We have Northern flickers in our yard and everything about them is loud, even their feathers. Here’s a flicker feather up close.
Flicker feather up close: SMM
Lighting up winter nights: LAPC
Last February I was happy to see the Central Oregon Light Art exhibition lighting up winter nights in Bend. Oregon WinterFest has food, beer, and music like other events, but it’s also a showcase for artists. I have photographed the Fire Pit Competition (one of my favorite events!) and the Ice Sculpture Competition in the past. Central Oregon Light Art was added in 2019. I was surprised and impressed with what I saw this year.
This one looked nice in the daylight but look at how it changes at night.
Columbine pictures and Haiku: Friday Flowers
Delicate flowers
Suspended from slender stems
Chime in pastel tones
Friday Flowers
Hops reaching for the sky: MWM & Wordless Wednesday
Barn Owl Up Close: A Photo a Week Challenge
Here’s a look at a barn owl up close. They are such an interesting looking owl. Their white facial discs and undersides contrast with cinnamon colored head, back, and upperwings. An elegant bird with a worldwide distribution.
A Photo a Week Challenge – Anything
Art at the Amphitheater in Bend
When I walk my dog in the Old Mill district, I always smile when I see the art at the amphitheater. The Les Schwab Amphitheater is the main venue for large events in Bend, Oregon. Minneapolis artist, Erin Sayer, painted the crow on one side of the stage and the owl on the other.
Fellow Minneapolis artist, Yuya Negishi, assisted her. Yuya painted a dragon mural on the side of a building across the river and another mural on a staircase.
Baby Scrub Jay in Pine: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Hampton in Oregon: Monochrome Monday
Monochrome Monday
Yellow flowers with petals radiating -Tanka: LAPC
A single flower
With petals radiating
Captures warm sunlight
To share on overcast days
Illuminating us all
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – One single flower
All about Purple sage: Friday Flowers
You may have heard of this plant referred to in the classic western, Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. But did you know purple sage is not actually in the sagebrush family? It’s a type of sage in the mint family, Lamiaceae, and one of its common names is “mint sage.” If you crush the leaves in your hand you’ll be able to tell why.
I’ve seen purple sage, Salvia dorrii, in various high desert locations in eastern Oregon. Gray Butte, just northeast of Smith Rock, is a great place to see this native shrub in full bloom.
A circle of light: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Placer Mine, High Desert Museum: Monochrome Monday
Monochrome Monday
Wandering the roads of Utah: LAPC
The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week is the long and winding road. Wandering the roads of Utah a few years ago, we saw many picturesque roads.
The Mt. Carmel Tunnel in Zion National Park.
Winding dirt roads bordering the canyons in Canyonlands National Park.
Utah State Route 95 curves down towards the Hite Bridge in Lake Powell.
Continue readingPrairie falcon pen-and-ink: First Friday Art
It’s already First Friday again! Today I’m sharing a prairie falcon pen-and-ink drawing I created. This drawing shows their dark “armpit” marking. That’s one of the ways to distinguish them from peregrine falcons.
Here are a couple glimpses of a prairie falcon flying high above the 9,734 foot peak of Steens Mountain in Oregon.
Share artwork you or someone else created with the First Friday Art tag.
Happy Friday!
Ahead of the curve: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Many shades of obsidian: Weekend Challenge
There are many shades of obsidian in nature. The Weekend Challenge from GC and SueW, and their monthly color challenge for June, is the color Obsidian.
By coincidence, I was out in the yard yesterday morning rearranging some of the obsidian I’ve collected at nearby Glass Buttes. Here in Bend, Oregon, we recently had a huge storm with high winds, rain, and hail. My rocks all had a nice bath. 😉
Here are few portraits of obsidian rocks in my garden.
A piece of black obsidian in with the ice plants. I like to pick up pieces that have interesting textures.
Here’s a larger piece of black obsidian tucked in under the mint plants.
Chive Blossom up close: Macro Monday
Here’s a view of a chive blossom up close in my garden. We have a bumper crop this year!
Macro Monday
Bryce Canyon before the storm: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Layered bark of junipers: Monochrome Monday
Monochrome Monday
Rainbow of soft colors in my garden: LAPC
Right now I have a rainbow of soft colors in my garden. Many plants are blooming in the high desert.
This lupine has delicate shades of purple and peach on the same plant.
My purple sage shrub started blooming last week. This plant is a member of the mint family. If you crush the leaves you’ll get what some refer to as a “mildly intoxicating minty aroma.”
This a sweet little carnation with dusty green foliage and small blossoms in varying shades of pink.
Dragon Door of the Dark Hedges: Thursday Doors
Isn’t this dragon door spectacular? It’s a beautiful work of art with an interesting story behind it.
Do you recognize the tree-lined road in the photos below? This road, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is featured in the Game of Thrones television series.
Do you see the big stump on the left? Four of the 245-year old beech trees fell in windstorms over the last few years. The reclaimed wood was used to create several doors. The dragon door is one of ten doors installed in pubs and hotels in Northern Ireland. Each door represents a scene from season six of Game of Thrones. You can download a Journey of the Doors passport and collect stamps as you visit the location of each door.
Continue readingResidents of the Range: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
My Mount St. Helens Adventure: FOWC
On May 18, 1980, a trip to help band golden eagles at the Yakima Canyon in eastern Washington turned into an unexpected Mount St. Helens adventure.
The adventure begins
I was part of the Young Adult Conservation Corps, working for the Washington Department of Game in Olympia, Washington. We spent most of our time in the office, but we took occasional field trips. One of the wildlife biologists invited four of us to help him band eagles and we were excited to get out in the field.
We piled into John’s Volkswagen van and took off for eastern Washington. John suggested stopping at Crab Creek Habitat Management Area, 20 minutes south of Royal City, to do a little birdwatching before driving south to meet the biologist. We stopped and saw yellow-headed blackbirds, cinnamon teal and other kinds of ducks, a short-eared owl, and two Virginia rails with a newly hatched chick.
I like rocks!: LAPC
The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week is Pastimes so I immediately thought of rocks. I have always collected them.
Here’s a still life of rocks in my collection. Some we found, some were purchased, and others were gifts.
A couple of weeks ago we visited Glass Buttes, one of my favorite places. Yes, there are several types of obsidian in this haul, but I also picked up ones that looked cool. I like the large one in the upper left in particular.
I try to incorporate the rocks we find at various locations into our landscaping. Here’s a few around a cholla cactus I started from a single “leaf.”
First lupine of spring: Floral Friday
Congestion in Diamond, Oregon: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Wolfe Ranch root cellar: Monochrome Monday
Wolfe Ranch root cellar at Arches National Park, Utah. This ranch was settled in 1888 by John Wolfe and his oldest son.
Monochrome Monday
Mother’s Day thoughts – Koala & joey drawing
Sending good Mother’s Day thoughts your way.
The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.
Audrey Hepburn
Making the cut-Capitol Reef National Park: LAPC
The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week is cropping the shot. I’m sharing before and after images taken at Capitol Reef National Park near Torrey, Utah. These pictures show examples of making the cut to highlight the subject matter.
Sometimes you want to cut a road out of the picture so you can focus on the scenery. I loved the layered land forms at this park.
Vista House: Views of the Columbia
A unique landmark
Vista House is a unique landmark sitting high above the Columbia River about a half hour east of Portland, Oregon. Perched atop Crown Point, 733 feet above the Columbia River, this site serves as a rest stop and observatory for people traveling the Historic Columbia River Highway.
Assistant Highway Engineer Samuel Lancaster was the supervisor of the Columbia River Highway project in 1913. It was his idea to offer a place that would make the natural wonders of the Columbia River Gorge more accessible to visitors. Lancaster thought Crown Point would be an ideal site for “an observatory from which the view both up and down the Columbia could be viewed in silent communion with the infinite.”
Continue readingDoe a deer, a female deer: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Clover up close at Glass Buttes: SMM
Last week we visited Glass Buttes to collect obsidian and many wildflowers were in full bloom. Here is a clover up close.
Wet and Wild Otters Haiku: LAPC
Wet and wild otters
Grateful for their liquid world
Tread into its depths
Gliding silently
Steering with slender rudders
In a search for bliss
Feather on scratchboard: First Friday Art
Here is a crow feather on scratchboard I created long ago in a scientific illustration course.
On the first Friday of every month, the city of Bend usually hosts an art walk through the galleries in town. The galleries serve snacks and drinks and highlight local artists. Since the First Friday event is not happening this month, I thought I would share a piece of my own art.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? You can include a First Friday Art tag on your post.
A cow with character: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Cypress spurge up close: SMM
This pretty plant is the first to bloom in my garden in the spring. The tiny flower of cypress spurge is framed by bright yellow bracts.
From different perspectives: LAPC
I am trying to take a look at things at home from different perspectives.
The western juniper trees are always ready to be photographed from a distance or close up.
My juniper muse from the ground up.
Ripples and layers.
Sharp-shinned hawk cooling its jets: WWE #24
This sharp-shinned hawk was either cooling its jets because it was overheated or it was pretending to be a piece of yard art to lure in an unsuspecting songbird. 😉 It stood in my backyard creek for a LONG time!
Hart Mountain in celebration of Earth Day: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
