Coneflower and Sunflower

Here is a drawing done late summer of a couple blooms on the prairie over at the park.  There are  a couple of the Downy Sunflower, and one also of a coneflower, maybe the sweet conflower. The best way to really see these is to draw 'em they say. Starting in the spring, with the indigo and spiderwart, until the late fall, there is never a shortage of subjects like these.

Old Pottery

        It was the mid 1960's; we were living in Colorado Springs.

        That is where the Van Briggle Art Pottery originated, though in the '60s they were in their original location, I believe on Uinta on the east side of I-25. The place is now an historical landmark I understand. Then they were later and for many years in the old rail road round house at W Cimarron and 21^st St. I think now they may be at another newer location.

        But in those "middle years" of the business, our mother, Joyce, was fascinated by the story of its beginnings and by the mystique of the premises. We were all at one time or another, escorted by Mom on a tour of the business. It was on such an excursion that this small piece became one of Mother's prized possessions. It is called a Triple Cornucopia Blue Vase, an original design by the company, done in one of their glazes.  Supposedly ancient glazes which were originally rediscovered by the founder, Artis Van Briggle. 

       When Grandmother Ruth passed away last year much of the stuff that traveled with Dad through dozens of moves was still in the house. That included things that were either useful, valuable or precious to Joyce, his first wife, or Ruth his second.

       When we bought the "dime store" flowers we stuck them into the same green modeling clay that had been in the vase since the '60s.

       There is an interesting article on Wikipedia about the history of the company and the original glazes as well as the building. 

     

the Burr Oaks

     So there are these  two trees south of the Wetlands river bend trail,down the slow slope that drops suddenly into the "Wakkie" river.  Though I have been this way several times it was no surprise to me that I had not noticed them before.

     The summer leaves are fallen; many covering the path under my feet, nearly unrecognizable. But the oaks are hanging on, so it is a good time of year to spot all the oaks in the wood. Yet even now as I stand sketching, a leaf here and a leaf there come floating across my vision. Maybe a slight shift in the weather has inspired a bit more preparation on their part for the winter sure to come. You can see a couple of the leaves here, hanging tight on the top of a skinny sapling. Biding its time for years before it gets an honest shot at the full sun. 

     In the summer these oaks may stand out in the upper canopy, as they often turn their heavy leaves over to show the lighter underside.

     As the note says it was noon last Tuesday when this was drawn; with pencil in the 7" x 9" Canson 

98 pound paper.

     And then there is this old tree. Suffering some from its age- probably quite a bit older than I at my 70 years. Done on our recent stop at Rebok's in Inver Grove Heights  On these hills as well as the river bottoms of Kansas, you find the Burr oaks to be a dominant oak. They suggest to me more than any other tree the mid-evil forests of Europe- broad topped, knarled and heavy.  This is another pencil drawing in the same pad as above.

     

Lawrence Nature Trail

        It was probably spring when I last made it to the opposite corner of town for a walk on this trail.  I had been hoping to make it up there in time to see the hickories in their fall color but doesn't always happen the way you want.  Now all the trees are bare of leaves except, as Robert Frost put it, "for those the oak is keeping to send them scraping and creeping out over the crusted snow." 

        I did however find the start of another trail on the east end of a rocky ridge that runs east and west through the center of the park.  I had seen the west end of this trial, but never taken it for lack of time or whatever.  It is not as well used as the other trails.  So I took this new discovery down to the very south valley of the park; though once again for lack of time I left more trail below still to explore.

        This drawing was done just after I cut off on the east end of this "new" trail. At first it cuts closer to the property to the south, which is visible through the bare trees. I had never seen this view before.

         Done in the same 7" x 9" pad as the previous drawing. Again also it was sketched in pencil and then finished up later with a couple ink pens. My original intention was to finish the trunks of the trees as dark as they were in real life, with the backlighting of the midday sun. Seemed to me though, as I worked on the drawing that the effect of the thin dark vertical lines of the trees was something that should not be obscured; it ties the entire drawing together pretty well.

        

Lone Star wheelhouse

           We made what should have been a quick pit stop after crossing the Mississippi at the Quad Cities. Well, after finding the Visitor Center down town along the river, we ended up at this museum to check out the only surviving wooden hulled Western Rivers style paddle wheel steamer that still exists.
           I started this sketch after Mom had already started for the car. For someone who spent some time himself working on the Kaw River in Kansas, this old tow boat that had been used for years in sand dredging operations on the Mississippi, this was quite a find.
           Done on 7" x 9" Canson 98# paper. It took me until today for things to settle down enough to finish the inking of what originally was a pencil sketch.

Spring secret

Do you recognize this plant?

Well I did not either; it took me about 2 or 3 months to figure out what it was. I don't think it's in the same genus as the Jack-in-the-pulpit so that didn't help with the ID. I found several Jack-in-the-pulpit 

but only two or three of

 these gentlemen.

They call it the Green Dragon.

 This one was down on the mud trail east of Mary's lake. It has a very unusual arrangement, as well as name. It is however, similar in many respects to the Jack-in-the-pulpit though less showy. You can see the stange and simple flower  rising between the plants.

Hard to read the notes on the photo but appears to have been drawn in May. 

5x9 inch format.

2 sketches

Here are a couple sketches from our recent travels.

The first is from our time in Wisconsin, where we were helping with the remodel at a friend's house. 

This second sketch was done yesterday while standing at Dorothy's front window.

 The ladies were at a hair appointment and left me home alone! So I had time to edit these two sketches but waited till now to post them.

 I think it is a 9 by 7 sketchpad.

I will probably finish them up a bit in ink sometime later and post them again so you can see the difference...