Many Hearty Thanks, Sharing Creative Ideas, Answering the ‘Kat’ Kwestion
April 1, 2025
Completing my 15th sketchbook, and beginning the next one is always cause for celebration! To do so, Kat and I thought it would be especially fitting to shout-from-the-treetops enthusiastically, THANK YOU! Thank you all, my loyal subscribers, for coming along on my interesting, hopefully educational, sometimes crazy, always curious nature journaling adventure.
My recent webinar class, “Create a Colorful Reptile Eye1,” sponsored by Host Karen Abend (of Sketchbook Revival fame), generated many new subscribers to my web page and blog, “A Curious Nature.” Wow! And Thanks so much. A special thanks to those who attended the live and/or recorded class. I loved seeing so many colorful lizard eyes (a sampling below). They were incredible!
Sharing the Wonder of Nature
With all the past and current activity on my blog, I feel so fortunate and very encouraged to carry on. Even though new postings have been random lately, there’s lots of works-in-progress soon to be shared. Meanwhile, comments including what you like about my posts and what you’d like to see more of, are always appreciated. What inspired you to subscribe to this blog? If it’s just enjoy, that’s perfect! Or maybe you’d like tips to develop a regular or even a daily creative practice, how can I be more encouraging? I’d love to know if you are an active nature journaler or tangler, or express yourself by creating art in other ways, such as through music, poetry, or storytelling. Send me your ideas by commenting on this or any future posts. I’ve created my webpage and blog because of my insatiable curiosity about the natural world. It’s extraordinarily fun to go beyond learning what the names of flowers, animals, rocks, and clouds are. The excitement of wondering and discovering answers for all the why’s, who’s, when’s, and how’s is so rewarding. Sharing is my joy!
Explaining Kat
Thinking new subscribers may be puzzled by my constantly mentioning Flambé or Kat or both, now might be a good time for explanation and background (and perhaps provide a refresher for those who’ve been following along from day 1 of my blog):
In 2014, a young stray calico cat showed up one day on our doorstep when we (Roy and I) lived in Oriental, North Carolina (U.S.A.). This little wild miss seemed to magically appear from our backyard woods, perhaps in search of a meal or a friend. She sat and meowed for a few minutes, but when we opened the door, she ran away. Efforts to get close to her when she returned several times during the week were futile. Then one day she vanished and never returned. Not knowing what may have happened to this pretty kitty, Roy thought a nice remembrance of her visit would be to add a small cat sketch to my next drawing. A dandy idea!“But only one drawing,” I thought? It was at that moment that Flambé appeared on my creative doorstep, and has never left!
Flambé, aka Kat, is always smiling, popping in and out of all my art, regardless if the piece is imaginatively & whimsically tangled or a serious nature study. Along with forming the best part of my signature “chop,” she’s the heroine of some pretty wild and crazy tangled misadventures, sometimes pushing Kat’s 9-lives threshold to satisfy her insatiably curious nature (and appetite). Flambé adores being noticed, whether she hides inside the story, or shows up front and center. She makes everything creative more fun. Flambé may be just “Kat,” but she’s my inspiration for and reminder about the value of komic relief, and makes the perfect konstant kompanion!
Whew! That’s all for now. Hopefully your questions about this blog, inspiration and Kat have been answered. If you’re craving to learn answers to other related topics, let me know. Meanwhile, Flambé and I wish you an exciting and creative remainder of the year ….. have times full of happiness, creativity, and memorable adventures, but most of all laughter and fun!
Hope to hear from you soon, and as always, thanks for stopping by!
Meow!
1Unfortunately, the class or recording are no longer available for viewing. But I may have another live demo class some day in the future. If so, you can be sure the announcement will show up on my blog.
a curious nature 
Barb, I’m so glad we are connected through this creative journey! You’re always an inspiration to me and a bright spark in my Inbox with every blog post. Look at all those beautiful eyes you inspired through your Live workshop! I hope there will be many more to come. We all have so much to learn from each other. I’m delighted to “see my eye on your page” — that sounds funny, actually! Thanks for sharing your talents with us!
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Karen!I’m also so delighted we are connected ….. it’s been such fun feeding our creative appetites off of each other. Your kind words warm my heart to its core (surely heart cores are a thing?!). When I shared photos of a few eyes, I selected them at random, and intentionally not picking them based on artist. I’m not surprised yours was among the group!
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Oh Kat your even more famous again. Love Tiny , from the old tangling days. Cheers from Sara
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Meow! Meow! Tiny. I’m only trying to be a famous as you!
Sara ….. so good to hear from you. Thanks for catching this post and commenting. Are you still at home or have you migrated to the Aus east coast for your winter? Hope you’ve been tangling a lot. Your work is incredible! Cheers to you! Barb
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So glad your class was fun and successful. What a topic! Thanks for the Kat explanation…I didn’t know the backstory.
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thanks so much Jean, and thanks for following my posts! Meow from Kat!
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Hi Barb, I really enjoyed your reptilian eye class ☺️. I practice botanical illustrati
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So happy to hear you liked the reptile eye class! And practicing botanical illustration is an excellent skill to develop. Do you do so out of love, or maybe for commissions? Do you have a favorite species or family of plants? Maybe you love shooting stars (based on your dodecatheon handle)? Representing plants scientifically can be a real challenge. It looked like your comments were cut short. If you’d like to share more, I’d love to hear more!
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Hi Barb, I’m not sure how my comment got abbreviated…….but I worked as a USFS biologist/ botanist for my career.
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Hi! I’m not sure how a short form of your message made it to me. But thanks for filling in FS info. I also worked for the FS, USFWS, and BLM as a biologist and botanist! My jobs took me all over the west. Where did you work? Love meeting biologists and botanists!
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Congratulations on your 15th sketchbook, artist Barb! No ordinary sketchbook, that’s for sure! You’re so incredibly talented. Thank you for sharing your art. ✨
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Thanks so much Michele!it’s really fun to look through them all. And most are indexed too. It’s been a real creative journey, for sure.
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That is fantastic! I have years’ worth of journals, but they are not that organized.
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Such a wonderful post, Kat. I remember you telling me the history about Flambé, but it was good to get the expanded history here. It has always made your art so endearing. Love your animal eyes. I have taken several nature journaling courses that have focused on this subject, and I have loved everyone. So much variety out there in the natural world. And, congratulations on Karen Abend asking you to do a special sketch session for your followers. I feel fortunate to be able to follow your blog. You are in inspiration to us all! 😂🎨
Dee
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Awesome comments, Dee! Thanks so much. The class was fun, and those who attended seemed to enjoy it. Karen Abend was such a sport too …. I needed lots of hand holding during the set up and practice video since I’d never taught via Zoom before. Thanks for following my posts and for all the comments you’ve made over the years. I too feel so fortunate to have you as a subscriber!
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Sorry, Barb! A brain “fart” on my part putting Kat instead of Barb. You know what I meant! 😂
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Hahahahah! That’s too funny, mostly because I never noticed you began by addressing Kat! Made sense to me though, since Flambé authors many of my posts! Meow!
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