Inspiration – a curious nature

Welcome New and Returning Subscribers

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.

**Zentangle patterns used: LoveBuzz, Membranart, Frostz, Chatoo, Sea Urchin, Toku, Rosie, Calibree**

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.

Intermission: Meet an Odd Member of the Rose Family …. The Desert (Eastern) Mountain Mahogany

February 8, 2023

The Desert (Eastern) Mountain Mahogany is a very branchy shrub commonly found in the mid-elevation foothills of the Sandia, Manzanita, and Manzano Mountains east of the Rio Grande River in central New Mexico. This species’ formal and very appropriate name, Cercocarpus breviflorus variety breviflorus, comes from both Greek (kerkos: tail; karpos: fruit) and Latin (brevi: short; florus: flowered). As a matter of fact, the 9 species of the genus Cercocarpus all have long feathery tails that twist and turn from the tip of a single fruit, called an achene (like a sunflower seed).

So why is this species odd?

Well, the fruit, for one reason. Most of the thousands of rose family members have fruits called a hip (rose), pome (apple), drupe (prune), or aggregate (strawberry). And even though the strawberry is composed of numerous miniature achenes, it’s the single achene found in the mountain mahoganies that’s unusual to the family.

To further emphasize the oddness of the Cercocarpus genera, all of its 9 species has a symbiotic relationship with a bacteria called Frankia. And that’s an unusual characteristic of the rose family, which moved Cercocarpus and 4 other genera into the subfamily Dryadoideae. That’s all a bit technical when it comes to plant classification, and kind of skips the real reason why the Frankia bacteria is important to the survival of Desert Mountain Mahogany. Nitrogen Fixation!

Read on to learn more …..

Intermission: Winter Wind Rattlers

2023 journal page with a few of the actual seed pods scattered about

January 18, 2023

Not wild, but wildly rattling in the wind? Not snakes, but the showy seed pods from a row of Chinese Lantern trees, hanging on for dear life throughout our numerous winter wind events.

We frequently park near 8 of these non-native trees used as sidewalk landscaping, just before the Copper trailhead. After wondering for several years what these medium sized trees are, in September 2020, discovering the answer, I drew them out …… seed pods, leaves and all.

Searching for something wintery to add to my journal this year, these hardy seed pods called loudly. It was hard to resist!

Browsing my 2020 journals, I came across my first drawing. Always fun to see if and how my technique has changed. Can you detect the differences?

What’s nature displaying in your world right now?

Intermission: Townsend’s Solitaire Comes Calling

January 11, 2023

Who doesn’t love birds? Watching them, listening to them, photographing them, and in my case drawing them. And it’s especially exciting when a new visitor comes calling. When the bird is the first I’ve ever sighted, automatically becoming a new addition to my life list!

There I was, working away on one of my Sonoran Desert posts, when I glanced up from my sketchbook and noticed an unfamiliar bird standing tall under our big juniper tree. Not one of the hundreds of dark-eyed juncos that feast all winter below our feeders. Definitely larger than the comical juniper titmice and noisy mountain chickadees that pop in and out conducting their continual grab-a-seed-and-dash maneuvers. Hmmmmm ….. a bit larger than our resident canyon and spotted towhees, but slimmer than the Woodhouse’s scrub jay. An American robin? A western bluebird? Certainly similar, but not quite; certainly a member of the thrush family?

Turned out he was one of the thrush species …. not the robin or bluebird, but the beautifully sleek Townsend’s Solitaire. For a brief moment he seemed to be evaluating the quality of juniper berries lying beneath the tree. Not wanting to spook him, I watched in muted excitement, then dared to make a move for my camera. He stayed just long enough to bend over for a bird’s-eye look, promptly dismissing our berry crop, and off he flew. Somehow, while juggling my field guide, binoculars and camera, I managed to snap a photo to confirm my sighting with iNaturalist. Confirmed! How cool was that!

It was a great day!

I’ve watched every day since to see if this one or more Townsend’s Solitaires drop by. No luck yet, but now I know they’re around. Maybe I’ll catch them this Spring breeding, nesting, but more likely singing and calling from the treetops while defending their territory full of delicious juniper berries!

What’s nature displaying in your world right now?

Intermission: Searching for Spring

January 14-15, 2023

Right now I’m watching it snow …… again. Logic tells me this moisture is so necessary for our drought-stressed juniper and piñon pine that provides year-round food and cover for a host of birds and mammals that call the East Mountains home. Our annual and perennial wildflowers, oaks and native shrubs depend on winter rains and snows to flourish in the growing season. So I say, “bring it on, Mother Nature!”

But by January and February I do tire of brown. My animal brain needs of a shot of “Spring Green” this time of year. Just a little bit to carry me through the winter; a tiny bit in anticipation of full-blown Spring is just the ticket!

This is why we take regular trips down our mountain to enjoy the Albuquerque foothills. It’s amazing the difference a 2,000 foot change in elevation can make in nearly everything.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love living at 7,300 feet, in the shadow of majestic Sandia Mountain, and in the winter we sometimes experience days of cloud cover and fog. So down the mountain we go, in search of sun, warmth, and Spring Green.

And to my delight, here’s what I found! “Nature’s first green is gold.” And indeed it is!

What’s nature displaying in your world right now?

It’s a “New” Year…Happy 2023!

January 1, 2023

I usually don’t commit to a single word to spark my inspiration for an entire year … there are so many! But, as this is the beginning of a brand New Year, and so many New creative and adventurous opportunities lie ahead, I’ve decided to challenge myself with discovering all things “New!” Ta-da …. My word for 2023 is officially “New!”

I’m constantly inspired by my creative friends who dare to explore New ways to express themselves …… Elaine who writes beautiful and sometimes unusual poetry …… Susan, Jane and all of my Zentangle friends, who turn inked lines into magic ….. and last, but far from least, Karen, a wonderful artist, kayaker and outdoor enthusiast, who captures her discoveries and adventures in her nature journals (visit Karen’s blog and see for yourself! https://iamchasingbutterflies.wordpress.com).

And of course there’s my Konstant Kat, Flambé, who pushed and prodded me to create a New image of her curious and playful side. So I opened a New journal to celebrate 2023, and redressed Kat anew. A smiling Flambé must mean a good beginning to this New Year, right!

Now for the hard part …… I’ll strive to break out of my usual-usual, and explore New-to-Me things, along with trying some New approaches to my journaling and art. I’m certain Flambé will be keeping an eye on me, and I hope you do too. Stay tuned!

Thank you followers ….. for being there and also for encouraging me to carry on. I’d love to know what you like about my posts and what you’d like to see more of and/or New. What and who will inspire and challenge you to be your best during this year-long journey that lies ahead as we take another spin together around the Sun aboard planet Earth?

Wishing you an exciting 2023, full of happiness and health, and most of all laughter and fun!