Salty Sea Air

More new painting sneak peeks! I've been working on quite a few small pieces lately--I think because I have so very many ideas busting through the pages of my sketchbook right now, painting small is a guaranteed way of making sure my favorite ideas see the light.

This one is just about completed and will be in the shop on Tuesday, July 24th...

A deep sea arctic octopus (total painting size is 4x4"). I'm pleased with the outcome! And goodness the gold leaf really does set this guy off. It's a small painting, but packs quite a punch.

Here's a peek at a 5x7" gull painting that's really coming along. When finished, he'll be surrounded by gigantic looming flowers.

And, while not a painting, here's a sneak peek snapshot from my workbench at the Dept. of Ecology (this is a small vial of molluscs I sorted out from one sediment sample--some of those clams and snails are roughly the size of a pinhead!). I help out with the sorting/identifying of benthic invertebrates found in the marine sediment samples that our team collects from Puget Sound. The resulting data helps us to see how healthy the ecology of the Sound is.

Last month and also in April I went out with the Ecology marine sediment monitoring team to collect sediment samples (in the picture above, I'm the one in the yellow). It's so much fun to be out on the boat. Plus, seeing what critters come up in the mud from 100 feet or more below is always exciting...

The sediment is sieved for invertebrates and then bottled up to be taken back to the lab for sorting.

Lots of marine worms!

It's very interesting work. And gives invaluable data for local marine restoration efforts (some of which appear to be paying off--a few locations that were once heavily contaminated with low biological diversity are now beginning to flourish again).

Have a fabulous weekend, guys!

Urchin Totem

It's cloudy and drizzly and dark today....my favorite kind.

The midday natural light was so soft and dim that I quickly snapped a couple photos of a portion of my natural history collection display shelf.

Stacks of urchins and jars of feathers...An old book plate depicting varieties of anemones that I framed up a while back...Crab shells and rocks and various bits and bobs...In the studio, I have this old box of mostly bird illustrations that I've cut up and set aside for collages and inspiration. I've used some of them, but I really just enjoy looking at the melange of different bird heads and colors all living hectically (yet peacefully) together.

Nature Preserved

More Field Museum photos, ahoy!I can't say it enough--this place was amazing. My favorite natural history museum to date. And I came home completely overwhelmed with inspiration. I spent most of my time there in the Ornithology wing, staring at various winged friends and geeking out way too much.These wee hummingbirds were my favorite specimens. So, so tiny! The nest was about 2", and the little hummers were maybe an inch long. Look at the tongues! Just amazing. With all this inspiration, I think I'll go work on a painting or two. Have a great weekend, gang!

Sting Rays and Stuffed Pelicans

Hello, gang!

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the week. I got back from my whirlwind of a Chicago trip and have so many pictures to share with you. It was a fabulous getaway (snow and all) and came and went rather quickly, if you ask me. There was barely any time to really explore the city with my family, but I was able to get to both the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum, which was a big plus!

The aquarium was so crowded (and teeming with little children) that I was only able to quickly snap a few images...and about half of those were of the rays. I'm a sucker for sting rays, I admit. They have a neat see-through floor where you can actually walk *over* the sting rays, and I think I just about peed my pants when I realised this.If I ever become a bazillionaire, I would like it known that there will be a sting ray aquarium floor installed in my living room.And the Field Museum? Be still my heart. I spent four hours there and only saw the first floor! Which of course means that one day I will have to go back. I was also very snap-happy with the camera...as shown by the 84 pictures I took just at the Field Museum alone. It was a great opportunity to beef up my own wildlife photo reference library for my art. I'll show some more of the museum images in a day or two (they deserve their own post). Also, there are now a handful of paintings left from my show in Seattle available in my etsy shop. New prints are next on my list, so do stay tuned! I do believe the prints of the "Endangered" paintings will be lovely little show-stoppers.

Time for lunch and perhaps more coffee. Have a great day, loves!

Constructing Mother Nature

Thanks to a large book trade-in through Powells, I recently was awarded with nearly $100 worth of book buying credit. Sa-weet. And so, a book buying frenzy ensued. I was able to get a lot of good ones, but by far the *best* one that came in the mail was this gem:

I love animals and nature and taxidermy and natural history museums. So a book entirely devoted to the creation of the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History is sorta like a big cake with ice cream and fudge and sprinkles poured all over it. Yummy.
It's filled to the brim with enlightening text and the most amazing photos of artists and craftsmen constructing the various models and scenes.This guy is living my dream job (only, hopefully it would entail a bit more than painting just bird droppings...).

In other news, I had a dream last night that after 3 years of diligently slaving away on a painting, I finally finished it. And it was the best piece I had ever done. So, naturally, I went to the roller skating rink to celebrate, which is weird because a) I haven't been skating in years, and b) I don't even like roller skating. For some unexplainable reason, I brought the painting with me to the rink and left it on a bench nearby while skating. When I was done skating my heart out, I went to grab my painting and go--only to realize that when I touched the painting's surface, the varnish peeled off, taking the paint with it. I was horrified. The people around me were horrified. I think screaming was involved.

And then I woke up and nervously checked the status of my current works-in-progress to make sure that I had dreamed the whole thing.

Damn. Art nightmares are the *worst*.