Happy Valentine's Day! from Pam Johnson Brickell

To all my 'Sisters' of the heart and all my art 'Sisters and Brothers'... Happy Valentines Day!

It was glorious here today.  A tad chilly this morning but by 11 a.m. all I needed was a sweater vest as my jacket. It was breezy but soooooo sunny.  This was our day off and we played outside as much as we could. While Rob practiced hitting golf balls on the range I took a walk with my plein air purse to sketch 'The Sisters' once again. This time plein air and this time for me :)  At 2:30 it was 70 degrees!!

I hope love has, in some way, touched your heart today :)

Garden Clippings - Pam Johnson Brickell

Garden Clippings
Originally uploaded by PJBee

Clippings from our NY home flower bed. The house sold this past week. A bitter sweet time.

More  blogged here.

Skullcap & Out of Practice - Pam Johnson Brickell

Skullcap & Out of Practice
Originally uploaded by PJBee

In April, I discovered my first Skullcap. A delicate mass of blooms upon a single stem. I snipped the top off of one stem and took it home to sketch.

I was pleased with the sketch and waited (not patiently) for time to add words.

I am saddened that last week I did not honor the sketch and take my time with the calligraphy. My spacing is all wrong and the 'P' is totally lost behind the stem and leaf.

I must put the frustration involved with moving aside and get back to my meditative calligraphic self. I hate when I rush and dishonor the gift of art.

Shades of Green - Carolyn Pappas

Since it has been really hot outside (an understatement), I made these sketches over the course of multiple days and then I painted them inside. One of the things I love about spring is that the greens are all so different when everything starts budding. In the summer I think most leaves are a very similar shade of green, but I tried to change up my greens a little bit in these pictures.

Cabbage palm - Elizabeth Smith

Cabbage palm, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

I had a sunny Saturday hour sketching at Freedom Park in Naples, Florida. Very enjoyable! This is one of the plantings along the pathway, which winds through several different habitats, including wetlands. What is amazing is that the park is sandwiched between developments and roadways, but still has such a wild feel.

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

January Low Country Day - Pam Johnson Brickell

It has been such an unusually long, cold winter in the low country that I've not done any plein air journaling in several weeks.  In my semi-frustration with the weather (can't get too frustrated when I see what the rest of the country is experiencing) I decided the bleak winter landscaped must offer something that would spark my interest.  The camera was put into my pocket


We drove the golf cart (sides down of course - the dogs hate the cold) up to the golf course.  Rob headed to the practice green, the dogs and I made our way down to the boardwalk trail.  The swamp is so dismal this time of year.  I beefed up the colors :)

Song birds were flitting about in the wooded area before the swamp.  Titmouse, Carolina Wrens, Cardinals, and very quick Warblers.  I 'pished' for a bit to see if any birds would come in closer but, as good as the dogs were, my feathered friends decided to ignore me.

A little farther down the boardwalk I happened to catch site of a wee bird landing on top of a nearby dead tree.  It climbed around to the back side and as I made my way along the boardwalk I was able to see it quickly duck into a hole.  I never did see the entire bird again.  It was busy making room in its new nest.  I'm thinking it's a Brown-headed Nuthatch but I'll need to visit the trail again to confirm.

I usually see Resurrection Ferns growing on Live Oak branches, but lately I've noticed they will grow in the most amazing places.  Today I saw them on a dead tree that still had some bark left on it.  The bark was moss laden and the fern was starting to dry up.  If I went back today, I'd see it 'resurrected' in full glory.  We've had lots of rain... just what it requires to come back to life.

Swamp-Lily, A Last Hurrah - Pam Johnson Brickell

Last week my friend, Kate, called to say she saw a flower off in the woods and thought it was something special. It sure was! A Swamp-Lily! Also known as String-Lily, Crinum americanum L.

A few days later, I was able to go take a look at it. The weather was threatening but, I did manage to make an ink sketch of it in my journal.  Then it started to sprinkle so I took a photograph, and off the the shelter of my car I went!  I painted the ink drawing from my reference photo.

I was a bit dismayed, as I didn't leave much room for the flower names......... ah well.

I call this 'A Last Hurrah' as the lily's bloom time is from June to October.  I saw quite a few plants around the area, but all had long since bloomed.  It's in the amaryllis family. A real beauty and uncommon in SC, though it can be found in the southern coastal area of the state.  That's us :)

Spanish needles - Elizabeth Smith

Spanish needles, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Spanish needles, Aster family

Hated by hikers and gardeners, beloved by butterflies

Right now these scruffy wildflowers (or weeds) are growing and blooming like crazy. The butterflies are feasting! They’re also setting seed, those troublesome little slivers with hooks on the end that hitchhike onto our sneakers, socks, cuffs, and pets. I read that one plant can produce 1250 of these seeds! Once one plant gets a foothold in your garden, it seems they show up forever after. They’re still attractive to me; they are survivors and cheery-looking, and anything that attracts so many butterflies can’t be all bad.

Click on the image above to view larger on my Flickr photostream page.

~ Elizabeth Smith
Naples, Florida, USA

Golden dewdrop--Elizabeth Smith

Golden dewdrop, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Golden dewdrop
Verbena family

This lovely shrub is blooming right now in southwest Florida. Once thought to be native to the Florida Keys, this status is questionable and newer references label it as a probable introduced ornamental. I bought this plant years ago to attract birds, bees, and butterflies, and to add it to my other native plantings. Oh well…the birds do like the berries, and a mockingbird nested there earlier this year. The foliage is very dense now, and the older woody branches develop thorns in the leaf axils; a perfect hideaway for birds!

The Duranta part of the scientific name refers to an Italian physician of the 16th century, Castor Durante, who also studied botany and published herbals. The species name repens means “spreading.” It does have beautifully spreading and arching branches; it’s a very graceful plant. As I browse the web further to learn more, I’m a bit saddened to see that it’s become an invasive exotic in Australia.

Click on the image to go to my Flickr photostream in order to see it larger.

~ Elizabeth Smith
Naples, Florida, USA

The Building of a Journal Page--Pam Johnson Brickell

On Sunday I sketched two plants that I'd seen plenty of times when living in Western NY, but had never taken time to sit and study them. I left room for plant names only to discover that I forgot to pack my wildflower guide book!!!!!!!! Arguhhhhhh!

Lucky for me, that a blogging friend, Carol, came to my rescue. It was driving me crazy that I might have to wait a few more weeks to find the answer!

Keeping this craziness in mind....... does anyone know what plant this is? Suggestions so far are loosestrife or abutilon families, but when I google this info, none of the images match my specimen. The flowers hang down and are single. I'm thinking that perhaps the 'lantern' type structure grows more after the flower dies...... but then, I could be all wet :) The plant is growing right beside the Nightshade and Jewelweed, next to a creek, full sun, western NY.

Gulf Fritillary caterpillar and passionvine

Gulf Fritillary caterpillar and passionvine, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Gulf fritillary and passionvine

In my yard there are numerous volunteer native passionvines, hiding themselves in shrubs and surreptitiously climbing trees. They aren’t very large; the leaves are maybe 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide if pressed flat. I think this is one of the corky-stemmed passionvines, Passiflora suberosa (the older part of the stem bases become woody, but with a cork-like appearance and texture). The flower is a nondescript pale yellow to green miniature version of the showy purple or red passion flower with which most people are familiar. No blooms now, but there are plenty of tattered and bite-ridden leaves.

The guilty party is the caterpillar of one of our beautiful longwing butterflies, the Gulf Fritillary. I found this striking caterpillar toward the end of his larval stage. He was about 1 ¼ inch long (3.2 cm), and created a chrysalis that is about 1 inch (2.5 cm). You can read more about the Gulf Fritillary here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Fritillary

I hope that I’ll be able to sketch him when he emerges.

Click on the image to access larger sizes on my Flickr page.

~ Elizabeth Smith
Naples, FL, USA

Rickys Caricature Bird Friends

Caricature Birds_edited-1
Originally uploaded by Ricky Holtman

We all have dumb friends and these are some of mine. I found these youngsters in the woods this morning. Flying and looking good just wasn't there best suit YET! All I had was folded paper in my pocket to draw on so that's the reason for the cartoons.
No great lessons here except that fun stage of life we all go through....every creature of God's, one time in our life. They were so loud also.....no manners yet.

Sketchbook Entry

Sketchbook pages - Cynthia Padilla

Technique: Loose watercolor wash over pen & ink.

Product: Koh i Nor stackable watercolor wheel.