Pretend it's fall.

It's been a very busy summer. I hope to be able to give updates on everything soon!


In the meantime, I just had to share this lovely view from a walk at Fontenelle Forest yesterday. The morning temperature was in the 50s. I know that won't last, but it was a reminder that there is an end in sight to the heat. Fall is on its way!

Enjoy the beauty of the day, wherever you happen to be.

Snow Crystals

When I was little, I dreamed of living in a cabin I had seen in a photo, surrounded by snow, fireplace smoke coming out of the chimney, and a peaceful landscape all around. In south Louisiana, snow was a rare event.

While I am not living in that cabin, I do get to see snow here in Nebraska. And when the weather conditions are just right, as they were this morning, the snow crystals are stunning.

The first photo is simply sunlight reflecting off the snow. Note the symmetry! I could not see this on the screen as I took the photo. All I could see was a glint. What a beautiful surprise!

sunlight reflecting on snow

The next photo shows a sectored plate. You can see most of it in the bottom center of the photo. The snow crystal's branches are fairly thick and pointed. This was revealed as I pushed back some snow that had accumulated on a wooden deck.

Here, a real beauty: a stellar dendrite. Note the side branches on each arm of the snow crystal.

Yet another lovely snow crystal. This one was melting as I took the picture.

All of these snow crystals form at a fairly narrow range of atmospheric conditions. Not every snowfall in Nebraska produces these. I am so happy I was able to grab a camera, kneel down in some snow, and share this beauty with you.

If you keep your eyes and heart open, the world is rich with beauty.

Snow Day and Materials Testing

The sun came out today! Even though it is still cold outside, the Groundhog Day Storm is over.

I made sure to soak up the rays. The warmth felt good!

Plates of orange-buttermilk scones welcomed my family when they finished shoveling out. Lots of coffee and tea, too.

I am finding my graphite watersoluble pencils, in combination with a travel sized waterbrush, to be indispensable items for my sketch kit. As I work with them more and more, I am really drawn to the range of values I can achieve, in spite of the water. Also, it gives a painterly look to my value studies. Here is one I tried today:

On the right is a hawk that I see frequently at Fontenelle Nature Center. I omitted his cage from the sketch. He is injured, and I think he cannot be released into the wild. But he is stunningly beautiful. (So is his next door neighbor, the Barred Owl). This is a quick value study I did from a photo I took last week.

On the left is a previous composition sketch of cattails in a snowbank.

The new raptor exhibit out there is looking great. I can't wait for it to open.

Climate Books

One of the books that was in my exhibit at the Livingston Parish library in Louisiana last year was a little book I titled, "Climate Change: A Moving Tale." In it, I contrasted the difference in climate between the Northwestern U. S. and Louisiana, since I found it to be such a physical shock moving from one to the other.

I revisited this format again. Since once again, we've made a major climactic move, I came up with "Climate Change II" to show the differences between Louisiana and Nebraska.

I used data from the National Weather Service website to show average temperature highs and lows, and I came up with an average daylength for each month using data from the U. S. Naval Observatory website. Each little book has one city on one side of the paper, and the other city on the opposite.

October in Nebraska is beautiful. I was surprised to see that we are getting almost an extra hour of daylight each day, when compared to Louisiana. I expected the temperatures to be vastly different, and they are... there is almost a 15 degree difference in average daily highs for this month.

The form of these books is the same as the Thanksgiving book I showed on this blog last year. It is still one of my favorites, and is made from a single sheet of paper. It tumbles around when opened, and represents the unsettled, turbulent feeling of moving a great distance.