SKETCHING ON WHIDBEY ISLAND

Fading brown blossoms

Withstanding cold wet winters

 Dry withering shapes

Yesterday, I collected a few leftover blossoms from the shrubs and plants along the side of the road while on my morning walk.  These scraggly faded flowers have lost their colorful luster of summer and now  stand dry in shades of brown and gold.  They are fragile and snap off their dead stems and branches when picked.   With their lustrous colors of summer gone, their  beauty has not disappeared but instead blends into the subtle landscape colors of nearby native evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs.

(I may have finally written a successful 5 7 5 syllable haiku.  Let me know if I need improvement.   Thank you.)

It has been one of those darn frustrating days I find myself working on  an art project and then discover I should have reviewed the important part of the project before beginning it.    Remember the standard rule:   measure twice then cut!  Oh sigh.

It took me two days to paint with watercolors a few small sketches on hot press w.c. paper:  An agate, shamrock, and a blue robin’s egg shell I collected while on several walks; and a heron that I observed while taking photo shots of water birds along the lagoon trail..  Since the sketches were of nature,  the idea of adding some haiku for each sketch was born.   So it took another day carefully arranging words in 3 lines relating to each sketch in what I thought was Haiku form.

According to ancient Japanese haiku standards there are 3 lines: First line contains 5 syllables; second 7; and third 5, with a total of 17 syllables.   The painting project was completed so I enthusiastically went forward with the haiku expression using what I thought to be the haiku style, 7 5 7 with a total of 19 syllables not knowing I had reversed the numbers.

The next part of the project was taking several photo shots of the finished project using my camera and scanner then after over 30 attempts finally produced a somewhat acceptable copy to share on my W.P. post.  “Thank goodness, finally it’s completed and ready.”  “First better do some checking on spelling of haiku” and that’s when I discovered half my day just went down the drain!

Not letting this failure get the best of me, I decided to post the project even with the broken rule in haiku.   Even still, I enjoyed the challenge of arranging words to form a meaningful expression with words relating to my sketches.  I will definitely do this again using the correct form.  This was my first attempt creating haiku so please advise me with your critique.

I love the colors the earth offers us during our gray, cold and damp winters on the island; even the earth offers a mixture of enjoyable fragrances to complement the winter scene.  The grasses remain a washed out mixture of light greens, ochres  and umbers in the open fields.  Most common bushes surrounding the open fields on the island are the white winter berry and Nootka rose bushes full of rose hips and deep red wine branches at this time of the year.  From a distance these bushes contrast against the dark evergreens and other shrubs creating a striking scene.  In this painting, a group of tall alder trees are growing in the distance further behind the mass of rose bushes.  The catkins on the higher branches of the alder are slowly forming on the branches of the alder  turning  a mass of mauve.

On the same day I walked my neighborhood roads, several of the Gold Crowned Kinglets were hopping along the road picking up any speck of food they could find.  They are a very small brown bird with a yellow cap on their head, almost invisible on the ground.  They are unafraid of humans, vehicles and animals.  I can walk within a foot of them while they remain busy collecting seeds and scraps; often times, I have nearly stepped on one while it was hopping along collecting its scraps.

There is also a Red Crown Kinglet that I have never seen in our area until the same day of this walk!   It was a thrill; its crown was a brilliant bright red….oh, how I wished I had my camera since I was able to follow the bird to my driveway before it flew to the near salal bushes.  It was my treasure for the day.

BRRRR, the  unusually  windy and icy cold winter day walk along the shoreline at a beach on Whidbey Island discouraged me from my usual 2 mile stretch.  So I turned back and walked to a warm cabin to enjoy a warm blazing fire in the wood stove and enjoy the wildlife activity from a nearby window.

Looking out at the choppy steel waters my eye caught the marine ducks trying to catch a meal deep in the wild dark salty waters.    So, I grabbed the binoculars to observe the interesting activity of the Pacific Sea Gull and Surf Scoter.  The Surf Scoter was seriously focused on deep sea diving to grab a fish or other marine life for its daily meal.  While the Pacific Sea Gull was stocking very close to the scoter waiting for an opportunity to  grab the specimen before the scoter quickly consumed the catch.  The sea gull was so near the scoter, I thought it would soon attack it for the live fish or sea animal.

Further in the distance was a lone Pacific Loon diving under the water surface bringing up its catch from the deep water.  It struggled with the fish on the water surface before it was able to manipulate it at an angle to slip down the loon’s esophagus; then down the loon went for more goodies.   I think loons are not social birds.  I always see the Pacific Loon alone on the salt water searching for food but never near another loon.  Loons mobility is more successful on the water or in the air.  Their legs are further back on their bodies which makes it difficult for them to walk on land.

Sea gulls can be very aggressive birds in obtaining food from other birds, or their own kind  crying a variety of loud calls to attract other sea gulls to the scene.   I have observed them to attack a variety of birds during all the seasons; the crows have learned to be very cautious of them and will fly when gulls behave aggressively.  But, when a gull spots an eagle silently gliding toward a fresh sea food item the sea gulls are gathered around, they will suddenly scatter.  That’s when we look for the eagle arriving like a quick jet for its prey.

Even with the few minutes of observering the marine birds on the Puget Sound waters three days ago, I gained so much pleasure and knowledge of their activities; now I share those moments with those whom browse my journal.

The brilliant red berries have been decorative since late summer on the Hawthorne trees growing in the scrub on an empty field in our neighborhood.   I walk by these trees almost every day while on my neighborhood stroll, observing  the seasonal birds with their busy activities in the trees.   Perched on a branch or flying from one branch to another pecking at bugs, seeds and the bright red plump berries hanging from the branches.

As the season matures, the leaves wither losing their color then leave the branches of the Hawthorne trees but the berries remain firm to the bare branches as they turn a deep burnt red.   Mostly the winter robins and flickers are attracted to the winter berries left on the stark gnarly dark branches for their main food supply.  The summer and fall foods have diminished during the cold, gray, wet and dormant months and they need a high powered carbohydrate food to keep them warm and active.  They are there everyday harvesting as many berries that their beaks can hold before competing birds get to the berries first.  Now, only a few really dark berries remain on the bare branches.

The young trees plus the overly mature trees now covered with thick lichen standout against the dark evergreens growing at the edge of the field.  The rugged old trees with the lichen clinging to the trunks and branches will eventually decay, break apart and fall to the ground creating cover and nests for the small birds in the spring.

The young trees are fast growers; next spring their leaves will appear, small birds will hide in the mass of leaves,  build their nests and sing again to attract mates plus bring joy to still and quiet listeners.  Again, the trees will bear fruit painting spring colors to the native flora and attract the wild fauna.

The early morning frost covered the green grass creating sparkly silver green blades; old cedar fence post covered with a blanket of crusty frost, even the lichen living on the fence posts looked stiff and cold; clinging frost to the old rusty barbwire where a few Oregon Juncos and robins perched warming their small bodies in the bright sunshine.  The lone road was striking in appearance with the brilliant sun rays shining adjacent to the shadows from the tall evergreens.

The early morning walk was exciting  as I observed how nature changed the landscape overnight but it was also cold to my outer extremities not covered with protection from the cold.   The walk soon ended back in my warm comfortable house where I could see the cold outdoors from  inside the windows.

“The Oregon Junco quickly takes a short hop on the large mushroom to get a “bird’s eye view” of the black beetle as it transverses a fallen leaf  during its escape to safety beneath the shade of moist decaying leaf debris under the mushroom.  Possibly the beetle will  be successful on its escape to safety due to its size and undesirable taste.  The shy and quiet wild jack rabbit is nearby happily nibbling away on the short green grass and weeds all the while watching the Junco’s morning actions.”  

Mushrooms have surged from the ground through the downed decaying leaves, twigs, weeds and debris this fall.  They can be seen growing, almost over night, along side the road under the overhanging branches of the tall evergreens.    The varieties were plentiful  each having its own shape, size, color plus some being very scary and appearing to be highly toxic.  I have never disciplined myself to learn the botanical names of all the mushrooms growing in the area where I live…so I am unable to  identify this particular one.

The above large mushroom  was at least six inches in diameter growing near the road where I take my morning walks.  Its appearance inspired my thoughts to what the scene might be later during the day when humans and vehicles are not disturbing the resident wildlife.

Last Sunday was one of those days with high soft clouds and the sun filtering through for a soft bright day.   It was warm, no rain or wind blowing so I packed up my art tools and drove over to Hammon’s Preserve  to sketch Cultus Bay.  I sat on a bench located at a higher level of the preserve giving me a terrific view of the wild grasses, old rugged apple trees covered with lichen  and bright red apples.  Most of the apples have ripened beyond their peak and dropped in the tall gold grass for the deer and wild animals to enjoy.  The deer had already harvested the lower apples from the trees.

First I just sat on the bench in the warm sun taking in the fresh fragrance of the earth while enjoying the view.  Then I started on the sketch with a soft graphite pencil onto sketching paper.   When I was in my small studio, I did a final sketch of the scene using a Fantasia Sanquine oil pencil onto tinted art paper.  Well the Sanguine was too light with little contrast on the tinted paper, so then I used General’s Charcoal which covered over the oil pencil perfectly to bring out the dark values.

The early fall came in like a sea hawk with a few days of rain and wind the previous week.  The early strong winds always bring a change in weather.  So today it was clear sunny and crisp cool weather causing people to clothe themselves with warmer garments.  I challenged the weather by walking the beach on the eastern shores on Whidbey where the steep bulkheads are covered with wild brush, sturdy evergreen and alder trees, a small waterfall and lots of beach erioson.   Some of these tree roots had given up holding on to the bank crashing down on the beach from the stormy winter weather beating against the steep bulkheads.

When I started on my 1 1/2 mile hike along the shoreline, I was able to pass between the fallen trees and the tide line.  Being aware of the rising tide I didn’t walk further around the point concerned that I might be caught and unable to get by the fallen trees.   I turned around just in time because the tide had risen 12 inches and I could no longer walk around the large log since it was now in the water.   So I had to do a crab crawl under several fallen alder and evergreen trees and crawl over a large log to get through a difficult area on the beach.

It was a great walk with some small challenges along the way….loved it.

Creating journals, sketchbooks, notes, cards or any creative attempt using paper is one of my favorite art projects.  This mini journal is an compilation of my watercolor painted scenes that still exist on my island.   And, since there are still many lovely spots that have not been ruined by the increase of population, I’ll be painting and creating my own journals until I can no longer paint.  This journal is in the accordion fold or Japanese fold so it can stand on its own for display.   I just completed this project but it still needs  front/back covers which is the most difficult part of these projects since they need to be the introduction and relate to the inside contents.