In which my imagination overpowers my memory, and spring creeps closer.

I wanted to draw still lifes of our dinner preparations, but became demoralized when my salmon turned out to be a cross between a koi and Jack Skellington. So I conjured up a gothic window and filled it with my favorite Shakespearian quote, from Romeo and Juliet. Which, it seems, I remembered incorectly:

Romeo:
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.
Romeo And Juliet Act 2, scene 2, 2-6

I also painted the first flower of the season, a dandelion (I know, exciting, right?) but it looks pretty bad. Instead I give you another sign of spring, although a few overwintered here:

Speaking of spring, has anyone seen the commercial in which a rabbit gets friendly with a jar of peanut butter? And they produce the Reeses peanut butter egg? Never mind the concept of egg-laying bunnies, now I'm wondering what my PB has been up to in the cupboard. Perhaps if I leave chocolate, wafers, and peanut butter alone for long enough, they'll produce Tagalongs. Oh, if only...

In which the author explores visual proofs, eavesdrops on others, and observes gulls

My mom clued me in to the fact that it was a square root day. I can't believe I missed that - I am usally in tune with math related holidays. I celebrated by painting a pretty visual proof. No more links, promise!

I watched kids play at the park while I read and drew. I was amused by a group of girls playing hide and go seek - when one girl was found, she ran away from the seeker, proclaiming "No no, it's hide and go seek tag!" I remember how fluid the rules were when I was a kid, games constantly shifting so that play wouldn't end... and so I wouldn't lose!

Yesterday I met Ryan for lunch. We've met in this park before, to enjoy nice weather, but this time it was just too windy. Instead we sat in my car - not as exciting, but at least we could hear one another.

In which our heroes treat their cabin fever

We have had phenomenally unseasonable weather lately. A few days had temperatures up into the seventies, and we've all been able to go out in short sleeves without looking silly. The warm temperatures had Ryan and I feeling restless last weekend, so we ventured out for happy hour. Conor O'Neil's is an Irish pub in downtown Boulder (oddly enough, their website said Ann Arbor is home to another one). The pints and discounted appetizers were delicious, and it wasn't at all crowded. Mmm, chips and curry.

The marks are from the sketch on the next page - I forgot how pencil rubs off on everything.

The next day we took Kelty hiking on Flagstaff Mountain. We took the trail all the way to the top, passing many people bouldering I took a few minutes to draw this old stone shelter. It may have been built by the CCC, and was the backup location for our wedding. Thankfully we didn't need to use it, as the weather was sunny and 80 degrees the day we got married.

I wanted to watercolor this sketch, but the sun was slipping behind the mountains so I will have to go back to it.

In which the author observes the productivity of others

I was going for a bluprint feel with the lower sketch... don't think it worked out as envisioned. It's been a while since I've used my colored pencils. Watercolor is, amazingly, more portable, and I mostly sketch while out and about.

In which the author plans a trip and experiments with bookbinding

Most readers will probably know that Ryan and I didn't take our honeymoon directly after our wedding. Not because we don't want a honeymoon (any excuse for an exotic vacations is welcome!) but for practical reasons. We'd already taken lots of time off work for our mid-week wedding, we were already flying back to Michigan for the reception, we needed to save some money, etc. But now, nearly half a year later, we have all our ducks in a row and will be going to Costa Rica in March. Hurray!

All the preparations are made. After some trouble with a local travel agent, we booked everything ourselves. I bought a lightweight rainjacket (you know, for the rain forest) that scrunches down very small, and Ryan purchased some convertible pants. We'll be traveling pretty light, but one think I really wanted was a nice sketchbook. Something durable with heavy paper, a keepsake. Well, the best options are quite expensive, and I didn't want some flimsy spiral-bound thing, so I decided to make my own. So, after an extensive search for materials, an exhaustive survey of techniques, and extreme swearing, here it is: my first handbound sketchbook:

I'm quite pleased. The Decorated Journal was invaluble during construction, and Ryan was very patient and helpful. The leather is thicker than recommended, since I wanted the book to be very sturdy. Unfortunately, it doesn't really lay flat on its own - I think because of the rounded spine and stiffness of the dry glue - but I look forward to attempting to correct this next time. The only real problem I have is that it is so fine looking I don't want to mess it up with my crude sketching... :).

Snow on the ground, green in the garden

You may recall that I planted alot of things in my garden last fall. I am proud to report that the cold frames have been a success - the lettuce grows slowly, but it grows. Fresh greens in winter! It's very exciting for me. Even more exciting are the tiny, green sprout I found while cleaning up the garden box. It is garlic! I planted cloves from a bulb of farmer's market garlic, and they are actually sprouting. I am so thrilled.

Finally, a sunny day

Today I met Ryan for lunch at a local park. We picked up sandwiches and decided to enjoy the sunny day, even though the air is still crisp and cold. Weather in Boulder is funny like that; when the sun is out (which is often) you somehow don't notice that it is 25 degrees.

Just after reading an interpretive sign about the role of red-tailed hawks in the ecosystem, I spotted one in a nearby tree. As I crept closer, sketching and intently observing the large bird, it kept turning its head to observe me in turn. I heard a noise behind me, and turned to see two squirrels in a tree who were also curiously watching me sketch.

I have read that the sunlight reflects off the surface of the snow, but warms up the protruding plants and trees. They conduct this heat, which melts a little depression in the snow around them. These grasses caught my eye after lunch, and I sat awhile to draw them and let the sun warm me as well.

You win some, you lose some. This one lost.

...Yeah. I'm pretty displeased with the way this turned out, but it's the only sketch I did on Sunday and the only sketch I've made of our snow. It was going fine until I put in a background (since white snow means little with no background with which to contrast). And now... ugh. It is meant to represent a pine tree and our fence, but I should have stuck to sky blue. It is not necessary to portray the world factually, only truthfully. I did like how the texture of the stump turned out, and the blue snow shadows on the ground.

This painting is a good example of why Moleskine sketchbooks are not suited for watercolor. I guess I just got lucky with my last one, but this sketchbook just won't take water at all. I need to find an alternative, perhaps just a small watercolor block, which I can later bind into a sketchbook. I like having them all in one place, so I can flip through the sketches years from now and remember 2008.

Things that soar

Ryan stopped to check out this sketch while I was painting it. He speculated that some well-meaning person cut the bottom attachments so that the fabric would not blow away/blow the fence down etc. I still think that it will be in tatters before the winter is over - we have a surplus of high winds.

Kingfisher surprise

I remember the first time I saw a Kingfisher - it was during a rafting trip on Idaho's Salmon River. They are such strange birds. I heard this little guy before I saw him, and immediately ID'd him from his distinctive large head. The column in the lower right is one of those bracketing the bridges over Boulder Creek. At night they glow an eerie blue, which always reminds me of the video game Myst.

The Ideal Marketplace used to be the northern limit of the actual city of Boulder. We learned during our house hunt that it remains quite the hip (and expensive) area to live. And indead, it would have been ideal to live within walking distance of The Hungry Toad, one of our favorite pubs. The area is also home to Cronin Jewelers, where we designed and bought our wedding rings.

Shading isn't so hard

The cafe was much more crowded this time, and I was much more self-conscious. I was in an armchair, and too nervous to pull out the watercolor kit. Oh well - a pencil and notebook are inconspicuous enough, and I could use the practice.

Just hold still!

And that's the end of sketchbook #3. I should start ordering them bulk.

She loves that stick

Ryan and I took Kelty for a walk on Saturday. She loves it, and the exercise is good for her - it's good for us, too. With the fence around our backyard getting rebuilt, we've had to keep her inside more than usual and she just has too much energy. Like every dog I've met, she loves running around in the snow, and happily it wears her out quite a bit. "A tired cattle dog is a good cattle dog," as the saying goes.

Public exposure

I spent a few hours yesterday sitting in the Border's Cafe, sketching and reading. I felt comfortable enough to pull out the paints - a big achievement for me. From everything I've read, fear of sketching in public is quite a hurdle to get over. This is a big step for me - the last time I pulled out my sketchbook in a public place was last winter, next to Boulder Creek. A woman walked up to me and proceeded to stare at my drawing and talk at me about the Plight Of The Homeless for ten minutes. My kingdom for a horse! I had to get up and leave - the wigeons just weren't worth it.

I was cautiously pleased with these people (well, my rendering of them, anyway). I had some trouble with my erased spots gunking up the paint, but the girl in green turned out especially well. I wanted to scan the knitting woman before I applied any paint, because the pencil turned out so well.

An eventful week

It seems that at the landmark moments in life, there is no time (or inclination!) to sit down and record my thoughts. Thanksgiving really was nice, in spite of being my first one away from home. It was our first holiday with just us, and while I missed my family, I deeply enjoyed celebrating with Ryan. I get frazzled from time to time when cooking, but the food was fantastic. I culled my recipes from cookbooks and the internet - check them out. Plenty of time now that I am "between jobs."

Rocks. Two of the uncountable millions I've seen this year.

Hm, the perspective on this scene didn't really turn out. The slab was propped up on the smaller rock, slanting away from me. Oh well. By now I am throroughly sick of sketching at Heil - new and interesting subjects are difficult to come by after eight months.

Broken stitching

I had intended to sketch a flicker from a reference book when I got home, but of course it didn't happen. So, for your viewing pleasure... the northern flicker.

Two leaves

i

The weather was so unseasonably nice that I just wanted to lounge in my little patch of sun. These leaves were right at my feet.

Unfinished

It's just as well I had to stop sketching this small store in Hygeine - the perspective is totally off. It would have been really frustrating to attempt to finish.

It really was very windy there on the western face of the hill. After drawing this I moved behind a juniper tree for cover.

I think the log turned out rather well, but it would look much better with watercolor. But I decided to leave it, and appreciate the linework on its own.

Microgreens

Lots of the lettuces have sprouted, as you can see. I wonder if the cold slows down their growth - will they really be ready when the little seed bag says they will? The microgreens are on track, since they get harvested at 1-2" high. Ryan was quite surprised that we eat just the sprouts. I believe microgreens are a trend in fancy restaurants and gourmet markets. I wonder if it is because of some supposed health benefit?

Feel that beat

Yesterday I came down with a nasty cold, and spent most of my Friday off lying in bed and reading. Today I felt just as bad, if not worse, but was determined to go to the pub with Ryan. We can walk there, after all, and they now have live music on Saturday.

It turned out to be a bit of a mistake. The pub is so small that the music was incredibly loud - we couldn't talk while they were playing their jazz/funk/hip hop. I probably shouldn't have had those two pints of 90 Shilling, either, but in all fairness I was trying to drown out some of the noise. The band was pretty decent, in a Jamiroquai kind of way, but I had a raging headache the rest of the night.

I am sparing you the ugly sketch of an older woman with a flower beret who was listening to the band. It was not a flattering drawing.

Cloud watching

It was a warm, windy day, perfect for lying in a field and making shapes out of clouds. Which is exactly what I did during lunch at work today. Sketching the shapes I saw in the clouds proved rather difficult, but I swear this one cloud looked just like Falkor.

Spattering is tough with a waterbrush

I continue to try to perfect my technique for painting rocks. I think the texture affects would be easier and look nice on good watercolor paper, instead of the stiff, shiny Moleskine sketchpaper. And who decided to make it off-white, anyway? My blue skies scan terribly, and my Photoshop skills are pretty rusty.

Heh. Excuses, excuses.

Scurvy free

I am amazed, and very pleased, with how well the cold frames are working. I truly did not expect them to grow plants the first time around; I thought that more adjustments would need to be made. But see! A winter crop of greens, to keep our meals fresh and happy. I only hope more lettuces sprout, and that the spring onions, carrots, and garlic make it through the winter.

Birds are definitely descendents of dinosaurs

I drew my boss on the sly during our Monday morning meeting. He turned out looking much like my grandfather (although does not resemble him in real life.) It was a bit disturbing.

After a long, strenuous morning closing a rogue trail in Gold Hill, we were stopped by a homeowner who lives nearby. He wandered off to talk to Mike, while I stayed in the warm truck and drew his house. It looked nice a cozy. The owner told us that it's for rent, and asked us to spread the word. Any takers?

We spent the second half of the day doing maintenance at Heil. While eating lunch in the truck, a huge flock of turkeys meandered past our truck. They are so odd looking - it felt like a scene from Jurassic Park. I was kicking myself for not having my camera on me.

Ryan alerts me to a strange insect

Tonight Ryan dragged me out to the front porch to see an insect that was on the screen door. I was completely stumped, mostly due to its long, folded wings. Most insects (apart from dragonflies) fold their wings back over their bodies when not in use, but these were spread perpendicular to its body. I made as detailed a sketch as I could (the creature was small and it was dark) and then scoured the internet for an answer. Bugguide.net is rather well laid out, especially if you already have some training in bug classification. Ryan found the answer first: our mystery bug is a "Plume Moth," apparently quite common in this area.

A mysterious bean tree

I am never sure what to make of bean trees. Are they all the same species? This one had hard, round seeds/nuts inside the pod, which is quite different than the filmy long seeds of the trumpet vine in my parent's backyard. I will have to check back at Chataqua next spring, so I can see what the leaves look like. No hardship there - Kelty really enjoyed her long walk in the Foothills, and we enjoyed how worn out she was afterward.

I often get requests to identify this tree or that shrub, and am often forced to admit that I don't know. For one thing, I am still just a naturalist in training. For another, there are a great many ornamental trees and shrubs planted in cities and yards that are not native to the area. They are not generally in guidebooks, my main source of information. For all I know, this bean tree species is originally from China.

Wind and cold repell the brave trailworkers

The wind was truly outrageous, and I was honestly afraid I would lose my balance and be blown off the steep hillside. Added to this it was cold, and the wind knifed right through my many layers. Only when we were driving back to Heil did I notice the ice rimming Lefthand Creek. Gauzy snow clouds passed over us, periodically obscuring the tops of the hills. Only thin flurries reached us at our low elevation.

Gold Hill, but no gold rocks

Gold Hill is a strange little place. An old mining town that has somehow survived, it clings to the very top of a ridge at the end of Sunshine Canyon Road. The town itself has lots of old log homes, and an old inn. Large, modern wooden homes are strung out on the road to Boulder, built by wealthy people who want to get away from it all, but with all modern conveniences intact. The property we were working on was peppered with old mineshafts and logging roads, and had simply fantastic 360 degree views.

Pella experiments

I was trying to paint first and let the ink lies feather out in the damp wash, but I don't the Moleskine paper is suited for such a technique. The watercolor stays wet for about 60 seconds, and doesn't even allow for wet-in-wet painting. I wish I could find such a convenient sketchbook with better paper.

It was gorgeous day at Pella. Half the trail crew was off helping set up voting machines, so we all worked on trimming the trees and willows on the path. As I sat sketching during lunch, two women on horseback rode by. I gave them a friendly nod. They rode by again a little later (our lunches are an hour long, and most of the guys nap a bit) and I heard one woman say "Boy, they sure work hard." Hmph. We work harder than she does, sitting on a saddle and letting the horse do the walking.

The foreground foliage is grass, by the way, not trees.

Found: one shoe, Pearl Street mall

Ryan and I didn't notice the shoe until we sat down at an outside table with our sandwiches. Lots of other people saw it - there was a continuous eddy in the crowds walking the mall.

This violin player was really pretty good. There are lots of buskers on the Pearl Street Mall, with instruments ranging from saxophones to harps to upright pianos, along with the standard acoustic guitar. Sometimes I enjoy the music, but mostly I am simply annoyed at all the people - musical and otherwise - asking for money. I am aware that this is un-liberal of me.

More than just a social trail

Today Mike and I went to a property near Gold Hill, which is in fact on the top of a ridge. We were asked to close a user-created mountain bike trail (no mountain biking is allowed there, although hiking and horseback riding are). I expected just a little social trail, but nooo. These guys built a ramp for jumping over a 20 food pit. They had saw out there, they were cutting and clearing brush from their trail. It pretty much ran straight down the mountain, with horrible erosion, but I kinda have to admire the effort they put into it.

The landscape here is different than at Heil. It's very steep, and the rocks are mostly granite. There are some giant boulders on the exposed ridgeline. Someone, years ago, even mortared some rocks together on the highest point to create a "crow's next" that has an awesome 360 degree view of the area. I want to go back when the light is better and get some pictures.