The Summer Solstice. What's on my mind?

When it's late and you're tired, but you really want to journal because you have these thoughts running around in your head, but you know you are not going to spend much time or effort on the page, do it anyway because tomorrow you will be happy that you did. 

I started with the Facebook question: What's on your mind?

As I was putzing around in the garden today, I almost stepped on a garter snake. As it quickly slithered away, I wondered what he would find to eat in the small garden. I looked it up on the webber-net. Apparently, he'll eat just about anything that will fit into his mouth: slugs, worms, lizards, ants, crickets, minnows, rodents, and amphibians including frog eggs. No lizards or minnows in the garden, but I'm sure he'll find what's on rest of the menu without a problem.

Don't know why I keep thinking about cattails. Maybe it is to help me remember when their "Fluffy Season" starts. Typha latifolia: "typha" from the Latin word meaning "marsh", that is where the word "typhoid" comes from and "latifolia" means wide leaf. And now you know. 

Early the other morning as I took a quick look out the window, I noticed a beautiful train of clouds coming from the west. The ones closest to me were highest in the sky, they were also the largest, tallest, and darkest. As the clouds trailed back (down) towards the horizon, they flattened out, looked smaller, and you couldn't see as much darkness on their undersides. Cumulus humilis or Cumulus fractus (smaller and scattered): "cumulus" comes from the Latin word "heap", "humilis" from the word that means "of small size", and "fractus" from "frangere" for "break".

Check out the "Cloud of the Month" at the "Cloud Appreciation Society" here. 

Just recording images from the day:

Breakfast Blooms: Art and Oatmeal with Blueberries: Sweet Williams

You know, when it's early in the morning and you are at the breakfast table enjoying a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, there is really no pressure to achieve anything grandiose in your sketchbook. 

I guess I missed this page back when I was doing Breakfast Blooms. Thought I would finished up the project!

I brought the watercolors to the table this morning. ProArt 60 lbs. sketchbook.

When drawn separately, the florets look like little butterflies. Sharpie Ultra Fine Pen.

Just a fun morning doodle page!

More Breakfast Blooms:

What can YOU do with celery?

This month is Yummy Science at the North Museum. Today we played with our food printing with celery, lemons, apples, and a pear. The body of this fish was completely painted with a piece of cut celery! I used a brush to fill in the face, fins, and tail. (Acrylic paint in ProArt Sketchbook 60 lbs with watercolor background.)

Detail of Tail:

You can actually see the xylem of the celery stalk in the red print. 

More Fish Tales:

Art and Oatmeal with Georgia Blueberries: A Fishy Tale

While down at Climber's Run last Saturday, my nature journaling friend, Carol, painted a lovely rainbow trout with watercolors. I hadn't painted a fish in quite a while, so she inspired me to do one! Of course, hers looks perfect enough to be in a field guide! My fish are, well how should I put this, "different" as are my birds and my dinosaurs and my ____ (you can fill in the blank).

This turned out to be more involved than I had planned, way to much for just one bowl of oatmeal! The page had to be worked on during lunch.

The page was done with watercolors and Sharpie Ultra Fine Pen. There are a few sparkly bits that are iridescent watercolors. Those iridescent paints are from a very old Terry Madden watercolor set that my husband bought used on Ebay years ago. 

End of tail!

For more Fishy Tales:

Botany Notes from June 8 2016: Partridge Berry

The Forest Flower Twins: Partridge Berry

Today in District Township, we saw Mitchella repens with beautiful twin white flowers, little pink flower buds, and last year's shiny red fruits - all on the same vine!

Linnaeus name this plant after his friend, Dr. John Mitchell, who discovered a method for treating yellow fever. "Repens" reflects its trailing or creeping habit. This woody shrub is in the Madder Family and doesn't grow taller than 2 inches.

The twin flowers share a common calyx covered with fine hairs. Each flower has 4 white petals. The two flowers produce a single fruit with 2 "eyes". The leaves are paired oppositely on the stem and have a pale yellow midrib.

The journal page has an oil pastel and watercolor resist border and a watercolor background. The leaves, buds, and berries are watercolor and Sharpie Ultra Fine Pen. The flowers are white oil pastel resist outlined with Pentel Brush Pen and white and grey acrylic paint added.

More Nature Journaling:

Art and Oatmeal with Georgia Blueberries: Adding shimmer and sparkle to yesterday's journal page

Climber's Run Picnic in the Preserve. A little time to journal before painting with the kiddos. It was hot and humid, the air shimmering through the trees. The predicted storms never appeared and not a raindrop fell.

Just painted with watercolors and added a few Sharpie lines. Decided to punch in up this morning! Added text and Tombow marker, Inktense Pencil, Posca White, Twinkling H20s, etc., etc.

Going for the "I don't think I can put any more on this page" look. Or you can just call it "Play".

Not the way most people nature journal! Loved the yellow Spatterdock down in the pond. Added Sparkly marker to the water because - Why not? 

I think the sparkle in the grass must be some iridescent paint that was in my travel watercolor kit. The Cattail seeds were ready to fly!

Conk Conk-er-reeeeee! the Red-winged Black Bird sang his song.

Water Lilies:

Pink Water Lilies and Flipping Lily Pads

Beautiful evening to sit by the lake and sketch. Sunny and breezy. The gusts flipped the lily pads up. It was fun to watch. The movement was most animal like.

Nature Journaling buddies, Francine and Carol, capturing the landscape at Hopewell Lake, French Creek State Park, in their sketchbooks.

There were fishermen, kayakers, picnickers. Several bird species including a Mamma Mallard and her two ducklings. The pink Water Lilies slowly closed as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky. 

Watercolor and Sharpie Ultra Fine Pen sketch in Strathmore Mixed Media 500 Series journal.

More Lily Pads:

Car Art: Don't eat the Poison Pie!

I found these lovelies in the mushroom guide, Destroying Angel, Deadly Galerina, and Poison Pie. I thought they would make a fun journal page. Sharpie Ultra Fine pen, watercolors, and Prismacolor Verithin Colored Pencils.

And the last page that was actually done in the car on the last trip to Connecticut, is this Jack-in-the-Pulpit. You can see a line coming off of the leaf at the top of the page. That happened when we went over a bumpity-bump. Sharpie Ultra Fine pen, watercolors, and Prismacolor Verithin Colored Pencils.

More Car Art from the same trip:

Some of my favorite things:

Car Art: More from the Roadtrip to Connecticut: Skittlebird

This was going to be a Starling but I was in a color mood. Some one said it looked like the candy Skittles, so I will call it a Skittlebird. 

I had a bird guide in the car so that is what I used for a reference. I hadn't really planned on the candy colors, it just sort of happened. I had my watercolor field set, Verithin colored pencils, Derwent Inktense pencils, and of course, Sharpie Ultra fine pen in my travel "activity bag" as I like to call it. What am I? Like 5 years old? An "activity bag"? Doesn't matter! I never leave home without it!

More Car Art:

More Birds:

More Runaway Colors:

Some of my favorite things: