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 …
Category: Nature
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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An Herbal Remedy for Winter Crud featuring Mullein, Beebalm, and Echinacea
Here’s my 2023 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 …
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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 …
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Stalking the Wild Lady Fern
Near the top of our driveway there’s a deep narrow gully where the creek runs in the bottom. There’s a flotsam island in the middle of that, with shade-loving plants and ferns growing on it. I’ve been eyeing that fern …
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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 …
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Long Dirt Road: Why it Takes me an Hour to Drive 12 Miles
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 …
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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 …
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Kings River in Autumn | Ozark pigments in oil
A week or so ago, I started working over the underpainting I’d made for this scene. This one is different from the other two in a significant way. I didn’t have any reference photos when I started working on it …
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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.
Equine Escapees
In the mornings after I get out of bed, I go outside on the porch to have my coffee and listen to …
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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 …
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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 …
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Kings River in Spring | Ozark pigments in oil
Today (Tuesday 4/18/23), I started working over the underpainting I’d previously done. It was meant for the autumn scene, but I decided to use it for the Kings River in Spring because there are still a lot of autumnal colors …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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mermaid in a sea of swirling air
5 x 7″ Mermaid, varnished no glass needed. Original and prints available. 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
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The wind rolls in like …
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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 …
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Hunting the Wild Ozark Orchids
This morning I wanted to go to a granddaughter’s Kindergarten graduation, but the bridges were flooded, so that was nixed. Then I decided that I’d wait for it to quit raining and then go out to get some better photos …
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Spring Rains in the Ozarks
This morning the thunder boomed me out of the bed at 0400. Winds shook the house and the lightning strobed like a Halloween haunted house. This is not the sort of weather that gives me the urge to sleep, ha, …
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New Acceptance | Watercolor USA 2022
The Forager was accepted to the 61st exhibition of Watercolor USA, a national, annual juried exhibition recognizing contemporary American watermedia painting. The juror was Kevin Umaña, co-founder of The Ekru Project, a Kansas City-based artist-run gallery focused …