Happy Spring

With muck boots on, off I went into the woods that flank the east side of our home.  We always have deer in our front and back yard.  I wanted to see where they live.  This is a good time of year to traverse the woods.... no bugs to speak of and that particular morning was cool enough that I didn't think any snakes would be out.

I photographed the page-in-process as I sat beside the marsh watching a few Little Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets feeding.

All in all, a delightful Sunday morning walk!

Happy Spring!

More Australian Native Flowers

Following on from Alissa's great sketches... here are my ultra quick sketches form Saturdays Spring Sketchabout.(I am afraid that I spend too much time socialising at these events to do a serious sketch!)
I choose two flowers contrasting in size... the gymea lily(as drawn by Alissa) which is approx 30cm/1 foot wide (not 70cm as incorrectly noted in my sketchbook from a field guide that I have) and the other tiny tiny yellow button (only a few millimetres in size)
I also, like Alissa, drew a grass tree...but mine was a 'dead' stump.
I look at my wildflower guide book all the time and what often strikes me when I find them in real life, is how small many of the native flowers in Australia are.

Maple seeds - Elizabeth Smith

Maple seeds, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Here in Florida, spring seems to come early. Samaras are growing on the red maples – those wonderful little pairs of seed and wing that delight the child in us! Some people call them helicopters, and some call them keys; I’m sure there are many other names in different parts of the world for this type of interesting seed dispersing device.

Amazing what can be found on the internet…I didn’t know maple seeds were edible for one!
**Disclaimer: one should ALWAYS confirm edibility and then positively identify the plant or tree before eating.  Even when sure that it is edible (speaking as one with allergies), try only a small amount and wait to see how you will react.**

Samara definition

How to eat maple seeds

NASA’s make a maple seed "helicopter" page

You can click on the image above to view it larger on my Flickr photostream.

~ Elizabeth Smith, Naples, FL, USA

Cypress at Freedom Park - Elizabeth Smith

Cypress at Freedom Park, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Some of you know that I've had big changes in my life, so there hasn't been much time to draw. Thankfully, I can squeeze in some odd minutes here and there - and watercolor pencil is the perfect medium for this!

This is a small swampy area in one of our new parks. I love the way the duckweed carpets the water like apple-green velvet.  A serene spot.

You can click on the image above to view it larger on my Flickr photostream.

~ Elizabeth Smith, Naples, FL USA

Simpson stopper

Simpson stopper, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Simpson’s or Simpson Stopper
Myrcianthes fragrans
Myrtle family

Simpson’s stopper forms a lovely compact small tree or large shrub in (mostly) full sun, which is where mine grows. It’s in fruit right now, heavy branches of berries in all stages from green to orange to red. The berries are said to be edible for humans, as well as favored by wildlife, especially mockingbirds. It’s also a nectar source for butterflies; the long white stamens make the flowers appear like tiny, frothy puffballs. Ethnobotany lore has it that the common name of stopper comes from the “stopping” powers of the leaves used in a treatment for diarrhea.

Simpson’s stopper has two other common names: twinberry and nakedwood. I assume the twinberry refers to the two-berry stems that I noticed on mine, and the nakedwood refers to the exfoliating bark habit. Nakedwood would be my favorite, but there is another Florida tree with the same common name and I dislike confusion. After reading more about the Simpson namesake, though, I’m convinced of its perfection. Charles Torrey Simpson was a self-taught botanist and malacologist (one who studies mollusks), and has been called “the father of all South Florida naturalists.” He first visited Florida in 1881, beginning a love affair with the state that lasted the rest of his life.

My botanical names book states that the genus Myrcianthes refers to the myrtle family. Fragrans is self explanatory: the flowers are quite fragrant and the leaves contain aromatic oils, some say reminiscent of nutmeg. My stopper smells just faintly fragrant, not quite nutmeg-like. It has numerous leathery and glossy medium-green leaves on somewhat stiff stems that range from copper-colored to brownish-gray. The peeling bark is similar to that of ornamental guava. With all of these wonderful traits, you might wonder why I planted it behind the house in a hidden corner. I do. Next time I’ll plant it where I can enjoy it every day!

Click on the image to go to my Flickr site to view larger.

~ Elizabeth Smith
Naples, Florida, USA

Cottonwood Tree

This big old Cottonwood Tree was the first tree I had painted in 5 months after surgery last year. It was fall and the air had that cool cleaness to it. I had been out of the studio for almost 4 months. Finally I wanted to go sketch plein aire so to Martha Lafite's Nature Sanctuary I went.
What a Cottonwood specimen this tree was but I have not done it justice. All I know is after my diagnosis nature has brighter greens and all colors, air is cleaner, the sky is bluer and I don't think I can get upset about much. Funny how your priorities get in order.
My art pulls me through with a healing process when I engage its creativeness. You can tell by the colors how thrilled I was to be able to stand in the woods and sketch/paint this tree. God is good.
For some reason I thought I would share this even though it was a few months back. It is watercolor and approximately 11 X 15". Please excuse the glare on picture glass. Enjoy.......Ricky

"THE NEST"

Well I finally felt well enough to get out today and God was good by giving me this wonderful site. I don't know the real name for the tree but if I was to name it legally I would call it 'Thornicus in the Assicus', or something like that.
But here was the big old nest in the top of this thorn fortress.....WOW! Now how smart are those squirrels who built up there and definitely this was not their first season in the woods..hahaha. Anyway I sat down and went at it. If it hadn't been for the strong breeze it would have been perfect...but.. come to think about it, if you can get out to paint they are all good days. Hallelujah! Can I get a witness on that from somebody out there. hahaha.
This is watercolor with some ink and a whole lot of fun and love thrown in to the process. There is so much healing for me in the process I really wished I could keep going.

Mahogany seedpod, open

The mahogany seedpod opening!

This is the seedpod I sketched last week:
http://naturesketchers.blogspot.com/2009/04/beauty-is-in-eye-of-beholder.html

The brown seed in the foreground has a wing on it, I presume for air travel away from the parent tree. The outer husks were falling off as I sketched and painted this one. Old Florida crafters used to insert a nail in the tip of the pod, and as the pod opened, it stayed together and made a flower-shaped ornament after it fully opened. Squint a bit and you can visualize what it would look like. I haven't seen any of these crafts in years, though.

I found a fascinating video of these pods on the tree from this site:

http://www.arkive.org/big-leaf-mahogany/swietenia-macrophylla/video-09b.html

It's a different species but they look identical (to me, anyway). The video shows how the pods open on the tree, which is pretty cool.

The Gauntlet

There I was 25 feet in the air on my deck and the rain was coming down. It was the Lake of the Ozarks and the Dogwood Festival was in full swing without me. This Shagbark Hickory had caught my eye so what better thing to do when raining than to paint somewhere dry.
It wasn't long before a commotion was going on and some slight whispering was being thrown toward me and the Hickory. It was faint at first and then grew louder. I have learned over the years that it was the trees. The clamor was coming from a nearby Walnut and Oak tree.
By now they were shouting that they were better looking, had smoother lines and was stronger that any old hickory. A question was being hurled as to why I was painting the Shagbark Hickory like it was something special.
Well what could I say and nary did I have a chance to say anything because Mr. Hickory tree interjected with his insults right in the middle of them questioning me.
Minute by minute this grew into a full fledge woodland brawl and I was caught in the middle. I wished I had never come out on this deck to paint.
After their long discussion between them they decided that I should judge who was the best tree in the forest. Since I was an artist they wanted me to paint a picture of each of them and then decide. At this point I wanted to tell them about my ongoing "Tree Troll" series but I didn't dare bring that up!
So I agreed to the competition and judging but with one stipulation. Since I wasn't a fair enough artist they needed to give me a chance to do approximately 500 paintings of their family and then decide from there. Boy, they did not like that and especially when I said there was no time table and I could choose from all the woods in all the country as long it was family.
Well they agreed and I told them that there would be no more fighting because that affects my creative abilities and besides that the creator didn't like it either.
So it got peaceful and I went back to work and here is the end result of the Shagbark Hickory after "The Gauntlet" had been thrown down by Mr Walnut and Mr. Oak tree.
Now some of you may say..."Is he nuts?" but please give your self time and the opening of spirit to connect with nature while out there. I'll guarantee that the voices will come and a oneness will settle over you and nature will show you its most glorious sites, sounds and smell. Have a great time painting.

Turpentine tree

Well here is a sketch of the turpentine tree that the nut from my previous post comes from. Normally, I don’t take much notice of the tree as all I see looking out from the back veranda, where I like to sit and sketch, is the trunk. Actually the first time I realised how big and important the tree is, was when I looked at a google map of my house. The canopy of the tree, which is normally out of my vision, totally fills the backyard from the aerial photo!

The first branch is 6m in the air – I have never seen a green leaf from it...till this week, when we got some down to look at. It was so nice to see how those little nuts are arranged on the tree. I will have to do this again in spring when the flowers are out – naturally I have never seen what the flowers look like – or even been aware that the tree was in flower! My field guide describes them as a mass of creamy ovate petals fused to the globular heads (what a great description of what I am simply referring to as a ‘nut’)

While I was in the garden sketching I tracked down the final frangipani and sketched it on a new page (remember that being in Australia, I am in the opposite season to most of the rest of you) This afternoon, I went to my favourite tearoom and this lone flower (both in my garden and on a new blank page) got incorporated into a wild colourful eclectic journal page inspired by my café surroundings! You can see it here

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Mahogany or West Indies Mahogany is a tree that’s used widely for landscaping in our area. The tree shown was planted about five years ago as a sapling in our industrial area, and its about 25 feet high now. This is the mahogany that was used for furniture and cabinet making, although related species from Honduras, Africa, and New Zealand are used now (I had to research this for a recent cabinetry estimate!). Mahogany was found and logged out of old Florida from tropical hammocks near the Keys.

Last evening I watched as the storm clouds moved in and strong winds loosed the remaining brown leaves as a cool front moved over us. I saved two seedpods, and they’re slowly opening up. I’ve always wanted to document the process, and hopefully I won’t get too sidetracked to finish the series…

This tree has the most wonderful reddish bronze new growth coming out; the leaves are tiny at this point, only ¼ inch long. Otherwise, it looks like it can’t make up its mind about what to wear. There is a fully matured group of green leaflets on the west side of the tree and old dejected seedpods here and there. I don’t know if the leaves persisted from last year and stayed green while the other leaves turned brown and dropped, or if they are new over-achievers. For a young tree, this one has rough scars and a bit of a ratty look. This may not be the prettiest tree on the block right now, but the alien-like seedpods and the new growth are enough for me to enjoy sketching it!

Live Oak

Lately I’ve had a few too many irons in the fire, and haven’t given myself permission to draw or paint much. After receiving an invitation to join Kate’s new nature blog, a part of me decided that posting some older work was quite acceptable. Another part of me took myself outside and just started to paint! So today I hope you enjoy sharing this oak with me.

Here in southwest Florida our spring is subtle but still quite tangible. As I was painting this upper branch, a red-headed woodpecker flitted in the canopy as a nearby gray squirrel scolded me and skittered in the dry leaf litter below. Blue jays performed their little hopping dance; warblers and mockingbirds sang their hearts out. The sun danced through the oak leaves, weaving a carpet of dappled shade. It’s warm, but breezy and dry.

I found a few remnants of acorns to draw; it was a minor crop this year compared to the year before. New leaves are vibrantly green, turning to olive as they mature; they are leathery and tough, designed to survive our spring droughts and the intense summer sun. The waxy upper surface and the curled-under leaf margins help this massive tree conserve water. The delightfully corrugated bark is a lovely combination of cool browns and grays, supporting ferns, lichens, mosses, and air plants.

What a wonderful reconnection for me! Thanks, Kate, for the invitation and the inspiration!

~ Elizabeth