analog in a digital world. What does making stationery mean to you in 2018?
Nowadays, everything we do is quick and on-the-go. We microwave our food; we send emails from our phones; we snap, click, and go. In this hyper digitized climate, nothing beats receiving a handwritten letter in the mail. Why? Because it’s saturated with purpose and thoughtfulness.

When I see someone smiling as they pick up my products, I know they intend to share a slice of that joy with pen on paper. Seeing it truly affirms my belief that people desire to be connected to others. There is nothing more poignant and meaningful than a handwritten note. Knowing that my stationery can be the sweet medium makes me happy.

What’s your dream illustration and/or stationery project?
The beauty of my job is that I get to illustrate my dreams anytime I want–and I have. I pour myself into my illustrations, and I think others get a glimpse of it in my work. In terms of projects, I am always cooking up ideas in my studio. I recently launched a series of notepads, and I have plans to expand my line even more!

Finish the sentence. At Getaway…
I took my time cooking over white-hot embers, slept without an alarm, woke up to the best view of fall foliage, and read to my heart’s content.

Forage Paper Co. can be found online, Etsy, locally, and on Instagram and Facebook at @foragepaperco.

Photo by Lindsey Swedick from Forage Paper Co.

Artist Fellowship

Meet an Artist Fellow: Musician, Nakaya

Fill us in on your background—personally and in your creative practice.

I am originally from Los Angeles, but I’ve been New York based for nearly 8 years now. I come from a pretty unique background – my father was a hip-hop producer in the 90s and I attended a radically liberal (and what some might call “hippie”) school that focused deeply on thoughtful learning and I think those influences (as well as a multitude of others) have informed who I am as a person and as an artist. I want to bring different perspectives to indie music – time and time again we are presented with the same identity tropes in alternative spaces, and I want to be honest about my experiences to hopefully find connection with people who have felt different or *weird* like me. 

How does your connection to nature influence you personally, and how does it influence your art?

Nature is where I base all of my work. We are of the earth and it recharges and inspires me to bask in the joy that nature gives to us. It’s magical and I feel like there is no way to describe the feeling of forest bathing that does it justice, but I really believe it’s because we are innately connected to the universe. 

How was your Getaway? Did your time in your cabin influence your process or inspire any new ideas?

My getaway was amazing. I felt so safe and comforted by the space provided, I am mad at myself for not having booked this time sooner. I haven’t taken my acoustic guitar on a trip upstate in a very long time and as soon as I pulled it out of the case, it just felt like “I’m back.” Like it was home and it was natural. The quiet in comparison to the constant buzz of the city just gave me much-needed clarity to work through some new ideas. 

I had such an amazing time at Getaway, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is, particularly with the obstacles we’ve been facing recently, to take a break. Recharge and be gentle with yourself so later on, you have power and energy to show up for yourself and your loved ones when they most need you. <3 

You can find me on instagram HERE and on my website HERE. 🙂 

Need your own creative escape? Book your Getaway today.

Artist Fellowship | Guest Stories

Meet an Artist Fellow: Illustrator, Ava Puckett

We created our Artist Fellowship Program to help creative people find the space and inspiration they need to bring their ideas to life. Earlier this year, we hosted illustrator, Ava Puckett, at Getaway Chattahoochee outside of Atlanta. Here’s what she had to say about her creative process, her relationship to nature, and her Getaway:

I am a freelance illustrator and online shop owner in Nashville, TN. I’m a lover of therapy, coffee, and soccer. I came to Nashville thinking I would work in the music industry, but after college I became friends with several illustrators who reignited my love for the visual arts. I make art that encourages self-care and reflection, often focusing on topics I’m working on in therapy or reminders that my current or past self needs in order to heal. 

I feel at peace when I’m in nature, away from online distractions. It reminds me that it’s okay to slow down and take time to reflect, which is the focus of a lot of my work. I often go on several walks throughout the day and love going on afternoon runs – it evokes a similar feeling to meditation. It’s almost like time stops when I’m in nature – I feel much more calm and in the moment.  It’s a reminder to stay present and practice gratitude.

My Getaway trip was amazing! It was the first solo trip I’ve ever taken and I enjoyed every moment. It felt like an opportunity to strengthen my connection with myself through listening to my body, getting lots of rest, and being away from social media. I did lots of journaling, reading, cooking, and was able to focus on a book I’m in the process of writing and illustrating. It made me want to take more regular Getaway trips to completely unplug, especially when I have a big illustration project I want to tackle. Not even having the option of logging into Instagram or my email allowed me to take a step back and think about my relationship with social media, questioning how much it actually serves me and if the balance is a bit off. 

You can keep up with Ava on her Instagram and her website.

In need of your own creative escape? Book your Getaway today.