Category: Nature
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Tree Book #3: Island Oak
Two views of the same ancient Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) from Nags Head Woods on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. A third view would have completed the circle and showed the jagged blades of wood in the hollow trunk, but it was impossible to get a photo from that direction, since the tree is growing next to a swamp thicket.…
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New Spoonflower Fabric Swatches
I received my Spoonflower fabric order yesterday, which was mostly black and white cat drawings for a wall hanging. But I also had two designs printed in color. All the designs were printed on Kona quilter’s cotton. The swatches are 8×8 inches. The first swatch is a collage made from four digital photos of copper ore…
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Tree Book: Childhood Roots and Miniature Branches
Two more Tree Book pencil drawings: On the left is Petrophytum caespitosum, Rockmat or Dwarf Spiraea. It’s essentially a miniature tree, only about six inches tall. It is primarily a Rocky Mountain plant, rare in southern Arizona, where it is restricted to ridgetop outcrops of pure limestone and marble in the Huachuca, Whetstone, and Empire Mountains. The…
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A Book of Trees in a Dream
I have always wanted to write an illustrated natural history book. It began long ago, when I began to see scientific illustration as more than just an old-fashioned art form, and started to work on it as a spiritual practice. Science. Nature. Art. Spirit. For me there is no division between these things, although Science typically argues otherwise,…
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Crested Saguaro Pilgrimage
Dan found this wonderful crested saguaro cactus a few days ago, so we visited it today for more photos. Crested cacti are rare but some areas tend to have more than others. We have found crested cacti of several species, including saguaros, Arizona barrels, chainfruit chollas, and several of the small cacti. There are a few well-known…
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Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice is the quietest time of year in the desert. A deep hush rests on the cool earth, and the pale gold sun warms the air for only a short time at noon. In lucky years such as this one, this also the time of winter rain. Of snow on the highest mountains,…
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Halloween 2011
We spent Halloween in the backyard, lighting candles in memory of our two cats that died this year (and entertaining the ones who are still with us, since they were watching through the screen porch). A couple of weeks ago we salvaged 11 sets of iron security bars from the windows of an old house…
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Pencil Drawings
I’ve been returning to pencil drawing as a way to reconnect with my artistic roots and to accumulate drawings for a special project. I always liked the detail and soft, warm gray of graphite drawings, but didn’t really get interested in this medium (other than sketching for ink or watercolor drawings) until I was in college…
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Stampbord Drawings
I recently bought a package of Ampersand Stampbord tiles. It contains about 50 assorted tiles in four sizes: 1 x 1 inch, 2 x 2 inches, 1 x 2 inches, and 1.25 x 2.5 inches. (Stampbord is also available in a business card size, which I may try next time). As the name suggests, stampbord…
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