FOPOS Nature Journaling Meet Up // 7.27.25

We’ll meet at Mountain Lakes House to draw from Nature in a playful and non-judgemental setting. This Meet Up is FREE, although registration is required. The program is designed for adults and older teens. Younger participants (under 16) are welcome to join if accompanied by an adult.

What is a meet up and how is it different from a class? While a class is a structured learning environment with a defined curriculum, schedule, projects, and goals, a meetup is a gathering of people with shared interests who get together, often with a facilitator.

What to expect: Meetups with Eleni start off with welcoming everyone, sharing brief introductions, and suggestions for the day's theme, which in this case will always have to do with NATURE. Eleni provides information about the session’s theme, and some initial prompts to get us all started. Participants then set out on their own for 45-50 minutes or so to draw, paint, and/or collage on the grounds of the Mountain Lakes House after which we meet back for an informal conversation to share the results, noting that sharing is always optional! In this setting learning is embraced as a process rather than an explicit destination, encouraging noticing what interests participants and where that interest leads! This meetup is for artists and non-artists alike, and prior drawing or painting experience is neither required or necessary!

What to Bring: Please bring a sketchbook of any size and any of the following: pencils, pens, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, watercolors with brush pens, and anything else you like to work with.

About Eleni: Eleni Zatz Litt (EZL Studio) is a teaching artist, anthropologist, and lifelong learner, with a keen interest in the intersection between art and science. She loves to make art in community, sharing an approach that encourages curiosity and close observation in a non-judgemental and playful setting for artists and non-artists alike.

Eleni teaches at the West Windsor Arts Center and the Princeton Adult School; she is a frequent presenter and participant in John Muir Laws’ Nature Journaling Educators Forum https://johnmuirlaws.com/ She shows her work in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania and is also increasingly involved in Artist Trading Cards and Mail Art.

Eleni has Certificates in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design, and Creative Arts Therapies from The New School, as well as a PhD in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics (UK). She recently completed the Rutgers Environmental Stewards Program and for her stewardship project developed and taught an 8-session Nature Journaling class at the West Windsor Arts Council. She served as the Inaugural Artist-in-Residence at The Athena Advisors.

Meetup Location: Mountain Lakes House. The Mountain Lakes House is within the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve located at 57 Mountain Ave, Princeton, New Jersey 08540. Be sure to drive down the long paved driveway entrance to the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve, marked by a series of black mailboxes along Mountain Avenue. The gravel parking lot is on your left about 1/2 mile down the driveway.

About FOPOS: Founded in 1969, FOPOS has been working to preserve and protect natural spaces in the greater Princeton area for more than 50 years. As a part of our work, we rely on volunteers to help make progress when it comes to restoration work such as our current forest and riparian restoration projects in the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve.

Also check out other Arts events in Princeton, Meetups in Princeton, Workshops in Princeton.