Butterfly orchid

Butterfly orchid, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

A friend of mine presented me with a cluster of these pseudobulbs after one of the cypress trees in her backyard died and fell over. What a wonderful gift! I’m pleased to see them still blooming and thriving every summer, and always have great plans to do a large and detailed painting of them.

Well… time is not my friend this year, so I settled for a small study in my nature journal. If you’d like to read an article I wrote some time ago about this lovely little orchid, you can access it here from the Palmetto’s online repository. The Palmetto is a quarterly journal published by the Florida Native Plant Society.

While I was observing the flowers, I noticed a busy honeybee wrestling its head into each of the blooms. Each time its head emerged, it was topped by an ever-increasing “hat” of bright yellow pollen. This bee was almost too large to fit into the blooms, and had to work quite hard, so I’m sure the rewards must have been delicious!

Clicking on the very top image will take you to my Flickr photostream.

A bit of news...

 

A blog post reprinted!

One of my previous blog postings (“Keeping a Nature Art Journal”) has been reprinted in the Art Journal Journey magazine by Artella, June 2010, Issue 19 (pages 54 and 55). The magazine (full of articles and tips on art journals) is available in print or online, or visit their website http://www.artellaland.com/.

Now part of the Nature Blog Network!

A Nature Art Journal has been accepted to the Nature Blog Network.

Elva Paulson pointed me to this searchable nature blog gateway. Beware, you may never want to leave it! You can sort and view by category (this blog is listed under “Art”).

The collaborative blog I also contribute to, Sketching in Nature, is number 1 on the art list! As many of you know, Sketching in Nature was created by renowned artist and author Cathy Johnson, and features nature artists from all over the world sharing their field sketches and comments.

Thanks for letting me share. Let me leave you with these thoughts from Pablo Picasso to invigorate and inspire your own creative urges:

“Every child is an  artist.
The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”


"I am always doing things I can't do,
that's how I   get  to do them."
   
   
   

Sunset

Sunset, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

We had a particularly spectacular sunset last week filled with vivid blues and pinks. I took some reference photos and later tried to capture those glorious colorful soft clouds. Even though it looks like a simple subject, this is my third attempt to capture that fluid sky!

One of the joys of watercolor is its unpredictability. Trying to get pigments to flow and mix on the page without overworking them is a challenge. My advice: put the brush down, NOW.
Sometimes it even helps to walk away!

This quick sketch was painted with Daniel smith tube watercolors: Quinacridone Pink for the clouds, and a mix of Prussian, Manganese, and Ultramarine Blue for the sky. I did some thumbnail tests first to find the closest colors to the actual clouds and sky, especially those with semitransparent and clear, bright properties.

The colors were dropped and brushed onto a wet paper surface. After the wet washes dried completely, I painted the treeline with a dark mix of Indanthrone Blue, Raw Umber, and Undersea Green. The tree silhouettes are painted with quick calligraphic strokes – my aim was to capture the essence of the forms, not the specific details.

This view captures slash pine canopy and some understory shrubs and palmetto as I look to the west; the Gulf of Mexico is about 2 miles away (as the crow flies). Although BP has opened its Naples office here just this week, so far the oil spill hasn’t reached our shores.

You can click on the image above to view it larger on my Flickr photostream.

Resurrection fern

Resurrection fern, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

A captivating little fern found throughout Florida, resurrection fern is named for its ability to transform withered brown tangles into vibrant green fronds after a rain. The small fronds are variable – these are about 4 to 6 inches long, including the stem.

These fronds were found on the ground, I’m not sure if they were dropped there by birds, squirrels, or a landscaping crew. Normally they grow on the rough bark of trees such as oaks or cypress, either on the sides of the trunk or higher up in the canopy.

Below is a watercolor sketch of a patch of resurrection fern I did two years ago, showing how thick it can grow. The fern does not hurt the tree it lives on, but gets nutrients from the air, much like other epiphytyes.

You can read more about resurrection fern here from the University of Florida.

You can click on the images above to view them larger on my Flickr photostream.

Blog Award

Thank you to Kathy A. Johnson of Catching Happiness for awarding me the “Beautiful Blogger” award!
I’m relatively new to blogging, starting only last September. I have been learning ever since.

Part of the award meme is that I inform my readers of ten random facts about myself, and pass the award to four blogs. Although I try to browse different types of blogs, my favorites will always be art and nature related. So let’s do the fun stuff first!

 Elva’s Field Notes, Elva Paulson
Lovely sketches, enjoyable writing, I always learn something! Oregon.

Just Around the Corner, Debbie Drechsler
Close-up observations of nature, many from her walks in California. She knows everything about mushrooms.

Red and the Peanut, Kelly Riccetti
Gorgeous photos and well-observed watercolors. Very knowledgeable about birds. Ohio.

South Carolina Low Country Nature Journaling and Art, Pam Johnson Brickell
She creates wonderful journal pages about the natural world of South Carolina. She knows her plants and birds!

And now for the ten random facts:

1. My art skills are largely self-taught, and I believe everyone has artistic abilities within themselves.

2. As a child, I got to help my father band doves and ducks. I will never forget the feel of delicate bird bones and the muted rainbow colors of a mourning dove’s feathers.

3. I’m happiest when I am drawing or painting or walking in the woods.

4. I once found a dead hummingbird, stuffed it with cotton balls, and kept it in a shoebox under my bed. My parents were not amused.

5. Snakes don’t bother me. I kept rat snakes for a friend of mine for a year.

6. Although I live in Florida, I have a secret passion for the desert, especially near the mountains. Geology was a favorite.

7. While I like to make lists, I don’t necessarily like to make lists about myself. Thanks, Kathy. :D

8. I have a fear of stinging insects. This goes back to an unfortunate run-in with a hornet’s nest when I was about 8 or 9 years old.

9. When pressed, I find it hard to name a favorite color. I find myself lost in thought and memories of all of the stunning colors I’ve ever seen.

10. When I type my blog name into  the Typealyzer  I’m informed that my blog personality type is that of mechanic. You can enter my blog address into that website to read more about it.   Apparently my blog is heavily weighted toward the left brain. Hmmmm. Perhaps there should be more art?

If you must know more, you can visit this page when I was tagged on Flickr.  But enough about me, visit the blogs above and enjoy!

Jamaica caper

Jamaica caper, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

In my last post about Magnolias, I mentioned how we see them frequently as a landscaping plant, and the same is true for this shrub or small tree, Jamaica Caper.

Jamaica (or sometimes Jamaican) caper is blooming now, and I think the fragrant flowers are fascinating. The four petals surround a frothy cascade of stamens, with colors varying from white to lavender to deep purple as the blooms open and wither. Here is a scan of one of the older and faded flowers.

We had one of these beautiful shrubs, but it died after Hurricane Wilma passed through. I’m not sure if it was wind damage or the standing water that did it in. Otherwise, it was a low-maintenance plant with lots of benefits (a requirement to live in my yard!).

Jamaica caper is related to the culinary caper, Capparis spinosa, which also has a four-petaled white flower with long stamens.

You can click on the image above to view it larger on my Flickr photostream. Thanks for visiting!

Magnolia

Magnolia, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Magnolia has become a popular landscaping tree here in Southwest Florida, although it has a native range of Central Florida up into North Carolina and Texas. I always think of this tree as representing the “Old South” along with Spanish moss-draped live oaks.

The flowers can be huge!  And the scent - like a slighty lemony peony - is clean and not cloying.  Besides these creamy-white velvety blooms, magnolias also have glossy, thick leaves and a distinctive seed cone. You can see an example of these seed cones, or "burrs" here on this blog, and another one here on my Flickr page.

I’m trying out my calligraphy on this journal entry, inspired by other journal keepers who use words beautifully: Pam Johnson Brickell  and Gay Kraeger. I might add that I was also inspired by the rediscovery of my old Sanford calligraphic pen! I’m a bit out of practice, but it’s surprising how quickly those skills come back.

You can click on the image above to view it larger on my Flickr photostream. Thanks for stopping by, and please visit Pam and Gay for further inspiration!