It's Begun!

Monarch on Joe Pye

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison) 

click on image for a larger view

Late yesterday afternoon I was taking a photograph of this female Monarch butterfly on the Joe Pye weed next to the studio deck...somewhere in the back of my mind was the question - "When will the migration begin?  I believe it must be getting close."

"Valley Shadows and Clouds"

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison) 

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A bit later I noticed the clouds moving in with an intermittent breeze.  It felt like a front moving through.  I was distracted and spent some time looking skyward and photographing the landscape out front.  On my way back into the studio I noticed several Monarchs in the yard acting as if they were "gathering"; was a roost in the making?!!!

"The Roost Begins!"

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison) 

click on image for a larger view 

 

We actually had a roost in the yard - it wasn't a record breaker, like back in 2005 but it was a good first roost especially looking back the past 5 years here.

 

"A Small Roost"

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison) 

click on image for a larger view 

I could count 46 individuals; there were a few moving around so there certainly could have been more...tough counting these guys when they aren't totally settled in.

 

It's begun!  Lets hope for a good year for Monarchs in North America - and a safe winter ahead!

 

 

Plein Air Exhibition at The Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji

 "Lone Bale at First Light"

oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

(Given the "PA Brown Best In Show" Award)

I guess I'd better update the results of the plein air painting exhibition I participated in during the last week - I will admit that I was extremely nervous about doing this and a bit overwhelmed with the results at the exhibition opening reception last night!

 "Wooded Lane No.1"

oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

(Given the "Judge's Choice Award")

 

I was very pleased/surprised to be awarded "Best of Show" and also one of the three "Judge's Choice" Awards.  My favorite painting of the two had already been purchased when Georgie and I arrived about 10 minutes after the start of the evening!  A double bonus right!!!  Can't complain about that :)

 

My favorite of the two was the "Wooded Lane No.1", this is a newer Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation area purchase not too far from the studio...maybe about 10 miles as-the-crow-flies.  When I made the decision to enter the exhibit I knew where my first destination would be!  This was a first for me...I usually do farmscapes or at least somewhat more open or expansive landscapes.  This was really an intimate piece - I can still hear the birds while I was there; no people to distract me - very calm and beautiful.

The second painting was a morning work (the first an afternoon time frame) and surprise, surprise - a hay bale!! Ha!  OK, about 20 percent pf my paintings and photos seem to have hay bales in them...I can't help myself! :)  I created this early morning - as soon as the fog lifted and the sun appeared - then the work began.

These are not easy for me.  I once was at a dinner with world class artists and an old "hero" bird artist of mine, Roger Tory Peterson was speaking.  One statement he said surprised me...I was young and naive...he said he always felt like he was sweating blood - stressed when creating a painting.  I couldn't see it but I've come to understand now.

I can't work magic but if I plan and work hard, I can at least be satisfied...well "some of the time"!  Hey, life's a crap shoot at best some times, right?!  Just do the best you can...if you don't care about what you're doing - drop it and move on to something you can get passionate about.

Thank you for stopping by - have a great total eclipse!!!

 

 

 

 

Mid August Already?!!

"Valley Anvil" - oil painting

© Bruce A. Morrison

 

OK, this is really getting ridiculous!  It can't already possibly be mid August; someone greased the skids and we're just not slowing down!

 

I had a small canvas on the easel since late July and kept getting called away from it.  Well I finally finished the piece "Valley Anvil" last week and have gone on to other business calling my attention.  The small painting (I nearly always work smaller 6X8", 9X12" and 12X16") because I'm not getting any younger and my attention span is showing it!

 

The past few days I tried desperately to find time to squeeze in a couple plein air paintings for an exhibit tonight at the Pearson Lakes Art Center at Okoboji, IA.  I did the first painting at an area recently purchased by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, that I hadn't been to before - and really liked it!  I'll have to go again...make it a frequent location if I can.  

 

The second painting was my perennial favorite subject (hay bales)...thankfully a few farmers out there are pretty busy this time of the year and you can almost always find bales that have yet to be picked up and taken away!  I singled out a lone bale and made a morning of painting it.

I'll post these plein air pieces when I can after the exhibit's opening tonight.

Thank you for checking in; I'll do my best to be a bit more punctual the remainder of the summer and coming fall...but if things would just slow down!

 

 

July Was Good...On To August!

 Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

I've been pressed to keep up with the progression of plants in the prairie pasture.  I know I've missed things, life gets in the way, but here are a few things from July.

 Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Culver's Root  (Veronicastrum virginicum)

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Showy tick-trefoil (Desmodium canadense)  

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) 

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) 

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) 

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Big Bluestem in Morning Dew

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Canada Milk Vetch (Astragalus canadensis)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 False Gromwell (Onosmodium molle)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

 Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

 Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Narrow-leafed Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison 

There is change in the prairie here...nothing new, its just that we're seeing the end seasons approaching...the mid summer prairie plants, though still offering pollen to many interested bees and butterflies, are passing their peak "glory" and most are now forming seed heads.  

Last night I found the very first Dotted Liatris, Prairie Onion and False Boneset blooms of this new season; things will be progressing more quickly than I'd like now - the prairie bloom periods never last long enough for me!

I found a resting Monarch settling in for the night on some field goldenrod and a skipper feeding on some common milkweed; several small Bumble Bees still taking advantage of the Wild Bergamot's remaining blooms and a male Western Meadowhawk Dragonfly cruising the upper story of grasses and forbs.  I have yet to watch a Robber Fly, a Katydid or an Argiope this summer, and the Argiope spiders have been very scarce for two or three years now...a concern.

This is a bittersweet season, for when it comes and the flaming magenta and riotous yellows wow the senses - it seems to finish as quickly as it started.  Ah, but isn't that the way of things!?  One can never take something so special for granted.

Still...looking forward to what August has to offer!