Episode 6: Tiffany Francis-Baker. Creativity and Conservation

Hello and welcome to episode six of Prompted by Nature. How are you this week? It’s been a bit of a funny one all told, as we begin to tentatively emerge from our cocoons. I have to say, my little family and I are still remaining close to home and enjoying the delights our local area, learning about the newly-bloomed flowers and the bees, birds and butterflies around us.

In this episode I speak to Tiffany Francis-Baker, a write, artist and environmentalist from the South Downs in Hampshire. As with many people I interview, I came across Tiffany’s work on Instagram and was immediately drawn to her third book published through Bloomsbury, Dark Skies, which I quickly ordered and flew through. Here’s a little extract I loved from the book….

With a mixed background in the arts rural heritage and conservation, Tiffany’s work is fuelled by a love for the natural world and a passion for protecting it. She writes and illustrates for national publications and has appeared on Radio 4 and Channel 4 and was Writer-in-Residence for the Forestry Commission's centenary year in 2019.

In our conversation Tiffany speaks about:

How her relationship with the dark skies began and her inspiration for the book Her earliest memory of nature and how she came to her work as a nature writer, artist and environmentalist The place of social media in youth activism Creative Conservation and how we as Creatives can contribute to the environmental movement Valuing your work and creativity Disconnection from nature and the power of risk-taking The importance of space in one’s creativity How she moves through creative blocks Her hopes for the future

Listening back to this this week has been a real tonic for me. Seeing images of how things have pretty much returned to earth-ravaging normality in many parts of the post-covid world this week has left me feeling bleak on so many levels, and reflecting on this conversation, which took place a couple of weeks into lockdown, has given me the little push I needed to pull myself up and remain active in doing what I can to be a part of the healing of our planet in any and every way possible, however small these actions may seem sometimes. I really do encourage you to get hold of Dark Skies, which explores our changing relationship with darkness in nature. Why not order it from your local small bookseller and then post a review on Amazon to help more people get to know tiffany and her work?

If you would like to connect with Tiffany, you can find her at www.tiffanyfrancis.com or on Instagram @tiffany.francis.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Please do stick around until the end when I’ll pop back and give you a little insight into the meditation and writing prompt that follows this episode.

And if you use the prompts from any of these conversations, please do share them with me as I love reading your words and am working on setting up a section of my website dedicated to your writing. You can find me on www.promptedbynature.co.uk or on Instagram and Facebook @prompted.by.nature And please do leave a five-star rating wherever you are listening and, if you have a little review would be wonderful too.

Enjoy the conversation and I’ll speak to you after.

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Meditation and Writing Prompt

A meditation and writing prompt for my interview with Tiffany Francis-Baker in which you will guided through a visualisation that takes you under a night sky.

As always, if you find your mind running somewhere you don't want it to go, stop, take a few moments and come back to it.  It that doesn't work, stop and come back another time, releasing all judgment of yourself.

Please do share any writing that you create from any of my meditations and writing prompt with me - I love reading your words!

Find me on Instagram @prompted.by.nature or on my website www.promptedbynature.co.uk

Happy writing!

Helen x