Back to School

This was my part-time studio this summer. I'm back in my "real" one today, pencils sharpened. Feels good to get into routine, but I miss the sand between my toes.

The Waiting Tree

A lovely old white oak was removed from our daughter’s school today. It was an ancient beauty with a full canopy and a heavy mast of acorns most years. It grew next to the kindergarten rooms and at one point, someone had built a seat encircling the trunk. Many pleasant afternoons, I waited under its peaceful green-ness for Lucy. She’d bound out of her classroom, that new excitement of learning still traced on her face. And we’d collect and gather every day from this point. The tree had suffered some lightning damage in the past few years, some branches bare of leaves. Alas, it’s ideal meeting location also sealed its fate. It was deemed “unsafe” and cut down and hauled away, limb by limb. The tree service men went about their work a little too gleefully. But the deed is done, with only the magnificent stump to remind us. Today, I salute the “Waiting Tree” and thank it for it’s gifts.

Ode to the Waiting Tree

It was there
Among others,
Long before the wagons breached the grassy hills.
It witnessed, as savanna gave way to prairie, and prairie to farm field, then neighborhood.
Spared once by a few feet, adding natural grace beside angled structure, it became shade-giver, place of meeting, place of waiting.
And it was. For over 200 years.

Wicker nap

Our cats are done with these dog days of summer. They lounge around under hosta leaves in the garden, or find a cool, shaded corner on the porch. The wicker chair is popular. Oh, to be a cat. Here's my watercolor of one in-house cat nap.

Honey Fest

Will be involved in the Indian Creek Nature Center's (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Honey Fest September 19th. Working on the art for possible poster. Will post more details closer to the date. Sounds like a sweet event!

Blackberry Summer

I have a thing about berry-picking. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, we picked strawberries and raspberries for summer money-making. I learned to appreciate early morning light out on those berry farms. And even though wages were meager and the days long and dusty, my tough, free-lancing work ethic was born there. And really, I just liked picking berries! In Iowa, we have native black raspberries as well as blackberries. There's a patch that my walking buddy introduced me to recently. Lucy and I just picked a bowl this afternoon. I did a botanical of one of the sprigs, and crushed some of the berries for "paint", the perfect color. More berry images ahead. The black raspberry print will be available on my Etsy shop later this month.

Sphinx moth in the Yard!

Ever seen a sphinx moth? Maybe you have and thought it was a hummingbird. They are about the size of humming birds, move fairly fast and feed from flowers in the same fashion. BUT, they are distinct little guys from the insect world! I caught a couple photos of one yesterday in the same territory that I usually see hummers, right outside my studio window. Last summer, when I was finishing my bird book, a late afternoon sighting of a ruby throat would give me much needed inspiration. Although I didn't see any sphinx moths last year, I knew of their coolness. There is information in the book comparing the two creatures. Check out the moth's stripey backside!

Find the moth and the hummingbird in each photo if you can.

Running fox

A little doodle today. Running Fox Studio? I've always thought it might be cool to have a real studio name sometime. Some illustrators do this. Running Fox? Thistle and Finch? They would be good English pub names!

School is out for the summer. This mamma/illustrator/writer will indeed be running erratically for awhile.