Mystery Fungus?? Gall?? What...?

We had a delightful picnic the other day at Watkins Mill State Park, in the deep, cool woods.  This has been an amazing spring...if it were like this every year we would be crowded with people wanting to move here!

After we ate, Joseph read and I sketched...I'd put brown ink in the cartridge of my little Carbon pen, and loved it for its ultra fine nib.  It let me really zero in on the leaf and the strange, colorful bits with their star-like opening--fungus, gall, insect nest?  You tell me!

They reminded me of miniature Earth Star mushrooms...

Trinidad State Park, Colorado - Laura Gillis

Just got back from a nice cool week in Colorado -- It was nice to get away from the heat here in Texas and relax a bit.

We went camping at two of our favorite Colorado state parks - Trinidad Lake, near Trinidad, and Mueller, west of Colorado Springs near Divide. We usually take two days to travel to Mueller -- At home our altitude is just under 1,000 ft. and our camp is at 9,600 ft. so it takes us a bit to adjust.

We got to Trinidad early in the day so I had time for some sketches.... first, was the rabbit brush, the park’s plant of the week. We had a pretty little cottontail come visit our camp but ironically, she showed no interest in the rabbit brush.

The park had lots of grama grass (misspelled in the journal - only one m). I thought it was Black Grama but when I looked in my Colorado flora book, they didn’t list Black Grama but they did list Hairy Grama so that is what I am calling it for now. I will have to see if I can find the difference in one of my other grass books. Either way, I do like grasses. I just need to learn more about how to tell them apart!

A Gamble’s Oak was also in our campsite and covered in galls. When I got to looking, there were several different shapes and sizes both on leaves and on the branches of the tree. I saw one wasp that was very attentive to one particular gall but I never saw the wasp chew on or try to pierce the gall in any way. It seemed to be going around the gall in circles and smelling it. I don’t if maybe the wasp was protecting it by leaving some kind of pheromone or maybe it was getting ready to parasitise the gall. (It is nice to be so easily entertained.... ha!)

The day ended with a full moon over Fishers Peak Mesa that was really spectacular.

There are more sketches to come... I thought I would spread them out a little and not overwhelm everyone with one long post!

All sketches, ink & watercolor on handmade hemp paper.

I've got a lot of gall...

Actually, nature does...in all sizes and shapes. I posted these drawings to my Flickr site the other day and Joan Gillman Smith kindly shared a link telling all about these oddities of nature: http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/galls.html I thought you might enjoy reading about them, too!

These particular ones are all over a small sapling in my side yard. First, I did a careful study--the one at top--and then I decided that quite often a quick gesture sketch works just as well.

You be the judge:

Of course it all depends on how much time you have and what mood you're in. If I have time and am feeling contemplative, I take all the time in the world. If I'm in a rush, I go for the basics--in either case, the act of drawing helps me to pay attention, and to remember...