Book Review:Tiny Worlds by Rosalie Haizlett

As a lover of nature's details, I was delighted to find Rosalie Haizlett's new book Tiny Worlds.  Haizlett set out to travel the Appalachian trail, explore its wilds, and illustrate the tiny creatures who dwell there.

Her gorgeous book is chock-full of colorful watercolor paintings of the fungi, amphibians, insects, birds, mammals, wildflowers and more that she found on her 6-month adventure. 

She also offers nature journaling ideas and shares the stories behind her paintings -- how she found birds nest fungi in a flower bed in a city, and how she learned the French name for the Belted Kingfisher after a French-speaking child asked her what she was doing.  At the time, Rosalie was photographing the fast-diving Kingfishers in Saint-Maxime-Du-Mont-Louis, Quebec, Canada .

 My favorite story was about how, as a young child, Rosalie was fearful much of the time, but when she reached 18, she decided to do one scary thing every day to fight her fears.  She began by getting a tattoo on her ankle that reads LOVE>FEAR.

I've been enjoying sinking into this book in the evenings before bedtime, dropping into the beauty of nature in Rosalie Haizlett's words & paintings.  I hope you get a chance to enjoy this book and take inspiration from its pages.

You can see more of Rosalie's artwork and order a copy of Tiny Worlds for yourself on her website: https://rosaliehaizlett.com/

Happy Reading!

Community College of Beaver County Continuing Ed. News!

I was delighted to open CCBC's  Fall 2025 Continuing Education Course Guide and find myself on page 12. 

I'm honored to have my classes featured, and hope you'll join me this fall for Beginner's Pencil Drawing and Pencil Drawing: Color and Shading!

You can register for these classes by following this link:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/

Then click on "Arts" under "Beaver County Classes."

I'll be in the studio to welcome you on the first day of classes, Monday, October 6th.

Hope to see you there!

Signs of Autumn in my Nature Journal

My daily walks find me collecting a late summer harvest.  The weather feels more like autumn than summer, and colorful leaves brighten the pathway.  

I collected some ripe apples on a recent walk, and sketched them in my nature journal, using pen and ink with watercolor crayons layered on top.

The change in the weather to cooler days and crisp nights invigorates me and makes me excited to make entries in my new nature journal.

What type of weather inspires you?  What do you like to sketch and record in your journal? I hope you find inspiration out in nature.

Happy Creating!

The Work of Joseph Wyman, Tintype Photographer

David and I attended the opening of photographer Joseph Wyman's show, "Every Bad Plate I've Ever Shot," and were riveted by Joseph and his work.

Joseph is a tintype photographer, creating photographic images on metal plates.  Here he is (the one with the cap) with his camera at the opening of his show at Premier Imaging, Pittsburgh.

The Premier Imaging Gallery showcased years' worth of Joseph's photography mistakes -- from models who blinked, to underexposed images, to bad chemistry & scratched plates.  

Witnessing the bounty of mistakes makes you appreciate Joseph's tenacity and willingness to learn from his failures. He calls himself the "Tenacious Type."

Joseph built out a bus to live in and carry his photography equipment and chemicals. He travels the country, offering portrait photography for hire at events.

You can see his successful photography on his website, https://www.josephwymanphoto.com/

Joseph's camera has an antique brass lens, made in Rochester, NY.

Joseph's portable portrait studio:

Joseph demonstrated the entire process of creating a tintype, selecting two volunteers from the audience, preparing a wet plate with chemicals, exposing it, then developing the images in his traveling "darkroom."

The finished photographs have the most beautiful nostalgic vibe, as if these women were transported back in time.  It's a very human way to present a portrait.

I hope Joseph inspires you to grow through creations you see as mistakes, and to create tenaciously. It's how artists grow!

Happy Creating!

Gouache Sketches in My Nature Journal

One of the beautiful possibilities in using a brown craft paper nature journal is that you can paint with gouache, and light tones, like this moth, pop off the page visually. 

I found this tiny moth on a nature walk in the park one quiet afternoon.  You can see from the grass blades in the photo, that it was quite small.  I enjoyed making the tiny large in my nature journal.

 

The moth is called a Confused Euscara (Euscara confusaria), and its wingspan measures about 1.25 inches.  I'm guessing the "confused" part of its name comes from the fact that it looks like a dead leaf.  When I hovered my phone right over top of the little moth to take its portrait, it didn't move a muscle, acting just like a dead leaf!

Wingstem bloomed along the trail, and I snapped a photo, then painted the flowers later in my studio.

Each medium has its own magic.  I hope you find an art supply you enjoy and make some sketches.  See where it leads you!

Happy Creating!

A New Nature Journal

A few months ago, I started a watercolor nature journal, and I'm having fun painting nature scenes in it. Still, I missed my brown craft paper and the possibilities it brings for working with colored pencils & gouache.

I cracked open a craft paper journal that I had bought online to create a new nature journal.  I can work in both journals, using whichever works best for my ideas.

Right away, I delighted in making simple pen and ink sketches, adding colored pencil to some.

The brown paper automatically creates the midtone, making highlights and shadows more dramatic.

I try to listen to my intuition, that tiny voice within that offers suggestions.  It often feels like a little nudge rather than a loud, obvious instruction.  Each scene calls out for a certain medium -- some feel very watercolor-y and others invite sketching with a colored pencil.  Maybe it's just my own moods that I'm responding to.  

I find that when I listen to these little nudges, I'm happier and create more freely. It doesn't mean I'm always going to create impressive work, just that it will feel right and that I will be more at peace with the finished artwork than if I had forced myself to follow an expected path.

Listening to your intuition and trying out its ideas is a valuable habit to get into.  Your intuition is full of exciting possibilities and will help you to make wonderful discoveries.

Happy Creating!

Weekly Planner in Gouache & Marker

I was painting with gouache this weekend and decided to use up the extra blobs of paint in my weekly planner.  I love this planner because it gives me a reason each week to play with random art supplies.

I had a fistful of beautiful Faber Castell markers with dual tips -- a fine point at one end and a brush at the other -- found on a recent visit to the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.  

The gorgeous markers added a lovely detailed element to this week's planner page.

I enjoyed the slow process of layering one medium on top of the next.  The clouds at the top of the page and the white lettering on the right side of the page were done with acrylic ink, and I used my Lamy fountain pen with permanent black ink to label the days of the week.

This quiet process of slowly making art based on your intuition and whims can be very relaxing and playful.  You don't have to make anything "important;" just play.  The beauty of the process is that you often develop ideas that you would never have thought of if you'd been "serious" about your art always.

 Art goals are fantastic to pursue.  Just remember to leave yourself some open time to play, too.

Happy Creating!