Category: Nature
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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 * 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 …
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Hermit Journal | Early on a March Morning
Every morning I feed the horses and chickens. Once it gets close to spring, I also begin my ‘get-in-shape’ program. Come along with me to feed the horses before I head out for a jog and walk early on a …
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Encroachment Goes Both Ways | Striking a Balance
Most of the time nature encroachment refers to human activities encroaching on nature. However, my post today deals with nature encroaching on human activity – specifically, OURS. The Setting I like to leave as much of our property open to …
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It’s Time to Plan what to do with 2022
The time to plan is before you need to, and I’m trying to get better at doing that. This post won’t go live until next weekend, but I’m writing it during a relatively calm day in what has been a …
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CROAK: A book of fun for frog lovers | Book Review
CROAKA Book of Fun for Frog LoversProfessor Phil Bishop (ED.) Croak: A Book of Fun for Frog Lovers, by Professor Phil Bishop (ed.) | 9781925820812 | Hardback | 160 pages | 225 x 203mm | RRP US $19.99 …
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Yellow-Billed Cuckoo | Rain Crow | Madison’s Earthy Art
It’s almost that time of year again when the rain crow, also known as yellow-billed cuckoo, starts calling. This is another one of those often heard but seldom seen critters that live out here at Wild Ozark. The other …
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Whippoorwill Says “Time to Plant Corn”
Yesterday evening I heard the first close whippoorwill of the 2021 season. Rob said he’d heard it the night before and wondered that it didn’t wake me up. And this week we “mowed” grass for the first time. But that’s …
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Maybe it isn’t sandstone… Bituminous Coal?
I’m often surprised at the colors I end up with when making paints. Sometimes the rock powder looks a lot different than the rock itself led me to think it would. But today I found a new puzzle. I usually …