nature

The Drawing Process – A Manatee

/ still a dreamer / 5 Comments

Does everyone’s drawing process start out the same – with an idea, and some idea of how you want it to look?

In this case, I did a couple preliminary sketches in pen and ink to get a feel for the manatee’s contours, and then went to a full page to do an underlying sketch in pencil. I figured I’d clean it up and proceed with what I had in mind. What you see isn’t that.

Then I realized what I’d had in mind was never going to happen. I decided to start sketching with just one brush and my watercolors and go from there. See what this little manatee wanted.

Letting one’s art or music or writing evolve is, I believe, what creating is all about. I’m not sure why, after all this time, it still surprises me that the result is nothing like what I imagined. Yet I like it.

I often come back and look at the drawing a ridiculous number of times, as if it might disappear, or maybe I never did it at all. But each time I see it, I smile.

It’s always a shade of me I’m still getting to know. Do you know that feeling?

p.s. Also known as sea cows, the manatee is one of the gentlest creatures on the planet, and a threatened or endangered species, depending on their location.

Reaching Out for Love

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

It was a small shop in Easton, PA called The Nature Nook, maybe a decade or so ago. The beautiful craft items were all nature and wildlife themed, but the big attraction for me was the wide variety of lizards and reptiles in the store.

What I immediately liked about these people is how intensively they screened potential purchasers/adopters. They had no qualms about saying `no’ if they didn’t feel you’d be the right home.

I walked around the shop, admiring the incredible beauty of these animals. The shopkeeper walked with me, explaining what each one was, and a bit about them. I was not looking to bring one home, just admiring them, as I love animals.

We came to the cage of a stunning turquoise blue chameleon, and she took him out, handling him gently. I looked at him with soft amazement. He looked back at me, and reached his arms out to me, the universal gesture of wanting to be held.

Still unsure, I asked her, “What does he want?”

“He wants you to hold him,” she said. “He obviously really likes you.”

With some hesitation, I put out my hands, held him under his arms, and drew him closer. He curled up on my chest and closed his eyes. A few tears slid down my face. I was just so honored that this magnificent creature related to me that way.

I didn’t want to ever give him back; he was so sweet. Eventually, of course, I did, feeling terribly guilty that he would have to stay in a cage until a good person came along. But I will be forever grateful for that moment.

That gesture, so simple, reaching out for love with such trust and innocence. We, as humans, are supposed to be at the top of the chain here on Earth. But look at us. Can we not do better? Can we not reach out a little more?

Photo: Alex Cofaru / Shutterstock

Nature Photography Day

/ still a dreamer / 13 Comments

Above, a view from a walking path that parallels the Delaware River in Frenchtown, NJ.

Each year, Nature Photography Day is celebrated on June 15. The NANPA, North American Nature Photography Association, was founded in 1994 to bring together people who shared a passion for photographing the natural world and a belief in its conservation value.

The first Nature Photography Day was established in 2006 to celebrate the organization’s love of nature and photography.

The Spotter

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Charlie is an outstanding bug spotter.

Rather than attack an accidental intruder, he sits nearby and watches, waiting to catch my eye. Word seems to be out among the bugs that if they can make themselves seen, I will surely take them back outside.

Charlie is definitely on board with the effort.

Unlike dogs, who, in the face of a curious bee or wasp will often snap at it or bite it, Charlie simply moves his position, waiting for me to notice the odd little dance going on between him and the six or eight-legger. If Charlie were a dog, I suspect he would be a Pointer.

The Right to Daydream

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

Is it okay to just stare out the window and do nothing for a while?

It’s Memorial Day weekend. Sadly, for all the barbecues, parades, and outdoor activities planned, it’s going to be a complete washout. It’s been raising all day and it will continue through till Tuesday. For myself, I have a couple smaller get-togethers planned, both indoors with friends, and which include coffee.

When I came back home from brunch earlier, I realized I had no desire to do anything. Truly, nothing. I brought my book, a sketchbook, and my phone over to the sofa by the front windows, invited Charlie to come and curl up, and looked out at the rain.

And despite a little scrolling and reading a few pages, that’s what I did — stared out at the rain. I watched the patterns it made in the big puddle at the edge of the sidewalk. I watched a squirrel pop up on my porch railing and eat a walnut he had unearthed from somewhere. I watched the trees swaying in the dark and cloudless sky. It felt good.

With all the things we always have to do or feel compelled to do, are we not entitled to spend some time “doing nothing”? Can we not just let go of all the `shoulds’ that so tightly bind us?

Do we not have the right to daydream?

Here’s hoping, whatever the weekend weather is bringing to you, that you take the time to curl up and look out your window and watch the world go by. Even if only for a little while.