In November of 2010, I discovered a Witchhazel shrub/tree along the tree line on the 10th hole of our neighborhood golf course. It was the yellow, thread-like twisted flowers that caught my eye. This graceful, delicate, small tree was loaded with flowers and a few very colorful leaves that had a mind to linger a bit longer on the branches. For those who are new to my posts, the 10th hole has a treasure-trove of trees. So far, I've identified 30 different species.... and those trees run right along the cart path! I'm sure, when I get my snake boots and walk into the woods a bit, I'll find even more. This patch of woods is a classic bottomland hardwood forest because of its variety of trees, shrubs and rich, moist soil. About 15 feet in from the cart path, shallow water is always present. Thus, I want snake boots! In last year's Witchhazel research, I learned that fruit forms on the branches the year following the flowers and will mature in October - November. I've been eagerly awaiting fruit development. In early June I began to notice fruit bearing trees were changing. Where Sparkleberry shrub/tree's flowers were in May, now tiny berries are appearing. The Hickory trees are sporting nuts, Red Cedars are decorated with their delightfully blue berries...... and, the Witchhazel tree has fruit :) The pen sketch and some of the color was added on location. I didn't quite have enough time as golfers made the turn onto #10 a tad earlier than I had hoped. So, I drove the golf cart further down 10 to an area that had a good sized spot where I could pull off to the side and continue my discoveries without fear of being bopped on the head with a golf ball. Stay tuned for my next page :)
Lily Seika Jones (@rivuletpaper)
The grace to be a beginner is always the best prayer for an artist. The beginner’s humility and openness lead to exploration. Exploration ...
The more observant one is, the more one can find in the natural world to inspire awe. Cultivating your child's powers of observation ...
The world brightened quickly around noon when the morning fog finally burned off. As soon as it did the dogs and I set out for a much needed sunny hike. Water was still running off our high hill and down the small gully in the middle of Old Thompson Road, swirling and dancing over small waterfalls as it sought lower ground. Water droplets still on branches sparkled in the sun. It was warmer than I thought it would be and not as windy as predicted, so within the first five minutes my fleece jacket had to come off. Whew! I also headed for the pine woods to let the shady coolness counteract my decision to wear Smart Wool long underwear! The soggy needles and leaves were spongey. They made no sound as we wound our way through the trees with a Downy Woodpecker leading the way, flying from tree to tree. We crossed a swollen Meetinghouse Creek, and headed up the other side. On the highest hill I accidentally relocated an interesting old sourwood tree and was just as surprised and excited as the first time. The trunk has deep furrows broken into fat chunks of bark. The branches twist and turn and cross each other in a beautiful pattern, and seen against today's blue sky it was quite striking. And it was just what I wanted to draw. I walked all around and found a good angle. I put my waterproof pad down, folded my fleece jacket and put that down for added comfort. I settled down to work. Out came my box of pens. I carefully picked out one of the new ones and then located my reading glasses in my pocket. Then... Something was missing. My journal. There was no journal in the backpack. I'd had it out for Monday's post and didn't put it back into the backpack. Geeze. Nothing to do but admire the tree a while longer then pack up and go home. By the time we got back to the house the wind had really picked up. I retrieved my journal from the kitchen and wandered back in our woods a while. The wind kept getting stronger. It really roared! I finally decided I should NOT sit around under old trees in high wind. Sure enough, within five minutes after leaving the hill I heard a loud crack and turned in time to see a huge branch fall out of the top of one of the large oaks and land with a heavy THUD right where I'd been considering sitting. OK! Good decision. For safety's sake I sat myself down in the driveway, one of few spots around Middlewood with no trees, to draw part of a large branch that had fallen in the woods due to the jelly fungus that covered it. The fungus grows on dead branches during summer, looking like dry, mushroom-like scales. When the winter rains begin, bringing days of rain instead of just hours, the jelly funguses plump up into a slimy, jiggly, heavy mess. They grow too heavy for the dead branch to support. Crack! down they come. On closer inspection I found another fungus (Honeycomb) and various lichens on the small piece I'd picked up. I've always been fascinated with lichens and have wondered about the weird jellies I see in our woods, so this was a particularly fun day...first hiking, then drawing, and last but not least, learning.
Noodler's flex pen and watercolor... Our old cabin is surrounded by walnut trees; for years I'd watched the woodpeckers build their homes above my head, knowing that they'd hollowed out the tree beside the deck. This winter, our howling winds took out the top of this one, and I dragged it up onto the deck to sketch. This particular nest had two entries...the one near the bottom of the photo probably led to another hollow like the one between these two... Our friends were out cutting wood--another tree that had fallen near the cabin--and Joseph was fixing the broken window, so I sat on the deck and sketched.
It's been lovely having mourning doves in the yard, lately...around here they're more likely to be in more suburban or rural areas. Being able to watch them so closely reminded me how similar they are to the extinct passenger pigeon. I recently found this rough sketch, left, on the back of an old bank deposit slip...I did research years ago for an article for Country Living Magazine, and drew on what I had with me!
Enjoying a day on Conesus Lake in western NY. Hostas abound in a shade garden. Mother Nature sprinkled in the perfect aster to compliment th...
I just published a new class about sketching in nature, and learning to observe and draw. In the class, we’re going to start a nature journal, or nature sketchbook. If you love art and nature and…
This was one of my Sports Afield illustrations...fun to do! For more on life and art, visit: katequicksilvr.livejournal.com or my home page, cathyjohnson.info
Visit the post for more.
Kristin Meuser presents her step by step process of building a nature journal, page element by element, as you travel through your nature experience. Where to begin? She starts by creating a flexible…
Last year I introduced you to Lara Gastiger and her inspiring nature journals and beautiful botanical artwork. Recently I read Anne’s interview with Lara Gastiger on My Giant Strawberry R…
I rarely see oakleaf hydrangeas in our city. But its kissing cousin, the bigleaf hydrangea, blooms in pink and blue abundance all through our long, humid summers. No matter what your favorite hydra…
This is my first contribution to the Sketching in Nature group and I'd like to introduce myself. The main medium I've worked in for many years is gouache. For a full size painting (a full sheet of watercolor paper) I spend anywhere from six to ten weeks. For some of my botanical studies, done strictly from life, I work off and on during the plant's life cycle and if I happen to miss a phase I put the painting away until that phase comes around the next year. Needless to say, after doing that for many years I began to look around for an alternative way to record the things around me that didn't require such a committment of time. That's when I was lucky enough to run across Kate's watercolor pencil workshop in early 2008. I will never give up gouache because I'm an addict when it comes to detail, but I've also developed a love of watercolor pencil and pen and ink. I had to give up art entirely for well over a year because of near blindness, and as my vision began to return and I reconnected to the internet, what was one of the first things I ran into? -- Kate's Journaling class! What an inspiration she and my classmates have been. Starting January 1st, 2010, I began a journal dedicated to nature subjects and these three images are selections from it. I've enjoyed browsing through all your posts here and I'm looking forward to seeing more.
detail ~ Stitch Ritual by Jane LaFazio Stitch Ritual by Jane LaFazio (60x24") This quilt truly combines my two artistic loves, dr...
Last week we talked about the first chapter of Laurie Bestvater's The Living Page, and earlier this week I raved a bit about a favorite part of mine from the second chapter. (Don't those Natural History Clubs sound amazing?) Now I'm back to think a bit more about this second section, in which Ms. Bestvater discusses Nature Journals. Jen invited us to share excerpts and photos from our own nature journals, and I'm planning to do so. One of the most delightful parts of my week is Friday afternoon, when I sit down with my oldest three, our drawing supplies, our notebooks, and our nature tray and spend an hour or two capturing on paper the discoveries from our outing that morning. If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that nature study takes up a good chunk of my writing space here. So I had lots of examples to pore through that I have posted here before, and I've chosen just a few to re-share. Before I do that, I want to chat a bit about this chapter. Last time I focused on the idea of whether e-notebooks can provide the same benefits of Keeping that Miss Mason promises. I still can't answer that. ;) But I can say that I don't really think there is a digital comparison for a nature journal. One can take lots of nature photos and arrange those photos into a useful record, the kind of record that the students in Miss Mason's schools were keeping for sightings of birds, wildflowers, and other signs of changing seasons. Those photos can also be useful for identifying and for drawing from (we do this often). One can keep narrative notes of one's nature walks in digital form and I don't think much is lost. But photos and typed notes are distinct from drawings, which are a component of Miss Mason's nature notebook and require of the Keeper a different kind of observation and attention. One also cannot keep pressed flowers or leaves in digital form, as Bestvater includes under nature scrapbooks in this section. So a digital Nature Journal, though perhaps more useful and complete than a hand-Kept one in some ways, would not meet the full intentions that this category of Keeping carries. (Or am I mistaken? Let me know. It's so valuable thinking all this through with others.) ~~~~ Now on to some examples from these labors of love in our home: I love viewing my son and daughter's narrations of the same outing side by side. It's so interesting to see the differences in what they focus on and how they process their discoveries. And from a more recent outing: A few from Mommy's nature journal: And one from my preschooler's--her drawings are just darling and she is so very serious about getting things just as she sees them: I was not a nature-lover as a child, nor have I ever considered myself a draw-er. I determined, however, to get over my inhibitions and start a nature journal alongside my children when they started their formal schooling. Since then, it has become a favorite hobby. And my children, seeing me excited and inspired, have eagerly taken up the habit as well. Even my preschooler loves to join in, drawing next to Mommy, looking up finds in field guides, and asking me to write down the nature walks she spontaneously narrates to me as the older children record their own observations in both word and drawing on the other side of the table. Nature study is one of the highlights of our home education (something I never thought I would say a few years ago!). And if there is hope for me, a girl born and living still in the midst of Silicon Valley suburbia, there is hope for you and your family as well. ;)
It’s time for reflecting another month of nature journaling. March is the time of the year around here where you can feel that nature is awakening slowly from its winter hibernation.
Brrr... It was clear and cold with a brisk wind today, but the sun felt warm in-between wind gusts so Radu and I decided to go for our Sunday hike anyway. In order to stay out of the wind as much as possible I headed down to the valley and Meetinghouse Creek. There I figured we could walk along the creek's banks, or hop rocks down the middle if possible, and let the wind blow over our heads. We hiked downhill on the sunny side of the pipeline, stepping high over stubble and small stumps from the last mowing, with only occasional briers catching at my fleece pants. Overhead a crowd of crows flapped and cawed. The hawk they harassed seemed totally unconcerned with the situation. Once they flew beyond the pipeline the only sound was wind in the trees until we got to the creek and were treated to the splash and rippling music of water. Along the creek were tracks galore - raccoon, deer, squirrel, and opossum, as well as crawfish lines in the fine mud. A tiny track that looked somewhat like that of a tiny ghost crab came up from the water's edge for about fifteen inches, made a loop and disappeared back into the water. Don't know what that could be. Also along the creek were lines of acorns left by high water of our last gullywasher. They were cracked and sprouting. Fat green and/or deep red roots circled out of the acorns and disappeared into the sand. The outer shell of the acorns had opened and displayed the thick, bright green "leaves" hiding inside.
I am not a jogger. I like the idea of it however, and have tried to go for a few runs this year. While on holiday, it was a beautiful evening, Louise went for a run, and so I went for a run... with a difference! I packed some sketching kit in a brilliant art bum bag that my neighbour gave me recently to see if I could make use of it. I took my small watercolour set, an A6 sketchbook, my new graphite stick, a water brush and some other pens and bits and pieces (just in case!). It was such a beautiful evening and the sun broke through the cloud for the most spectacular golden hour while we were out. I stopped at a wooden gate - the perfect width to balance my sketchbook and paints on.
John Muir Laws is a marvel. His boundless enthusiasm, honesty about his early learning struggles , passion to teach, and deep love of nature, combine to make him an inspiring figure.
Explore pilllpat (agence eureka)'s 59361 photos on Flickr!
De in Canada opgegroeide illustratrice Lily Seika Jones heeft haar studio nu over de grens in het Amerikaanse Seattle. Ze is al vanaf kind af aan geboeid geweest door sprookjes en fantasy verhalen als Lord of the Rings en Chronicles of Narnia. In veel van haar werk zie je de magie uit die verhalen terug. […]
Jan Brandes' vintage nature illustrations are a true treasure trove for anyone interested in the natural world. 25 drawings free to print.
