A Beautiful Spring Day

Pastel on mat board. (6" x 10.5")

A beautiful morning dawned today.  Creation is filled with growth and bird song and beauty.

Field Restoration

I visited the Doak Field in Raccoon Creek State Park today, one day after a controlled burn, and wrote this in my journal:

A real nature journaling day -- warm enough not to wear gloves and the sun is coming out after the morning's rain.

Yesterday, I brought my journal out to this very field, but never wrote or sketched in it -- I intended to record the controlled burning of the field in sketches & words, but at a fire, every hand is put to work -- And I took up the fire rake.

Today, the fire crew has left the field to the bluebirds & me -- the smell of charcoal lies heavy on the wind and the field's blue-black stubble attracts robins & bluebirds to investigate. Are they finding barbecued woolly bear caterpillars or scorched ground beetles? Or are they just curious like me?

I do know that the male bluebird's wings look impossibly blue against the velvet stubble, like a chunk of flying ultramarine sky. Spring. And we are alive again -- the earth & I.

A new heat rises up from the charred grass stubble -- Gentle rain quenched the first fire -- now the sun's heat -- gathered, trapped & radiated by the black char -- causes scintillation in the air above the black earth. The heat of new creation -- will bring a rush of green life.

I hear --

• Phoebes in the woods
• Field sparrows in the open field
• Robins in the few trees of the field
• A flicker way off in the unburned field behind me.

Scenes from the controlled burn the day before:

The flames taking off at the start of the burn.  I'm the one in the bright orange sweatshirt.

Pat Adams, Environmental Educator, Raccoon Creek State Park.

Upcycled Art: Daffodil Postcard

I have been disheartened to read recent news about the end of recycling in the United States.  Found objects and recycled materials have always inspired me to create out of a desire to use up what would normally be trash.  The fact that an item is going to the landfill frees up my creativity -- even if I make terrible art, nothing has been lost.

Lately, I have stepped up my creative efforts in recycling packaging into useful items.  Sometimes, when I turn towards the trash with an empty box or other food packaging, I feel the tingle of inspiration.  That was the case with this recycled cardboard cucumber tray:

The neutral color, the rough texture (like cold pressed watercolor paper), and the stiff, sturdiness of the cardboard compelled me to cut out a 4" x 6" rectangle from the tray, create a spring scene with daffodils blooming, and turn it into a postcard to send to my dear friend, Robin.

So simple, yet the colors reach out to me.  I used my new box of Prismacolor Art Stix.  (Thanks Brad!)



Happy Spring and Happy Upcycling to you!  For more ideas on how to turn trash into art, visit the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse's website.

Nature Journaling

A 70 ℉ spring day gave me a chance to toss my watercolors and journal into a backpack and hike the state park with my oldest, Sarah.

We hiked down to the lake, and found where the road to the swimming beach was closed to vehicle traffic.  The entire berm of the road had washed into the lake, and with it went two mature trees.  While Sarah explored the area, I sat nearby the washout, and sketched the scene with Sakura pan watercolors.  I have the Koi Pocket Field Sketch Box of 24 colors, and they delight me to no end -- very portable, with bold, bright colors in just the right hues.

A view of the beach bath house and swimming area.  The trees on the far hill seemed painted with a fine rose-colored wash -- the red maple buds beginning to awaken to spring!

Figure Drawing Update

Here are some more recent drawings from open studios with the Pittsburgh Figure Drawing Meetup.

Model Layla inspired us with athletic gesture poses, and elegant long poses, including a 25-minute standing pose that she held as still as a statue.  Not even her eyes wavered.

More Figure Drawing & Painting

My Figure Drawing page is filling up with images, and I thought I'd stash a few new ones here in the main blog.  Attending open studios organized through the Pittsburgh Figure Drawing Meetup, has kept my hand in practice.  I was inspired by the artist Sarah Davis, who paints the figure with a simple set of pan watercolors and a water brush, and so painted the model Joanna with watercolors.  These are from March 16th, 2019.

Joanna had spoken of missing her "Intended," a soldier who was in the desert and was due back later in the spring.  I could sense her longing for her beloved, and the close relationship they had in spite of the distance. She seemed to pour everything in her life -- her joy, her loneliness, her love -- into her poses, and the emotion and energy swept us all away.

Joanna finished with a powerful long pose -- we would later deem it her "Starship Captain" pose.  Elegant, professional, poised.  Thanks for the inspiration, Joanna!

More Fun With Art Stix

My friend Brad, who gave me my new woodless colored pencils, challenged me to create on a large sheet of paper just from my imagination.  It felt like an inward blossoming of spring -- the color and warmth my soul is so hungry for right now.

By the way, Happy Pi Day everyone! (3/14)