All of my paintings feature only Ozark pigments I’ve collected by hand and processed into watercolor paints.
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I’ve been working on a Green Dragon drawing for the cover of NANPS’s summer issue of Blazing Star. There will be another of the spathe and spadix to do next. That one will be used in the article. Here’s the photograph I worked from. I used more than one photo because I didn’t have a …
Today I took a little hike after feeding the horses. I was on a mission to collect moss and lichen-covered branches. These are just some of the things the Wild Ozark Nature Farm produces. And that’s how a nature farm works. I didn’t plant seeds, or till, or do anything at all to grow these …
It was 12* F as the sun came up over the mountain yesterday morning. I headed outside to feed the animals, and freezing fingers were in the forecast. When I fed the horses, I walked across the creek to check to see if they needed more hay yet. They did. Anytime is a good time …
Freezing Fingers for Nature Art – Photos, Bringing Hay to Horses on an Icy Morning Read More »
Sometimes it takes a thing ending to spark renewed efforts to find new beginnings. Endings One of our little shops in town closed its doors abruptly this weekend. The owner has tried to make a successful business of it, but that’s a hard thing to do in a town with a population of only 500 …
Grapevine & Insect Observation Nature Journal entry from Day 9. About this journal entry On Day 9 of my daily journaling stint, I didn’t feel like getting off of the porch and I wondered if I could find something nearby to draw and journal about. Well, I found a good topic, but it was hard …
Acorn on Weathered Stick Nature Journal entry from Day 8. About this journal entry On Day 8 of my daily journaling stint, I couldn’t help reflecting on the sounds of trees dying in the distance. Chainsaws and crashing punctuated the otherwise peaceful land. I really dislike the amount of logging that happens around …
Want a Workshop Close to You? If you’d like to host, or know somewhere good to have a workshop, get in touch. I’m willing to travel within 50 miles of Kingston, AR for groups of at least 10. Cost is $25/participant and I bring all the supplies with me, including the glue guns. For farther …
Christmas Fern About this journal entry On Day 7 of my daily journaling stint, I decided to draw the Christmas fern. These ferns are often present in good ginseng habitat. So it’s known as a companion plant, or indicator plant, but I like it just because it stays green and pretty even through the …
Lobelia inflata in Late Summer About this journal entry Lobelia inflata is one of my most treasured wild-crafted herbs. It grows around us here like a “weed”, and most would never think it to be a useful plant. It’s not very decorative or interesting to the average person. The seeds are invaluable in my …
Little Orange Mushroom About this journal entry It’s amazing how quickly an hour flies by when you are trying unsuccessfully to figure out how to do something. On another note, I’m finding that it is getting harder to focus on the experience rather than the quality of my drawing. This mushroom didn’t meet my …
Ground Cherry About this Entry The inklings of trouble is starting to reveal itself already. “This one will be much easier,” I thought as I settled on a subject for today’s entry. It is all mostly green, with hardly any other colors to try and incorporate. Right. About the Wild Ozark Nature Journal Get …
My granddaughter stayed the night with us last night and today I thought we could make some twig art together. She wanted us to make a bride and groom Forest Folk pair, so we went outside to gather some botanicals. We picked up some gumballs from the sweet gum tree out front, along with a …
Sycamore Leaf About the Wild Ozark Nature Journal I’m slowly scanning my nature journal entries and adding them to this blog. Some of you may have already seen these, because I started this a few years ago and then let it get lost among the other things I am trying to do. Now I’m …
Asters Hanging Down About the Wild Ozark Nature Journal I’m slowly scanning my nature journal entries and adding them to this blog. Some of you may have already seen these, because I started this a few years ago and then let it get lost among the other things I am trying to do. Now …
Day 1: Leaf and Rock About the Wild Ozark Nature Journal I’m slowly scanning my nature journal entries and adding them to this blog. Some of you may have already seen these, because I started this a few years ago and then let it get lost among the other things I am trying to …
Yesterday I posted about cleaning the native clay and the test firing I planned to do once they dried out enough. I’m too impatient. I should have waited another day, maybe even longer because the clay was pretty wet when I first worked the little ball and circle. They exploded to smithereens almost as soon …
Test Firing the Native Clay – Failure and Success Read More »
I’ve been creating Acorn People as a way to justify my obsessive habit of collecting things I find while roaming around outside. Now I can pick up fossils, moss, lichens, leaves, twigs, and acorns and never feel a moment of uncertainty about my sanity. I’ve been calling them Acorn Folk. And they’re gorgeous little beings! …
Acorn People are a Great a Way to Justify Collecting Things Read More »
Two years ago I made a nature drawing of American ginseng in October, with yellowing leaves against the dark backdrop of the Wild Ozark forest. Repeating the Same Nature Drawing Since that time I’ve learned a little more about certain techniques I can use with my pencils, specifically blending, and so I wanted to re-draw …
Nature Drawing in Progress: American ginseng in October Read More »
Whenever I go away from the house alone, I take my camera. A simple run to the post office or to town becomes an Ozark Backroad Photo Journey. I generally try not to do this when I have passengers or am myself a passenger. It seems that stopping as often as I do when I’m …
Ozark Backroad Photo Journey – Come Along for the Ride Read More »
This is a custom drawing of a slug on poison ivy. In this post I’ll show you the process I use for drawing a picture with Prismacolor pencils. This particular nature drawing is for a business card client. First, the Slug I needed to do the slug first because it would have been very hard …
Yesterday I brought my camera with me when I went to the mailbox. If I had walked, I know it would have taken more than an hour because I would have seen so many more opportunities to stop and take a picture. There’s Never a “Quick Trip” Anywhere Out Here My intention was to make …
Usually, Harbinger of Spring or Dutchmen’s Breeches are the first flowers I notice out here. This year different flowers made the scene.
Learn how delving deeper can bring you to a closer experience with Nature.
What happens at a nature workshop? My nature workshop is designed to help you reconnect to nature and express your experience through art, writing, and photography. It can be tailored for whatever environment is available (even cities have nature), but generally we’ll take a nature walk, look at plants and wildlife, listen to the sounds …
What is a sketch / nature journal? Sometimes nature writers like to doodle while they’re interpreting nature. My nature journal is a combination of art and written journal entry. It is both nature sketching and nature journal. Here are some sample pages from my first collection. All of my work can be seen at WildOzark.com/naturejournal/as I do …
