What a treat to be able to share my gelli prints in an art show at Satchel’s in Gainesville. My display includes azalea blossoms and tree leaves I’ve collected on nature walks and then transformed into colorful artwork. I love how gelli printing captures the design and texture of leaves, plants and blossoms. I arrange […]
Reading The Truth of Who You Are offers a way both to view mountain life in the 1920s-1940s and to explore the Smokies. The novel by Sheila Myers follows Ben Taylor, starting when he is 13 and the oldest child of a family that lives in Taylor Valley, a fictional location in the Smokies. Ben […]
A walk at Sweetwater Wetlands Park offers a great way of observing wildlife. Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, a Killdeer, Anhingas, Sandhill Cranes and Moorhens were some of the sightings on a morning walk. A Killdeer sat on her nest on the gravel path. The area was marked off with cones and barricade tape […]
An advantage of washing dishes is being able to watch the birds that come to the birdbath outside the kitchen window. A wide variety of birds visit the birdbath for a drink or a bath — cardinals, mockingbirds, chickadees, catbirds and brown thrashers are some of the regulars. Sometimes I get to see migrating birds, […]
I’m enjoying the azaleas on a lovely morning. The sun is filtering through some of the blooms. Occasionally I can hear — and then see — bumblebees flying from blossom to blossom. A light breeze is blowing. Birds are singing, and the Sandhill Cranes just flew overhead. Hope my photographs of the azaleas will add […]
Every winter, I look forward to the possibility of the arrival of Cedar Waxwings as they migrate. They visit to re-fuel on berries. Sometimes that happens, and sometimes it doesn’t. When I saw red berries on the Holly and ripe berries on the Sabal Palm in the yard, I was hopeful. I charged the battery […]
Imagine creating a painting of the Grand Canyon. You must decide which section of the massive canyon to paint. You must mix the colors to create the range of hues you need to capture the multi-colored layers of limestone, sandstone and shale and the blues of the sky. Now imagine that you aren’t painting in […]
Inspired by the celebration of World Sea Turtle Week, I’m sharing photos of volunteers monitoring sea turtles on Sanibel Island. The photos illustrate the important role that conservation organizations and volunteers play in protecting sea turtles and educating the public. The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation monitors 18 miles of beach, from the Sanibel lighthouse to Redfish […]
When the berries on the holly tree in my yard are ripe, I start looking for the Cedar Waxwings. Some years the Cedar Waxwings don’t come to town. The timing of ripe berries in the trees doesn’t coordinate with the migration of the Cedar Waxwings. Sometimes the Cedar Waxwings do arrive, but you can miss […]
Azaleas in bloom make this a beautiful time of year in North Central Florida. I want to share some of the azaleas I saw during a walk today. For those of you still facing snow, ice and cold temperatures, I hope Spring soon will arrive for you.
Julie Dodd 