Every year, for the past several years, I’ve shared with my most excellent and talented friend and poet, Elaine, the official word prompts used by artists around the world participating in Inktober. Then inspired by these prompts, Elaine creates original poetry, many of which she shares with me.
“Toad” is one of those poems.
Inspired by her words, and my appreciation of this chubby amphibian, here’s how I thought “Toad” might be illustrated. Perhaps this combined effort would be a cute mini bedtime story Elaine could read to her grandson? I wonder!
Arrow shows where to lift next
A full page view, unfolded ….. The inside
A full page view, unfolded
A Toad is not a Frog is not a Toad
The tri-fold card style worked perfectly for the poem, allowing several of the toads to appear more than once. While illustrating the card, it was important to understand the visual characteristics separating a toad from a frog. This challenge led me down both a slippery slope leading to a marsh, and a hidden trail meandering through a nearby grassy meadow. Here’s what I discovered …..
Thanks for sharing the birthday joy!
Elaine received this Toad card in time to celebrate her Leap Year Birthday. I love that we share our creative projects with each other! There’s no finer warm and fuzzy feeling.
Happy “19th” Birthday to you, Elaine, on this year’s February 29th, Leap Year!
As the Fall season rapidly came and went, and the first snows blanketed the landscape, I focused my hiking time (and some of my drawing hours) on collecting local native seeds. Always careful that plenty of seeds remained available for overwintering birds, I still managed to harvest hundreds from about 25 plant species. All sorted and packaged in separate pill containers, my collection is now stored in the refrigerator at 40 degrees, until growing conditions are optimal for planting. This treatment method is referred to as stratification.**
Why collect native seeds? All throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall, a diverse assortment of pollinators visited our locally blooming wildflowers and shrubs. Along with these butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, beetles and flies, were the insects, spiders, and birds that prey on unwary pollinators. Such an amazing show; a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes! The air was a buzz with activity. My goal is to mimic the native banquet in hopes of attracting these pollinators and predators.
Also, seeds are absolutely fascinating. I like to think of them as gift-wrapped, living plants-to-be. Tucked neatly inside of the seed coat are food stores enough to feed the makings of a complex root system; flowers, leaves, stems, branches and even a trunk. Seeds can be tiny, some microscopic and some as large as a softball. Seeds come in a variety of shapes, colors, textures and decor both inside and out. Some seeds have “wings” to fly; some have silky or puffy “feathers” to float; some are like “lead,” heavy enough to intentionally sink under water.
So I pulled out my 10x hand lens to investigate, drawing most of the seed species in my collection. It was very cool to compare seeds of different species that are in the same family (like the composites of the Aster family and the penstemons of the Plantain family). Until creating this journal page, I’d never held the seeds of 3 different species of yucca in one hand at the same time. Observing the similarities and differences, I finally confirmed in my mind that the genus Herperaloe and Yucca are indeed in the Agave family. And then I found examples of seeds from completely different families that evolved similar dispersal mechanisms (convergent evolution). This phenomenon was visually obvious in the delicate feathery, silky, and poofy hairs or bristles attached to grass, aster, and milkweed seeds, facilitating seed dispersal by wind.
Finally, I felt the need to draw the seeds in case they happened to spill into one big jumble while being planted! Yes, I would be clumsy enough to create chaos out of order. Should that happen, I’ll be able to sort the mess by species by referring to my field guide page.
** Seed-producing plants pass along to their seeds the specific requirements(s) necessary to break dormancy and germinate. These genetic codes determine if optimal conditions exist for seeds to sprout and hopefully grow to maturity. But key to successful germination depends on seed ripeness (in most cases). Knowing the plant species from which a seed is produced; whether the plant is an annual, biennial or perennial; habitat, moisture needs and the type of “treatment” method(s) are all important bits of information tied to successful germination.
I’ll have to create a future post describing the variety of treatment methods (germination patterns) inherent in the seeds.
Are you a seed collector? If so, share your why’s and how’s!
Wow! Time is flying. Here we are already well into the beautiful month of October, and realized my journal pages from our late September road trip fell asleep in the back seat of the car! But I felt my record of this day trip was worth sharing, especially since Halloween is fast approaching, and ghost towns are all the rage!
New Mexico always surprises and delights, and our trip to explore the pseudo ghost town of Cuervo, became two destinations. While in route to Cuervo, we found a curious notation on the highway map referencing the historic village of Puerto de Luna. Only a short, 9.5 mile detour south of Santa Rosa, we decided to check it out.
Puerto de Luna, NM The village of Puerto de Luna, Gateway of the Moon, is still inhabited, mostly on the West side of the Pecos River. However there are many wrecked and ruined buildings east of the river; enough to merit the label “Pseudo Ghost Town.” After a scenic ride through country used primarily to grow wheat and for livestock grazing, travelers first encounter the well maintained Church of Nuestra Senora del Refugio. Built in 1882, the church is still in use today. Just SE of the church sits the remains of the original Guadalupe County Courthouse. Constructed in 1891 of sandstone brick and blocks, it was only used for a few years. . Before the county seat was moved to Santa Rosa in 1903, a second, much larger building was constructed on the west side of the Pecos, which today is being used as the senior center. Not much remains of the original courthouse; the roof and half of the walls are piles of rubble lying inside the structure. The photos below show the changes from then to now.
Guadalupe County Courthouse, Puerto de Luna, 1891
Remains of Guadalupe Co Courthouse, Puerto de Luna, 2023
Looking inside the remains of Guadalupe Co Courthouse, 2023
Our brief visit to Puerto de Luna was fun. We learned about some of the pre-village history, like the Spanish explorer Coronado was said to have passed this location in 1541, naming the site Puerto de Luna after seeing a spectacular moon rise. And then there’s the more recent account from 1880, involving Billy the Kid and his last dinner here before being escorted by Pat Garret to Las Vegas, NM to stand trial for murder. After a hour of poking about a few more abandoned buildings, we headed back north to Santa Rosa and east 17 miles to our next pseudo ghost town.
Cuervo, NM ….. don’t blink or you’ll miss it!
If you zoom along on I-40 at 75-80 mph, heading east or west, and happen to blink, you’ll surely miss what remains of the old trading post and railroad town of Cuervo. Spanish for “crow,” Cuervo was officially established in 1902 as a watering stop for the CRI&P railroad. When the trains stopped running in 1910, the population declined, and businesses closed. But things took a turn for the better, when in 1926, Route 66 came through town, and Cuervo boomed again. By the 1940s, the population grew to 300, and had 2 of everything ….. schools, gas stations, hotels, churches, doctors, etc. All was just peachy for Cuervo until the late 1960s when the highway department decided to build I-40 right through town, slicing it in two and causing its rapid demise. Although the post office officially closed in 2011, the 58 permanent residents calling Cuervo home still have and use the old zip code, where they get their mail is anyone’s guess. Oh, and if you exit the highway hoping to fill up your tank, think again. Even though there’s a gas station sign that looks like it’s inviting you to stop, there’s no gas, or snacks …. nothing. Just a bunch of dusty roads, crumbled and weathered buildings, and tumbleweeds blowing in the wind.
We spent a few hours poking about the old town grid, exploring a handful of abandoned properties. The old 1915 Catholic Church is padlocked, but opened on Sundays for service. The 1930s schoolhouse appears to be undergoing some renovation. And signs of more prosperous times exist when the old steam engines used to run into town to resupply. Actually there’s been very minimal vandalism considering how close Cuervo is to the interstate, but there’s one serious blemish that made headline news a few years back. The Baptist church was the site of some pretty scary satanic rituals; and it’s thought these practices conducted in the church by the perpetrator resulted in the disappearance and murder of a number of people. We chose not to investigate.
The 1930s Schoolhouse, Cuervo, NM
Early 1900s Schoolhouse and abandoned sedan, Cuervo, NM
Old wooden home and water storage bldg, Cuervo, NM
Boxcars, then and now …. which do you prefer? Cuervo, NM
And that concludes my post. Hope you enjoyed reading a bit about life as it was and is today in and around two interesting pseudo ghost towns located in central in New Mexico. I’d be very interested in knowing if you explore ghostly history where you live! Have an awesome day, and remember to be curious!
Ahhhh, September! The month of slowing down, hints of crisp morning air, tree leaves turning ever so slightly from green to golden, a bit of wanderlust satisfied.
Instead of creating “Little” paintings of a month of highlights, and there have been many, I decided to focus on a single “Little” road-trip down the east side of the Manzano Mountains. My goal was to take a fresh look at, well, everything …….. and watch as the story of rural life unfolded.
As we wound our way along scenic backroads, I mentally sketched out our route map to depict some of the historic and present day highlights across the landscape. My imagination envisioned the full, prosperous and peaceful village life of the Tiwa Indians, and their conquest and struggle to survive Spanish occupation. There was evidence of the optimistic outlook of early settlers who came west to build a life centered around dryland farming and ranching. And today, modern day ranchers live on the land adjacent to land grants where indigenous peoples live a rural lifestyle on their native lands. I hope you enjoy my route map with some of these highlights, ranging from serious to funny, natural to commercial.
I’d love to know what story unfolds for you as you travel along on this September “Littles” Road-trip. Be sure to pack a lunch!
Once again, a big shout-out to “Made by Fay” for the inspiring “Littles” idea! These pages are fun to create, and remind me of monthly highlights and the random road-trip as I revisit my previous “Littles” posts. Hope you’re enjoying them too, along with the ending days of the season. Stay tuned for the next installment of “Littles.”
August was a busy month, filled with high elevation camping in Colorado, and a lot of cool mountain hiking back home. Even though the lower elevations took on a hot and parched look, at 9,000 feet and higher the wildflower season was far from over as evidenced along roadways and trails, where fresh, colorful blooms could still be found.
The highlight of the month was a 3-1/2 day visit from my brother Bob and grandniece Livi. At 15 years of age, Livi is already a fine artist, and took to nature journaling like a pro! It was great fun discovering and sketching nature on our daily hikes. She even got a chance to hold one of the adult ornate short-horned lizards we see frequently along various trails, and then found a baby lizard on her own, hiding nearly motionless under a small plant. Her smiles were priceless!
Despite the high temps, it was a month of good days and nights, ending perfectly with the rising of a rare Super Full Blue Moon! If you missed it, there’s plenty of time to prepare for the next …… which occurs in March 2037.
Once again, a big shout-out to “Made by Fay” for the inspiring “Littles” idea! These pages are fun to create, and remind me of monthly highlights as I revisit my previous “Littles” posts. Hope you’re enjoying them too, along with the ending days of the season. Stay tuned for the next installment of “Littles.”
June’s hot, dry weather slipped stealthily into July as we became mired in one of those infamous heat domes for weeks. Our rabbitbrush shrubs, usually late summer bloomers, burst into piles of brilliant yellow flowers a full month before normal, and for the first week of their premature bloom, not a single pollinator was in sight. I was so concerned the over abundance of nectar would dry up, pollen would blow haphazardly away, and seeds wouldn’t form. Then one morning I woke to find hundreds of butterflies, weevils, flies and bees flitting, crawling and buzzing about, nearly covering the shrubs completely in a pollination frenzy! How did they know? Where did they come from? What a relief for me, but it must’ve been an unimaginable relief for all of those pollinators that happened upon our oasis in the desert.
And so it went, all month…. bursts of early blooms rapidly completing their floral life cycles, thanks to urgently feeding pollinators.
This is how I remember July, with everything in bloom at once, the air full of pollen and pollinators. It was quite a sight!
Once again, a big shout-out to “Made by Fay” for the inspiring “Littles” idea! Stay tuned for the next installment of “Littles.”
Welcome back to my nature journaling blog! Today I’m excited to introduce my grandniece, Alivia Rapp. Livi, who is a very creative 15 year old, and the daughter of one of my brother’s daughters, came to visit for 3-1/2 days with “Grandpa Bob” (that’s my brother).
Livi with her new love …. A Greater Short-horned Lizard
During the past year, Livi and I have been chatting online about her art, her storytelling skills and her keen imagination in character development which she has honed through many years of daily practice. Then last year, enrolled in a beginning art class where she quickly demonstrated her artistic skills, her teacher bumped her into the advanced class. It was obvious Livi was in her element! She excelled in all of her art assignments which included still life and nature studies, portraits and perspective drawing, using a wide variety of tools such as pencil, pen, watercolor, acrylic, and colored pencil. Her first love of Anime and fantasy storytelling showed in her work too, and one of her creations was awarded a ribbon at her local spring fair. Congratulations Livi!
Now back to nature journaling. Every morning, Livi and I (equipped with sketchbooks and pens), Bob and Roy (carrying daypacks with water), set out for a bit of hiking and sketching nature discoveries along 3 different trails. Roy and I picked trails at different elevations with different habitat zones and views, knowing we’d have a variety of sketchable subjects. We weren’t disappointed!
My brother, Bob and granddaughter Livi on the Sandia Mountain Crest Trail
Hike #1 took us to the top of Sandia Mountain (10,679’) where we enjoyed many spectacular views of Albuquerque and the Rio Grande Valley a mile below, as we passed through a high elevation conifer forest on our way to the Kiwanis cabin. So many sketching opportunities ….. we each tackled the cabin, and Livi added a few of the 50+ lady beetles she discovered, then created a page with a raven, painted lady butterfly, a red paintbrush flower and aspen leaf. I chose a view, some wildflowers and the charming “Snack bar” marker (haha). Back at home we completed our sketches, adding watercolor pencil, with Livi being careful to note the names of my supplies she tried out.
The Kiwanis Cabin and CCC construction plaque; a few of the lady beetles Livi discovered near the trailhead
Livi and Barb hard at work sketching the Kiwanis Cabin
Livi’s wildlife composition along the Sandia Mountain Creat Trail
Hike #2 and we all hiked the upper loop trail at Golden Open Space which sits at about 6300’. The scenery and views were some of Bob’s favorites, so Livi and I spent about 5 minutes sketching one of the prettiest looking East towards the Ortiz and San Pedro Mountains and South Mountain. Then a great surprise discovery along the trail ….. an Eastern Collared Lizard! That was the first collared lizard Roy and I had ever seen at Golden, and after a few photos he decided to rise up on his tippy-toes and run like the wind! Then our second surprise …. we nearly stumbled over a beautifully ornate Greater short-horned lizard ….the lizard referred to by many as a “horny toad.” Before he could get away, Roy was able to snatch him up, roll him over on his back so he could get a belly rub that put the lizard to sleep. Sort of. Then after being entertained by a few erratically running fire engine red velvet ants, we had our 3rd great surprise, thanks to Livi’s eagle eye! A baby greater short-horned lizard that was trying to escape our view was also snatched up by Roy, and also became very sleepy. So cute. Livi was so glad we didn’t encounter any tarantulas, but declared that she loves the horned lizards! Back at home we finished our landscape sketches, and created pages illustrating the lizards. As an exercise in comparison, Livi dissected then sketched a few prickly pear “tunas” (the fruit) and a dried fruit from one of the chollas. She also cut into a large banana yucca fruit ….. which reminded her of a cucumber. Very interesting and fun!
Livi’s sketch of the San Pedro Mountains, colored with pan pastels
Golden Open Space was full of surprises! Livi’s journal page illustrating just a few!
Livi holding the baby greater short-horned lizard she found.
Hike #3 and we were back up Sandia Mountain and hiked the out-and-back 2.5 mile Tecolote Trail which sits at about 8500’ elevation. We had more beautiful views of the valleys below and the Sandia Mountain ski slope (which we sketched), and identified quite a few wildflowers, trees and shrubs. On the way down the trail we were surprised by a lovely mule deer doe as she quietly and carefully picked her way through the forest. Back at home we completed our sketches which included a wildflower drawing of a buckwheat plant, the seed and a leaf of an alder leaf mahogany shrub, and several sketches of oak leaves which we each tried as a blind contour drawing and a contiguous line drawing. Hey, they looked pretty good too! Back at home we rested, exhausted by our artistic efforts. But after Livi returned to her home near Seattle, she completed all of her pages and shared them with me.
Livi and Bob about to embark on the Tecolote Trail
Livi’s journal page with on location sketching exercises
Roy and I had fun sharing our love of New Mexico with Bob and Livi. And I especially loved getting to know Livi and sharing my love of nature journaling with her! Livi and I will definitely be staying in touch throughout the school year as she begins grade 10 and a new session of the advanced art class. I can’t wait to see shat she learns and creates!
Thanks for wanting to come visit and sketch, Livi …. and thanks to Grandpa Bob for bringing you along. It was awesome!
Here’s my sketches from the 3-1/2 days. I loved every minute!
Until next time ……. Take a friend nature journaling!
Another pure, 100% colored pencil piece to go with my “Ribbit!” Tree frog posted August 2nd. Had so much fun with the frog, instead of putting away my Polychromos, I allowed the crazy music to play, and let my pencils dance.
Work in progress
This little iguana took about 12 hours after my initial sketch. My materials consisted of a dozen or so Faber-Castell oil based Polychromos colored pencils, and a sheet of 9×12” Canson 120lb mixed media white paper.
A little more shading and he’s finished!
There’s something looking back at him, stage left! What do you suppose it could be?
Little brother of tree frog #1 is now hopping in to wish you happy hump day!
Another pure, 100% colored pencil piece. Polychromos still lying about, needing exercise. These charming frogs are loads of fun.
This little 6×7” finished piece took about 6 hours after my initial sketch. My materials consisted of a dozen or so Faber-Castell oil based Polychromos colored pencils, a sheet of 9×12” Canson 120lb mixed media white paper, and more Three Dog Night tunes with, of course “Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog” still is my favorite.
A pure, 100% colored pencil piece. Sometimes I have to dust off my Polychromos, play some crazy music, and let the joy happen! What an awesome way to calm my mind as the pencils work their magic.
This little 6×7” finished piece took about 8 hours after my initial sketch. My materials consisted of a dozen or so Faber-Castell oil based Polychromos colored pencils, a sheet of 9×12” Canson 120lb mixed media white paper, and hours of Three Dog Night (of course “Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog” was, and still is my favorite).
a curious nature 