Crab Apple Blossoms

This weekend I went to Prince George, the closest decent sized city to my little town.  It is a bit warmer there and so naturally the plants and trees are a little ahead too.  These are the amazing Crab Apple blossoms I saw there.

Heirloom Strawberry Blossoms

This is a practice study I have been working on in preparation for my botanical illustration, which is due this weekend! Details are very important for this assignment so I have been measuring and dissecting all the little plant parts in an effort to be as accurate as possible.  I forgot to mask out the stamens on the fruit body (the green one) before I painted the rest of it, that is why I make practice pages before I do the good copy.  I still have lots of work to do on the leaves and the roots... still to come.

Heirloom vegetables and plants are really on the come back.  So I was happy to find this lovely variety, "Berri-Basket Rose"with such vibrant pink petals.  I look forward to finding out what the berries taste like.

I am trying to show the flower in three different stages of growth.  Looking forward to getting this one finished and sent off.

Stonecrop, Lichen, & Moss

Today I had an inspiration to do a quick post on the smaller wonders of nature.  I feel that stone crops, lichens and moss are often over looked due to their small size.  However if you take the time to look closley you will discover a world of amazing  exotic colour and textures.  After I am finished my diploma I hope to find some time to dedicate to painting some of these lovely little plants.

I actually took these pictures a few years ago while out for a walk around the wooded area of the Sooke Pot Holes Park in Sooke BC, which is near Victoria.  As you can tell I am a little strapped for time in regards to creating new material to post. My deadline for SBA assignment 9 is looming ahead and the days are flying by!  I do have some very exciting new illustrations to post. As soon as I find the tine to edit and scan them I will post them.

For now I give you the exciting world Lichen and Moss.

Stonecrop is a native succulent plant on Vancouver Island.
This  one is known as Broad Leaved Stonecrop or Sedum spathulifolium.

 This is a type of club lichen, called Lipstick Cladonia or Cladonia macilenta.  The red portions of this lichen are the fruiting bodies.

Awned Hair Cap Moss or Polytrichum piliferum, (my guess, not 100% sure).  This moss happens to be in it's sporophyte stage and is stunning to look at in a large clump due to the bright orange stem it produces.

The Space Oddity by Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield

This post does not have anything to do with illustration, but I felt I must make a post about this incredible video .

This is a video created by Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield  He is actually singing the song Space Oddity by David Bowie on the International Space Station.  He posted this video today as it is his last day in space after a 5 month long mission.

 He is landing back on Earth tomorrow and I hope very much for his safe return. He has posted many other interesting and educational videos during this mission and he has been an inspiration worldwide.  I have to say I will never think of the Canadian Space Agency the same again.

Missing in Action

I cannot believe I have left posting for this long!  I have been snowed under with my current SBA assignment and have been working a lot.  I work on-call so sometimes I have lots of work and other times just a little.  It seems whenever I am particularly behind I get called in a lot.

I have changed my subject for my assignment to the heirloom strawberries instead of the Primula, more on that soon.

It is sunny out here and has been very warm.  It is the strangest thing when it is 24 degrees out but the lake is still frozen!

Indian Paintbrush in Mackenzie last June

A Fox at the gas station.... getting fed by a tourist..... NOT OK .  There is a reason they say "A fed bear is a dead bear" Wild animals are not meant to be fed  by humans it puts them in all sorts of danger. Photo from last June.

A train heading South through the Pine Pass of the Rocky Mountain Trench.  Another photo from last June.

Primula Auricula

Now that I am back and unpacked, it is time to get back to my art.  Currently I am working on assignment 9 out of 12 for my SBA diploma course.  This assignment is to be a classical botanical illustration including magnifications and dissections. I have a month exactly until it is due, which seems like a long time though it is not really when you have to study a plant in this much detail.

The nurseries here are not very well stocked and are not even open for the season yet, so I bought some plants while in Victoria wrapped them up as carefully as I could and then drove them back home.  For a 1200 kilometre drive in the back of a pick up truck they faired alright.  I am known to change my mind numerous times until I settle on a subject, but I am quite certain at this point that the Primula auricula "Chehlais Blue" is the plant I am going to illustrate.

This is a sketchbook page with my first drawing of my Primula auricula  I also drew a Rhododendron and another variety of P. auricula. Primula auricula is a close cousin to the common Primrose that often adorns planters and gardens this time of year.  I have made some notes on the anatomy of the plant as it will help me to stay scientifically accurate.

I'm Back

Hello again, I am back from vacation. I had a lovely time visiting family and friends in Kamloops and Victoria.  Now I am looking forward to getting back to my art and writing new posts.

Here are a few picture from the trip.

Balsam Root in the B.C Grasslands

A recently expired crab on the beach at Mckenzie Bight

My mom and me sitting in the sun on the beach at Dallas Rd.