Sonoran Spring continues at the DBG

That would be the Desert Botanical Garden.  A place I love and try to visit as often as possible.  Spring there is glorious!   (for best viewing of photos, click on them to enlarge, then view as slide show)

A 'hover craft' bee in the wildflower garden.

red globe mallow

View of Papago through blooming desert.

Cholla cactus buds

A Phainopepla (male)

Feathers for the nest, black tailed gnat catcher (I think!)

Texas Mountain Laurel (which smells like grape kool-aid)

My favorite tree at the DBG, a Chlean Palo Verde.

Every branch is covered in yellow sweetness each spring.

The bees favor it too! 

2:30 am

It's 2:30 am, the mocking bird and I cannot sleep.  Perhaps he knows spring is too brief to slumber this cool early morn away.  Plenty of time to escape to dreams when the temperature remains above 100 degrees 24 hours a day, soon. 

As I'm wide awake, I will process and post more of spring's glorious flora, fauna and fabulously clear blue skies... God's gifts to our desert, and I like to think, to me! 

Cholla buds

Ocotillo buds

Ocotillo BUGs ;) (cute little guy!)

Curved-bill thrasher singing in Spring

First cactus flower found this year.

A small field of Coulter's Globe Mallow (not the same as the shrub)

Bee for perspective on size of Coulter's mallow.

Round tail ground squirrel.  I've seen more of these this year than ever before on S. Mt.

My happy trails, on a brilliantly clear day!

Strawberry hedgehog cactus in bloom

Tiny blossoms on unknown wildflower

Westerly view of the Estrella mountain range.

Butterfly

Easterly view toward Four Peaks.

honey bee on globe mallow (bush)

Add caption

Male Gambel's quail.

White Easter Bonnet blooms, very small! 

The First Day of Spring!

In honor of the official first day of spring, here are photos of our glorious blooming Sonoran desert taken over the past week or two.  Here in the desert southwest we have been enjoying spring since late January, when the wildflowers first began to dot the landscape.  For us summer is breathing down springs neck... we are reaching temperatures in the low 80s each afternoon.  So we must enjoy our brief springs to the fullest.  

I have many photos of the spring wild flowers and cactus blooms, so I'll be adding them in stages as I have time to upload. 

Hummingbird in Creosote

I spy a spring cotton tail... and a second!  Can you see both?

Globe Mallow bud

Globe Mallow plant in boulders.

Richly colored orange cups.  :)

Couldn't decide on which photos... ha-ha!

Emory Rock Daisy and Desert bluebell (scorpion weed/phacelia).

Along the trail

Fagonia

Dainty Fagonia

Tiny white bouquets of the Pincushion flower.

Bright yellow Brittle Bush

Brittle bush with a view of distant mountains, so pretty.  Future painting?

Sun worshippers

The Lupine, rare! 

Mexican Gold Poppy

Colored Pencil Birds ~ class update

We've been enjoying a 2 week visit from my father-in-law, but here are a couple more colored pencil birds from the online class I've been working (slowly!) through.  I hope I get to all the lessons before the links expire.  I have a couple more months before that happens, but at the rate I'm progressing, I might miss some. 

The first was done in late February and the rest in March...

Blue Jay

Birds from our yard in my artist journal, mixed media (not part of colored pencil course).

Lilac Breasted Roller

Leghorn Chicken, chosen to learn shading, texture of white birds.

This course has been great; informative, relaxing and enjoyable.  There is a Facebook group where the participants (from all over the country, and even some other countries) can post our completed work and give one another feedback!  Very cool.  I do find working in colored pencil a bit slow and tedious, and I doubt I'll be using it often, but it's great practice in seeing, and working in color that is very useful.  The teacher, Val Webb, does beautiful work that is inspiring.  You can check out her website, classes and artwork here; The Illustrated Garden

Thanks for reading, it would be lovely to receive comments from anyone out there still following along... I'm aware my 'sporadic' posts are not conducive to maintaining followers.  So, I'm very grateful to those who still check in from time to time!  :)  Let me know what types of posts...drawings and art, photos, or pontificating (not much lately!), you enjoy!  Ha ha.

Happy last day of winter, from the land where winter is very brief! 

Up next; more of my blooming desert!


If you are interested in drawing, regardless of whether you've had little, lots or NO experience at all, there are a couple of suggestions I can offer.  Start drawing!  And take advantage of online courses... a FREE one with an excellent teacher has recently begun here;

http://www.strathmoreartist.com/blog-reader/items/id-2014-online-workshops-begin-march-10.html

And another you might want to join is starting soon, it's the concept of keeping an artist's journal (which is whatever you want it to be!) This one requires a payment, but should be excellent as it includes multiple fabulous teachers who will all bring a different aspect and ideas to try.  Here's that link... http://www.sketchbookskool.com/

Birds of Prey

I am still plugging away with the colored pencil online course from Val Webb.  This week I tackled lesson 2, which was to draw a Ferruginous Hawk. 

But the first part of the lesson, covered how to draw the eyes of birds, specifically birds of prey.  Here are the sketches completed practicing assorted eyes.  We were supposed to leave the rest of the bird sketchy...

This was challenging, fun.... and eventually I was itching to get on to the next lessons, since I am behind... so I left his lower neck feathers roughly sketched in.  I am happy with the results!

Information on the class can be found here... Val Webb's Colored Pencil course on birds.

With computer monitor resource photo.

My photo is 'redder' than the actual drawing.. the browns are not as 'rusty'.