Art – Page 5 – a curious nature

Always Remember to Explore the Cracks!

Sidewalk Crack Discoveries

October 12, 2024

Roy had a doctor’s appointment one morning in late September, at an office right off busy I-25, near the ABQ airport. Instead of hanging out in the sterile waiting room, Luna and I spent our time exploring the areas surrounding the office, just to see if there was anything worth observing.

For 2 miles, we wandered about the not quite urban/suburban/industrial/residential neighborhood ….. me looking for a sketchbook entry; Luna sniffing out messages left just for her by visiting dogs, squirrels, or bunnies.

Interesting discoveries seemed lacking, until Luna caught whiff of something irresistible. Tugging hard on her end of the leash, she urged me to run with her as she zeroed in on the source of the smell.

By a parking lot light, on the pavement next to a cement curb was an explosion of feathers, but Luna kept leading me on to something better. There! Lying on the curb was a still wet and bloody bird foot barely connected to what remained of the thigh. All clues pointed to the very recent drama, where a raptor (possibly a red-tailed hawk) had swooped in and nabbed the hapless victim (a feral pigeon), killed and then ate his prey from the platform atop the parking lot light. The inedible remains fell to the ground as a group of 2 dozen “relieved-it-wasn’t-me” pigeon friends looked on.

Quickly solving most of this puzzle in the time it took to pry the pigeon foot from Luna’s mouth, gave me the idea of sketching not only the foot, but to look for other unlikely nature discoveries in this urban/suburban/industrial/residential neighborhood setting.

Mentally armed with a keener power of observation and purpose, we retraced our earlier route with excitement! Now it was obvious an abundance of interesting and beautiful plants were growing from every sidewalk crack and along crumbled pavement edges throughout the ‘hood. How had I missed seeing these beauties?

And that’s how my idea for this 2-page layout was born, along with a reminder that finding bits of nature doesn’t have to occur at a botanical garden, wildlife preserve or national park. Nature is everywhere. If you just slow down and really look, even in the most unlikely places like sidewalk cracks, there’s always something to discover. So Remember to Explore the Cracks too and let me know what you find!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

(Updated) Sketchbook Revival 2024! 15 Days of Priceless Fun

****************Notice*******************

Photo display correction has been made in this second post, which has the identical in text as the first post presented earlier in the morning, please disregard the first post and apologies for any confusion. Barb

September 23 – October 7, 2024
For the last 7 years, I’ve participated in the annual, 2-week long sketching/drawing, painting and mixed media event, Sketchbook Revival, founded and hosted by a talented sketchbook artist, Karen Abend. Every year, Karen brings together a cast of creative artists for a mega on-line teaching marathon. Each day, 2 1-hour recorded sessions are available to hundreds of participants from around the world, providing an opportunity to interactively learn a skill or technique designed to begin or expand on a regular sketchbook practice. These sessions may include book binding, mark-making, collage, creating imaginary characters, urban sketching, composition, landscapes, flowers, mammals and bird painting, people or pet portrait drawing, nature journaling, Zentangle, map making, story telling, textiles, and on and on! Techniques shared by instructors involve a wide-variety materials, like watercolor, gouache, acrylic, markers, pencil and pen, colored pencil, and many forms of mixed-media.

The whole fun event is designed to stretch your creative comfort zone by experimenting with art supplies and new approaches to art making, and encourages play. And as incredible as it sounds, all you need to participate is your time and whatever materials you have on hand. Otherwise, it’s totally free! Wowza!

Not every session needs to be done (and this year there were 30 sessions in 15 days); I usually find time to complete about half of them. But this year I did all but one session (and may even complete the one skipped). From the very diverse cast of artists/instructors, I was able to learn new tips, techniques, approaches, and was invites to try new art supplies that would be useful in my regular sketchbooking and nature journaling practice.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy my 2024 Sketchbook Revival “play!” Not all are great or even good (a few are downright awful!) but it was so much fun! Maybe something from my collection will have you laughing, or maybe even entice you to give Sketchbook Revival 2025 a whirl!

That’s all for Sketchbook Revival 2024. Let me know what you think!

And as always, thanks for stopping by!

Sketchbook Revival 2024! 15 Days of Priceless Fun

That’s all for Sketchbook Revival 2024. Let me know what you think!

And as always, thanks for stopping by!

Happy World Smile Day!

October 4, 2024

World Smile Day is an annual celebration of the simple yet powerful act of smiling and spreading joy to others. It was created by commercial artist Harvey Ball in 1999 to honor the iconic smiley face he created in 1963. On this day, people are encouraged to perform acts of kindness and make others smile, both in person and through social media. World Smile Day is celebrated on the first Friday in October.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Nature Journaling Meets Zentangle …… It’s International Rock Flipping Day

September 8, 2024

Unbeknownst to me …… until right now! Hitting me like a ton of rocks, I just learned that every second Sunday in September each year marks a worldwide celebration known as

International Rock Flipping Day

Today is a day to encourage people to explore and learn about the natural world by flipping over rocks to see what creatures and other organisms live underneath them. Participants share their findings and observations with others to promote curiosity and appreciation for the environment.

*Zentangle patterns*: *Barney, Cobbles, Tupuk, Roxi, Ringz, CO2, Rigel, Piepers, Konk, Calliwags, N’Zeppel*

So tell me …..

How many rocks have you flipped over today?

What did you discover?

If no one was at home, tell me about your flipped rock(s)!

Bring out your Inner Child!

I don’t care what town you’re born in, what city, what country. If you’re a child, you are curious about your environment. You’re overturning rocks. You’re plucking leaves off of trees and petals off of flowers, looking inside, and you’re doing things that create disorder in the lives of the adults around you. – Neil deGrasse Tyson

A few more …..

As with other phases of nature, I have probably loved the rocks more than I have studied them. – John Burroughs

If it weren’t for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song. – Carl Perkins

The problem is not scientifically illiterate kids; it is scientifically illiterate adults. Kids are born curious about the natural world. They are always turning over rocks, jumping with two feet into mud puddles and playing with the tablecloth and fine china. – Neil deGrasse Tyson

As always, thanks for stopping by!

By Kraken! It’s National Sea Serpent Day, August 7, 2024

August 7, 2024

Today is National Sea Serpent Day, and while these magical, mystical, and mythological creatures may not ring true for you, Flambé now believes otherwise. Read why a Mama Kat’s lessons should be heeded at all costs, and how a litter of 8 kittens would’ve been better off if they’d had a wise Mama like Flambé. Learn how a Sea Serpent finds his lunch in murky water, and what they like to binge eat. But most of all, be sure to celebrate this auspicious day …… perhaps by visiting an aquarium to see what a “real” Sea Serpent looks like, and to learn about their life cycle, color(s), size and the habitats where they live.

National Sea Serpent Day is a day dedicated to the legendary creature known as the sea serpent. It is a time to celebrate and learn about these mythical sea creatures, which are often described as large, snake-like creatures that live in the depths of the Oceans.

*Zentangle patterns used: Uzu, Seashimmer, Spilus, Iraku, Diamond Fringe, Mona Pua, Cat-a-line*

Baby, it’s hot outside!

Poor Flambé has been searing her paw pads while conducting daily curiosity quests. To cool the burn, she’s been wading into a sizable neighborhood pond, becoming engulfed in a cloud of steam as all four paws are instantly chilled. “Aaaahhhhhhh! Now that’s relief!”

However, one day Kat decided to indulge in a full body pond plunge, completely drenching her lush fur coat. Because the pond was unfathomably deep, and since she was soaked to the tip of her tail, Flambé decided to practice a bit of free diving. Gulping a huge breath of air then turning tail, down …. down ….. down she plunged into the murky cold water. After zipping up to the surface to fill her lungs, Kat exclaimed, “Cool! I’ll return every hot afternoon to chill out!”

But during her second deep … deep … deep dive, Flambé saw she was not alone. Emerging out of the dim depths of the pond was a gynormously scary creature with a huge head, foot-long eyes, sharp teeth, and long wavy arms! Could it be her nemesis?

As a wee kitten, mama Kat warned her about swimming or diving in deep water. Mama Kat warned Flambé about the presence of the always ravenous, underwater creatures known as Hydra, Kraken, or Sea Serpent. Mama said these monstrous Sea Serpents had such a keen sense of smell, they could instantly sniff a potential meal of “fat furry feline” frolicking frivolously in their watery realm. In the blink of a foot-long eye, an unsuspecting Kat might be greedily gobbled and gulped!

Now back to dire matters at “paw” ….. Daring to take a closer look at the menacing Kraken, Flambé gazed in horror at one of its five crops; it was plum full with a litter of eight kittens! Mama Kat was right.

Sea Serpents may have an excellent sense of smell, but Flambé’s hearing was superb. Before the Hydra could sniff out Kat, simultaneously those eight kaptured kitties let out a yowl loud enough to raise an undersea garden! “They’re alive!” Flambé to the rescue!!!

What is Flambé’s plan to rescue all eight kitties? How does she avoid being sniffed out by the Sea Serpent? Will hiding in plain sight right next to that row of razor sharp teeth, fool the Kraken? What can Kat use to quickly pry open the Hydra’s crop cage, rapidly expelling the kitties? Are Sea Serpents ticklish, and if so, where? If you were in Flambe’s predicament, what would you do?

Please share your ideas quickly …. just in case Kat’s efforts are foiled and all is lost!

Until the next chapter of Flambé’s exciting Misadventures!

ABQ Urban Sketchers Morning at the ABQ Biopark/Botanic Gardens

July 30, 2024

On July 30th, six of us Albuquerque (ABQ) Urban Sketchers gathered for an impromptu morning of exploring and sketching at the ABQ Biopark/Botanic Gardens. It’s always so much fun seeing what’s blooming any time of the year, even during the heat of summer. Despite the morning’s toasty hot temperatures, the plentiful shade and water features provided many “cool” locations for sketching and exploring.

Since the Japanese Gardens section of the park was new to me, I decided to make my way there to sketch, while enjoying summer flowers and many interesting seed pods from what must’ve been an outrageous, overly abundant Spring bloom. After a slow 15 minute stroll, I had arrived at the 4-acre Japanese Gardens, complete with a waterfall, koi pond, pagodas, wooden bridges, many stone statues, and many many ducks.

My first sketch was of a pretty pagoda that served as a shady spot for one of the ABQ Plein Air members to paint the scene behind me.

Then, wandering deeper into the garden, past the waterfall, I found the koi pond with a few interesting features ….. a walking bridge bisecting the pond where parents brought their children to feed the ducks. Adjacent to the walking bridge was a weathered wooden bridge which crossed the inlet to the pond. As I sketched and painted while sitting on a large flat rock a foot back from the pond’s edge, many large dragonflies hovered nearby, several koi rolled in the water, mallards paddled about, and a bullfrog sounded his loud and low stuttering ru-ru-ruuuuummmmmmm. A few park visitors even stopped behind me to watch my sketches develop!

Small weathered, wooden bridge and rolling koi

It was so calming and peaceful sketching in the gardens, and before I knew it the morning had flown by. Quickly I packed up my supplies and scurried back towards the entrance to the Biopark where I met up with my small group for our “throw down” and photos.

Such a great morning!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen fineliner 0.3 (black) was used first to create quick sketches; Derwent watercolor pencils and Pentel waterbrush were used for the color

Travel Alert! Rhinos on the Loose …… in New Mexico!???

July 29, 2024

One of our early morning landscaping projects has been keeping us busy shoveling our way through 14 tons of pea gravel, one wheelbarrow load at a time. As each backbreaking load is hauled into our back yard and dumped on miles of weed barrier fabric, we keep reminding ourselves how nice it will be when Luna no longer returns home with muddy paws.

What began as a daunting pile of millions and millions of tiny little stones, by morning #3 the pile still looked impossibly huge, while the only thing diminishing was our enthusiasm. So it wasn’t a big surprise when, after only 15 minutes of scooping, a very large and shiny black beetle was welcome excuse for a break! After all, she was charging across our travel path, and without rescuing would’ve surely been squished flat under a careless wheelbarrow tire!

And we paused …… for nearly 45 minutes ….. as we ooohed and aaaahed over such a magnificent beetle, wondering what she could be. Well over an inch long, we noticed her blue-black head, thorax (pronotum) and hard wing covers (elytra) as shiny as freshly polished paten leather shoes, were ringed by a dense fringe of rusty orange hairs. When she went belly-up, we could see those hairs all over the ventral (lower) side of her head and thorax.

Not enjoying exposing her undersides to the world, those six flailing, long and powerful, many-segmented claw-tipped legs flipped her body over and she quickly resumed charging across the ground. Roy kept her in sight while I ran for the camera, determined to take lots of photos to get an ID. About a dozen poses later, and with the help of iNaturalist, I learned that our visitor appeared to be a female Western Rhinoceros Beetle (WRB)!

Yes, apparently there are Rhinos in New Mexico! How cool it would be to find a male or two, and watch how they use their horns (which are as tall or taller than their steeply pitched and somewhat concave pronotums) in battle to win a hornless female.

Wonderings! Why was our female WRB in such a hurry? Was she running from a male? Two battling males? Had she mated already and was in search of a Velvet Ash Tree (a NM native species and likely her preferred food source) where she could lay her more than 100 eggs in the soil beneath the tree? How does she find these ash trees, because I’ve never seen one on our 2 acres or along any of our neighborhood hiking trails?

So many unanswered questions! But you can bet I’ll be on the lookout for the next WRB to trek on by. Maybe I’ll drop everything I’m doing (like scooping pea gravel) and follow her or him just to answer a few questions! Do you think Roy will mind being left behind holding the shovel?

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Exploring the Familiar

July 23, 2024

Hiking and rehiking familiar areas always turns up new discoveries. This may be because my eyes skim over the most commonly seen phenomena, allowing me to actively search for anything new or anything out of place. Rarely am I disappointed.

A few days ago, we explored one of our favorite hiking areas. Because birds tend to be more secretive this time of year, the best surprise was to hear a black-throated sparrow sweetly singing from his perch atop a cholla skeleton.

Because it’s monsoon season, many plants that bloomed late spring are making a comeback, and are happily spreading throughout the area. So to keep track of how ranges are expanding, I made note of their locations and transferred this information to a simple trail map. I also noted that the most commonly seen flowers were from the composite family …. the sunflowers.

Oh! Couldn’t resist capturing the silhouette of Wile E. Coyote glued to the back end of a dented vehicle in the parking area. That’s was a perfect discovery for the resident roadrunners!

Do you enjoy exploring familiar areas? What surprises have you discovered?

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Jack

July 16, 2024

While my mind is on the subject of local wildlife residents (see my long-tailed weasel post just a few days ago), I’ve been wondering a bit about the black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus). Fairly common in our area (and throughout most of New Mexico and the West), it’s always exciting to see one of these swift, long-legged desert “Jacks” bolt and run when spooked. To escape a predator, at the very last moment before discovery, the jackrabbit uses the element of surprise by leaping from his hiding place in the tall grass. The predator, now in hot pursuit, is usually left in the dust as the jackrabbit continues to leap, then leaps/runs until the “Jack” reaches top running speed all the while zig-zagging in an unpredictable manner. And poof! Gone! The predator, now completely baffled, gives up the chase, while the clever jackrabbit lives another day.

So back to my wonderings. Just how fast can a “Jack” actually run? How far can he leap? Doesn’t the jackrabbit get its genus name, Lepus, because they “leap?”

What I learned is the top running speed for a jackrabbit is 35-40 mph (Zoom!) and they can leap 15-20 feet in a single bound (super Jack!). Their top speed + their leaping nature allows them to easily escape most predators. But the name Lepus has nothing to do with leaping. Lepus, as translated from the Latin, means rabbit/hare. And one other thing that was news to me …… a jackrabbit is actually a hare, not a rabbit as the common name would imply! Of course this sparked another wondering. What’s the difference between a hare and a rabbit?

Various sources cleared up the hare vs rabbit conundrum …..

Hares are usually larger than rabbits, have longer ears and black markings on their fur. Hares have 48 chromosomes; rabbits have 44. Hares haven’t been domesticated; rabbits have. Hares live and give birth in shallow depressions in the grass; the young are born fully furred with eyes wide open, able to fend for themselves soon after birth (precocial). Rabbits usually live and give birth in burrows; the young are born blind and hairless and totally dependent on mom (altricial). Hares usually live alone; rabbits live in large communities called warrens.

There’s so much more to learn, but this will have to do to satisfy my curiosity for now. If you have hares living near you, or perhaps you have a pet rabbit, share your experiences and observations of one or both species.

P.S. I had fun drawing this jackrabbit (jackhare???), and did so as a gift for a dear friend who happens to love hares/rabbits. Wonder which one is her favorite? I’ll have to ask!

As always, thanks for stopping by!