Washington County Enterprise-Leader
A Man, A Sketchbook, Infinite Curiosity
PRAIRIE GROVE — Jim Mullenax has a well-worn sketchpad under his left arm as he gets out of his white pickup truck. He opens the back hatch of his camper shell and fetches a wooden fold-out chair and a blue Prairie Grove battlefield hat.
Placing the hat snugly upon his head as he squints in the noonday sun, he surveys his surroundings and asks himself three questions.
“What do I notice, what do I wonder and what does it remind me of?”
Asking these questions is how he finds his art subjects, which he fondly records on sketchpads. Mullenax is a nature journalist and volunteer who prides himself on having an infinite curiosity for the world around him.
Despite a name that evokes mental images of National Geographic, nature journaling is a space where anyone can record their observations, thoughts and feelings about the world.
Mullenax began his journey as an artist when he was three years old, copying and sketching comics from the newspapers. His greatest inspirations. are Bill Watterson, the author of Calvin and Hobbes, Norman Rockwell and Bill Mauldin, an editorial World War 2 cartoonist.
Originally from Central Arkansas, Mullenax retired as a firefighter and moved up to Northwest Arkansas with his wife in the wake of the pandemic.
When social events came to a screeching halt, Mullenax began to hone his abilities as an artist and from there began his journey into nature journaling.
Although it is called nature journaling, the practice consists of more than animals and trees. Mullenax’s sketchbooks are also filled with disc golf baskets, trash cans, people and cars.
“The biggest thing is remaining inquisitive about the world around you,” Mullenax said. “[Nature journaling] is looking at a bird and wondering what is it doing? Why is it here?”
The tenets of nature journaling consist of numbers, drawings and writings. This allows the journalist to look back upon what questions they were asking themselves and what interested them at the time.
Mullenax appreciates the
accessibility of nature journaling.
“A $20 bill will get you into it. The more you do it, the better you get and the more you notice. While I’m sitting there waiting for my food at a restaurant, I can draw something. It really is a neat little hobby,” he said.
Mullenax is a self- proclaimed civil war buff, currently volunteering for Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park. He illustrates posters and mascots for the park. Many of his drawings incorporate squirrels dressed in civil war- era uniforms.
He also spends his time teaching a free nature journaling class at 1 p. m. every Friday. Mullenax urges people of all ages who are interested to come out, as it opens new avenues for discovery and curiosity.
Mullenax stresses how easy the hobby is to start, especially for adults, and not give up if mistakes are made.
“No one has ever gotten worse from practicing drawing. You can’t be afraid to make a mistake. You can afford to. I’ve filled up a lot of trash cans. It has really helped me find my voice [as an artist].”
One of his favorite parts of journaling is that he can look back on it and see progress. He enjoys having a written record of the past few years of his life.
“At the end of the day, nature journaling is something tangible. You can look back on it and say, ‘I learned this; I drew that.’ I get a lot of comfort and peace in it.”
To see some of Mullenax’s sketches, go to his Instagram account, Rockypondpenink.