Category: Nature
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Earthworm Trails – Mystery Solved!
Have you ever seen soft mud or sand criss-crossed with lines? I’ve always been told that these lines are earthworm trails. But I’ve never actually seen an earthworm in those places, so I took that little nature mystery solution with my characteristic dose of skepticism. This morning I did see, in fact, that it is…
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Tasks that Need Doing & Thinking of Market Days
We’re always pretty busy around here, but during market season it’s busier still. There’s products to package, and things to do around the homestead. Well, the task list of things to do around the homestead never ends, but some things move up on the priority list as they get more irritating to deal with. Here’s…
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Bald Eagle | Ozark Birds of Prey series
The first painting off of the easel this decade is a bald eagle, and it’s the first of the eagles in my series of raptors in Ozark pigments.
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The Land Inspires
There was a time when I thought it was only this particular place I call Wild Ozark that held such importance in my life. While I do truly love this place I’m planted, over the years, through travel and difficult circumstances, I’ve learned that the land inspires me no matter where I am. It doesn’t…
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Ephemeral Anticipation
Around this time of year, when the grass starts to green up here and there, it stirs me to watch for the short-lived, earliest spring flowers like bloodroot. It’s the annual ‘ephemeral anticipation’ time. The vernal witch hazel is just wrapping up blooming here. It bloomed a few weeks ago in some other areas around…
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Running Errands, Preparing for Bad Weather
The approaching weekend and the week after has foreboding forecasts, so today I spent the day running errands. And preparing for bad weather. That usually means COLD weather out here. The only other thing we get during warmer months is lots of rain, and that’s much easier to deal with. We just stay home when…
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What is Nature Farming? What does a Nature Farmer Grow?
I originally wrote this post back in 2018, but I need to update it to show how Nature Farming applies to what I’m doing nowadays, too. What I mean by ‘Nature Farming’ is not the same as ‘natural farming’, ‘organic farming’, or ‘natural farming methods’. Explanations for all of these things come up when you…
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An Herbal Remedy for Winter Crud featuring Mullein, Beebalm, and Echinacea
Here’s my recipe for an herbal remedy I use every year to combat what we’ve come to call “Winter Crud”. We also take it at the first sign of anything that feels like trouble coming on. This year’s formula uses mullein, echinacea, ginseng, and beebalm.
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Wild Ozark Color Watch | Autumn 2023
It’s my favorite time of year! The ragweed is on the decline and I can actually get outside and enjoy the weather without too much fear of repercussion, lol. I’ll start taking pics when I see colorful leaves or pretty scenes and add them to this page. So bookmark it if you’d like to see…
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Stalking the Wild Lady Fern
Of course, I want to paint these ferns. Just like I want to paint all of the orchids and the residents of the ginseng habitat. The ferns and orchids are usually present in the ginseng habitat, but I’d like a special series of just the ferns, and just the orchids.
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BioDB: Uniting the World for Wildlife Conservation
Introduction: This is a guest post from the founder of BioDB, Assaf Levy. From time to time, I host a guest article on this website if the topic has to do with nature, conservation, environmental concerns, local nature attractions, or art.
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Long Dirt Road: Why it Takes me an Hour to Drive 12 Miles
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by
This is a post from a few years ago that I love, so I’m reposting it. We live down a long dirt road. This little facet of our lives is the main thing that makes or breaks most newcomers to rural life. It takes a long time to go anywhere, if you go slow enough…
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Nature Art Inspiration at Kings River
I recently finished a painting set at the Kings river which is down our road. Wild Ozark is a few more miles down the dirt road away from pavement than the bridge, but we cross it every time we go to town. Usually, that’s once or twice a week, though if I could manage to…
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Kings River in Autumn | Ozark pigments in oil
Here’s the progression page where you can watch this painting in progress. The background is finished, starting on the foreground soon.
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Art Inspiration Moments on a Non-Art-Making Day
Even in a day full of non-art related tasks, there can be moments of art inspiration.
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Musings from an Ozark nature artist
I’m at an ‘in between’ time at the moment. Between rain showers and rainy days, between things scheduled on my calendar. And since I just finished a painting, I’m between paintings, too. But this is a great time for an Ozark nature artist to get out and enjoy some nature.
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Plant Walk & Nature Journaling at Wild Ozark
There are other plant walks in Arkansas, but this one is probably a little different. The trails we’ll follow are deer trails and logging roads. The drive to get here is gorgeous. And the biodiversity here at Wild Ozark is incredible. Our 160 acres is far off of the beaten path six miles from pavement.…
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Kings River in Spring | Ozark pigments in oil
Here’s where you can see all of the progress pics from start to finished for the Kings River in Spring painting.
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A Spiral Day
This morning I walked over to see if there’s grass growing in the horses’ field yet. After crossing over rocks in the creek, as I walked up the hill out of the creek valley, I found this fossil. It looks like the spiral of an ammonite. If that’s what it is, it’s the first one…
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Ozark Winter Storm | Jan 24 2023
Progress on my painting of Kings River in winter came to a grinding halt a few days ago when we got our first Ozark winter storm of the season. We’ve had some freezes, and a little snow, but those little incidents don’t compare. In previous years, we’ve had worse storms when not only did the…
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Kings River in Winter | Ozark pigments in oil
The new year of 2023 kicked off the first oil paintings in my Kings River Four Seasons series. The one I chose to start with first is the winter scene. I’ll rotate through them to work on one while layers on others dry. Here’s Kings River in Winter as photographed and here’s the first pass.…
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Kings River | Scenes that Inspire Art
We live in the neighborhood of upper Kings River, in Madison county near the Newton county line (Arkansas). Kings River Falls are not too far away as the crow flies. The landscape here is rocky heart of the Boston Mountain range Ozarks, with very little flat ground away from the river valleys. Our 160 acres…
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2022 Yule Tidings | Solstice Review
Happy Solstice Day! It’s that time of year again, when the longest night of the year is upon us. Which in turn means that today is the shortest day of the year. After this, the days will incrementally grow a little longer until Summer Solstice rolls around. I’m so ready for the days to get…
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mermaid in a sea of swirling air
mermaid in a sea of swirling air Gloria drops her leaves litter like silk puddles around her on the ground She’s nearly nude now * The wind rolls in like waves breakers on hilltops It spills, crashes into the valley I feel like a mermaid In a sea of swirling air
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What Does OOAK Mean?
What does OOAK mean in arts and crafts descriptions and titles? It means one of a kind (ooak), but this might not always be so clear cut as you might think. Pay close attention to item descriptions and ask questions of the seller if you want to be sure you’re getting truly unique items. One…