March of the Ents

As I mentioned earlier, last month I spent a day traipsing about the Hoh Rainforest here in WA and got a little snap-happy with the camera.It's such a magical and surreal place, and gave me a lot of inspiration and ideas (as well as way too many reference images for future paintings). What slays me most is that mere minutes away is the beautiful coast as well. So much diversity in my little homeland!Lots of hanging mosses and lichens......tangled tree roots growing over long-dead and decomposed nurse logs......greens in every hue imaginable...

Yup. Pretty neat. I saw many little critters while there, including some of my favorite invertebrates to doodle:And though I saw a few native Douglas squirrels about, not too many were albinos with fabric collars...
Happy weekend, gang!

Zombie Blog

Good gravy.

I had absolutely no intention of taking such a long blog land siesta. There's been so much going on 'round here this summer, plus a lot of settling into a routine (or trying to, at least) that I just haven't had a lot of spare time. But, zombie blog, I hereby resurrect thee! Live! Live, damn you!

So, what have I been up to as of late? Well, for starters, there have been a few lovely little day and overnight trips to local wonders. For the first time, I took a day trip to the nearby Hoh Rainforest and it was...incredible. It was actually very hard for me to leave. It's such a surreal, majestic, and eery place. I can't believe I've lived in Washington all my life and never been there until now! I spend a lot of time at the coast, but I always forget that the Rainforest is just a few hours away.I took so many photos that I'll need to devote an entire blog post to them.

My 26th birthday (eek!) was way back in June and I spent it with my dear mom up at Mt. Rainier for an overnight trip. It was wonderfully relaxing and inspiring, and there was so much wildlife out and about--I even saw 4 foxes and a sweet litter of fox kits! The mountain can be rather unpredictable, especially in the spring months, so I only glimpsed the summit briefly on the second day but never got a good shot of it (though, on clear days, I'm lucky enough to see it from where I live).

I loved how moody the various mountain peaks looked in between the dark clouds and fog... There are so many gorgeous hikes up there as well. The streams and rivers were gushing with the spring snow melts.

I'm also still busily volunteering at the wildlife shelter. There's never a dull day there! I've handled everything from bald eagles and barred owls, to coyote pups and weasels, baby hummingbirds and blue herons, fauns and raccoon kits, and so many baby birds that I now have their constant calls for food permanently etched in my brain. I wish I had pictures of all the animals I feed and take care of there, but it's always so busy that there's never any time to grab the camera.

As with any rehab shelter, there's always the sad cases mixed in with the good (thankfully, more good than sad). My favorite juvenile bald eagle I fondly and secretly named Sir Charles had to be put down last month due to his wing injury (he had originally fallen from his nest in the wild), which was very sad indeed. He was a feisty character, with a very holier-than-thou attitude and I still kinda miss the dude. But on the other hand, a baby Rufous hummingbird I helped rehab was released a week ago and I couldn't be more thrilled and proud (hummingbirds generally have a pretty poor success rate).

Speaking of hummingbirds, last month I completed on a wedding invite commission donning the little buggers. I don't normally tackle commissions (largely due to time constraints and there's just way too many less-than-fond memories from my graphic design days) but this one was for a very dear friend who probably gives me more creative freedom than I deserve when it comes to these sorts of things.

I do love how these turned out. I went pretty crazy with the insides, which were also custom drawn and custom lettered with all of the reception details.

In other news, I'm still busily plowing through science and math prep courses for my Environmental Science major. It's exciting, interesting, fresh and new--and I love when I'm able to combine both my art background and expertise with my newly found science path. Drawing lab specimens is a helluva lot of fun.

Now that I've been able to sort of settle into a routine a bit better, I'm digging into the sketchbook a lot more and slowly getting back into the paints. I'm rather embarrassed I don't have a fully finished painting to share yet, but I'm hoping to remedy that soon! And I *do* have a new batch of original sketch brooches that I'm terribly excited about. Today I had a little photoshoot with the "Aviary Collection", as I've been dubbing them, and I think they may be my favorites to date.

Inspired by natural history museum collections, each one is a labor of love and dons an original drawing, red velvet ribbon, fabric snippets, gold enamel edges, 30s newspaper on the back, and even a miniature handwritten tea-dyed specimen identification tag that can be left on or easily removed as you fancy. They also each come in small decorative gift boxes.
The amount of time I put into these is borderline ridiculous, but I love them each so much (the turkey vulture and egret are my faves). Each one will run $25 and will be available in the shop on Monday!I think it's high time I work out some painting details. Thank you for sticking with my uneventful blog, gang! I'll try to be better about the updates. :)

Nature Portals

Well, Spring has sprung in these parts but I'm heading back into Winter tomorrow. I'll be flying out to Chicago for the weekend to show my support for a very dear little brother of mine, who just graduated from navy boot camp. So, away with the skirts and up with the thermals and wool socks!

My shop will remain open, but any purchases between now and the 21st will be shipped upon my return.

There are two places that I'm really really hoping to see in Chicago, and they are (of course) the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. I can't wait! Last month, I tripped around the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, WA and spent a probably unhealthy amount of time staring at fish and anemones. I don't think I ever even made it to the elephants.

Oh, and the meerkats too, of course. Good thing there was a thick wall of glass between us or else he would have mysteriously made his way home with me. This sly fellow is up to something, me thinks...

Though it's been slow going, I'm currently working out the details on a few paintings. I've also been spending a lot of time sketching and doodling away in my current sketchbook.

...My favorite Cousteau quote.
When I return, I'll be putting a handful of paintings in the shop from my most recent show at Bluebottle Gallery. And...perhaps a giveaway of one of the paintings? We shall see! Have a very delightful week, everyone! I'll see you soon!