Picnic and Nature Journaling: Frottage and stitch at the Melbourne Botanical Gardens

ATASDA VIC Group Xmas gathering

Come and join ATASDA Vic members for an in-person gathering on Sunday 6^th December, our last event for 2026.

The Royal Botanic Garden in the Melbourne CBD Arts precinct covers 38 hectares (wear comfy shoes and dress for the weather forecast).

We propose a picnic lunch (BYO everything or you can purchase food at The Terrace Café) followed by some meandering nature journalling and frottage (see what you might choose to bring for this activity below). 

Frottage was popularised by Max Ernst in the 1920’s but the process of taking rubbings on ‘paper’ has existed for hundreds of years. https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2025/07/21/frottage-techniques-with-found-surfaces-and-materials/

We shall begin our gathering at 11.30am for a picnic lunch at the Taxodium Lawn (pink on the attached map). There are toilets and The Terrace Café nearby. Check the map for the most convenient access gate for you.

Around 12.30pm I suggest we form little groups and head off for some nature journalling and frottage. You might like to look at the map prior to see what area/s of the garden you would like to visit for this activity. I will show some samples and give a few open suggestions for your meandering and ‘arting’.

I suggest we meet back at the Terrace Café for coffee/drinks and Show and Tell at 3pm.

Any questions/suggestions feel free to post on the What’s App group (see the Q code below if you have not already joined).

Suggested materials:

Nature Journaling:

• An art journal of some kind in your preferred size 

(could be lined, gridded or blank pages)

• Some writing/drawing/painting implements: for example, a travel watercolour set, pencils of different types and colours (I like a HB for preliminary sketching and then a 4B and 6B for shading) permanent pens.

Frottage:

• Paper (thinner paper works best- copy paper, tissue paper) and/or fabric for frottage in small pieces or one longer piece (I use op shop sheets or tablecloths ripped into strips about 15-20cm wide- great for a scroll)

• Pencils (you can just use your grey leads or coloured pencils) and/or crayons (you will use the sides, not the tips for frottage) if you have some oilsticks these have great permanence when dried off and ironed. 

The journalling and frottage make fabulous inspiration and backgrounds for stitch so keep this in mind. 

See here for our textile group frottage walk by the Barwon River in Geelong: https://geelongcreativefibrearts.wordpress.com/2022/04/18/a-walk-along-the-river/

Some people had painted and dried off parts of their cloth with diluted white acrylic paint to make the fabric a little more paper like. Some people added extra colour using paints, inktense sticks or pencils.

Jo-Anne Britt