Iris Leaves in Coil Basketry

At a crafts guilds fair, I saw a woman making baskets from natural materials. I got inspired to make some baskets. Here is the start of a coiled basket made with plant material from my garden--Iris leaves, vinca vines, and stems from rosemary (for a lovely scent). Unfortunately, it's not the right time of year to collect Iris leaves. The ones I used here were from last year and are very weathered from being on the ground all winter. At the end of summer or fall I will collect some more Iris leaves and see about doing some basketry work with them.

History of Plants

Plants have moved through the world through the fabric of human society. Sociology shows us how and why people create communities, move on, interact either violently or cooperatively, and ultimately create an environment where humans thrive. Perhaps a good term might be sociobotany to describe the way that humans have sought after plants, often for profit, sometimes to death. I am interested in the history of plants within human society. For instance, this capsicum is one of the chile peppers developed from native South American plants. 600 years ago Europeans sent out huge exploratory ships trying to find alternative routes to the spice islands and Asian spice regions. Piper nigrum, common black pepper, was a cherished and necessary spice in early European society, both for flavoring and for making stored meats and foods edible for longer periods. The first expeditions, a la Columbus, made their way to South and Central America regions and they did NOT find black pepper, or cinnamon, or any of the other economically important spices. What they did find was chile peppers, potatoes, a cinnamon-like plant, tomatoes, corn, and many other horticultural finds that quickly made it into culinary traditions of many lands throughout the world. The chile peppers, especially, were adopted in Asia and Southeast Asia. Today, Asia is the greatest producer of some types of chile peppers and it seems as if the hot pepper has always been part of that region of the world. This chile pepper is the jalapeno, a cultivar of Capsicum annuum. What medium do you think it is? Graphite? Ink wash? Black watercolor? It is done 100 percent digitally in Photoshop.

Desert and Prairie

Desert and prairie plants fulfill a unique niche. People often think of a desert as devoid of life, however life abounds in even the harshest desert conditions. Plants, insects, small animals, as well as their predators, such as hawks, vultures, coyotes or foxes. Most of these living things have created unique survival strategies and are well-worth studying to understand their behaviors. This watercolor painting shows the abundance of the plant life found in desert/prairie areas.

Native Seeds

Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge is a local nature reserve. It is in the process of being rehabilitated from the military arms manufatury. It is a Superfund site, one that was called a "nature preserve" mainly because it is too toxic to reclaim for residential or even commercial use. The dumpsites and radiation areas are well covered up, sent to underground disposal areas. The site is being returned to a natural environment. Buffalo have been brought back and are thriving. Eagles are nesting and many other types of birds, animals, insects, fish are being returned to the area. Part of the rehab is to exterminate the invasive species plants and reseed with native plants. The nature preserve is open to visitors and there are trails that go through parts of the preserve. On a recent visit, a volunteer was collecting seeds from the four wing salt bush. This native plant is prevalent in prairie areas and volunteers will help to spread the seeds of this shrub and other native plants to far reaches of the preserve to help bring back the native environment.

Watching the Grass Grow

This cheat grass (Bromus tectorum) is one of the first grasses to start growing in the Spring here in Denver. And it is the first one to go to seed as early as May. This is because it is not a native plant. It is an invasive grass that has become the most common plant in Denver alleys and along byways. It is crowding out the native grasses. Cheat grass differs from the native grasses in that it goes to seed twice a year. The native plants seed out in the fall, but cheat grass seeds out in the spring and again in the fall. This gives it an edge over the hardy native grasses, which typically are extremely diverse in species. Now there is mostly cheat grass wherever you see grasses greening up in the alleys. Yes, it is spring and the green is coming back. Sap is rising all around and I, too, hope to get some energy back as the weather warms up.

Watching the Beans Grow

Most life processes are not visible to us. Yet, seeing how plants grow is one of the most fascinating things for me. I love to watch time-lapse images of plants sprouting, growing, moving. To see it happen is like watching a dance. I don't have the techno equipment to follow a bean plant as it grows, but I did do the low-tech, second grade science project of placing a broad bean seed inside a glass cup with some water. For this one, I logged and sketched it as it grew. Then I created this pen and ink illustration of the seed rooting and sprouting. I did this drawing to accompany a children's science article that I wrote about the growth process of seeds. Doesn't it look like a creepy little SF alien? Feed me, Seymour.

History of Watercolor Painting

Painting is an ancient practice. Watercolor painting likely graced the walls of paleolithic caves in Europe. After all, mixing colored pigments with water is a simple process. Watercolor paints were used in creating manuscripts as early as Egyptian times, but especially in the illuminated manuscripts of the European Middle Ages. Watercolor paints, as we know them, owe their formula to painters during the Northern Renaissance who experimented with binders and mediums for painting. Thus watercolor as an art medium begins roughly at the time of the Renaissance. Albrecht Durer (1471–1528), a German Northern Renaissance artist, who painted several fine botanical, wildlife, and landscape watercolors, is considered one of the earliest watercolor artists.

Native Insects

There's no question that sustaining native plants is important. But when you connect it to the state of native insects, the presence and health of native plants becomes critical. Many insects have evolved to survive by eating only the plants in their native environments. When the number of native plants is reduced by invasive plants or by introducing non-native species as in gardening, the availability of edible plants for some insects is also reduced. This accounts for the reduction of numbers of diverse species in some areas. Killing off or driving off large numbers of native insects may have dire results for an ecosystem.

Mixed Mice

Love the little miceys! Pen and ink drawings.

Narcissus bulb and roots

This is a narcissus (paperwhites) bulb with its shoot at the top and the first row of prop roots descending. Sometimes simple graphite drawings are pleasant to work on in the evenings after the day is done. Cozy up under a blanket and let the pencil flow over the smooth paper.