saltycotton posted a photo:

Cussons Toiletries ad
1956

I’ve only ever been charged by two species. The bear took only a few quick steps before stopping.

The snowshoe hare, on the other hand, well, I was reminded of the killer bunny scene in Monty Python’s The Holy Grail.

In 2014, on a trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, a showshoe hare charged toward me. I wondered with confusion how this was going to play out when he stopped, regarded me for a moment, and then ran off into the woods just over a yard away from me.

I had a similar experience this summer while hiking the Sherman Peak Loop Trail in eastern Washington. As the trail snaked up the mountain, I rounded a curve to see a snowshoe hare sitting on the trail. I stopped. The hare didn’t move. Suddenly, he bolted in my direction. I wasn’t sure what his intention was when he slowed and came right at me. Initially, I thought he was going to blow past me. I was simply between him and a preferred hiding spot, a warren or a family. I stomped my foot as he stopped next to me, and he startled, disappearing into the brush. I’m not quite sure whether he touched my pant leg or not. It all happened so fast!

What is it with the snowshoe hare?!? I’m reminded of an exotic animal veterinarian who remarked, “If rabbits had canine teeth, they would rule the world.”

Starting up the connector trail, I thought, “This must be the bobcat’s favorite trail,” because of the frequency of feline scat along the route. Joining the loop on the east side, the habitat is dark and wet with a few mosquitoes. Small rivulets trickle across my path.

The forest opens up to a rock slide dotted with dense stands of willows, where I talk aloud as I hike so as not to surprise wildlife – snowshoe hare or otherwise.

Elk sign becomes prevalent along the way, and the mountainside is covered with huckleberry bushes. Two people on muleback, going downhill, pass me. Mules are perfect for this rugged terrain. As I continued to climb, rounding along the south side, wildflowers began to flank the trail. Although it’s called the Sherman Peak Loop, I expected it to loop around the peak. But with all of this elevation gain, I’m beginning to wonder if the peak isn’t part of the loop!

The route levelled out at 1150 feet from where I started, 6400 feet above sea level, in an area of meadows, with lupine and pine trees. There’s mountain lion scat on the trail. I stop to look for any other signs of this beauty. I find that I’m more at ease where the trail traverses treed slopes thick with windfall. It seems like animals are less likely to hang out there, but these broad, park-like flat areas are easy-going for all of the animals that call this mountain home. It makes me a little uneasy.

From this side of the mountain, there are views southward for days. I can almost see my house from here!

Passing the Kettle Crest trail junction, I round onto the west side. I leave the forest and stop in awe at the expansive fields of wildflowers – lupine, buckwheat, paintbrush.

The ground squirrels are chastising me, chattering from their lookouts downslope. I keep stopping to marvel at the beauty.

The carpets of flowers get more dramatic with each step. I can’t afford to linger as much as I’d like because I got a late start today.

Leaving the meadows, I enter a dense stand of young trees crowding the trail. Again, I’m talking to myself, nature, no one, and everyone. My bear spray is at hand, but it’s best that I don’t need it. I’m curving around to the north side on a gentle descent, again seeing the bobcat-sized feline scat that was so common at the outset. There’s another snowshoe hare just off the path. It’s not until this moment, when I see the scat and the hare together, that it clicks.

Snowshoe hares are lynx’s favorite prey. This could be lynx scat!!

When I get back to civilization, I learn that I was hiking in the Colville National Forest Lynx Recovery Zone! My first lynx (scat) encounter!!

This loop has been a wonderful trip through a diversity of habitats. Over three hours and five-and-a-half miles, every step was a delight.

If you’re interested in purchasing or licensing any images you see here, please email me at SNewenham at exploringnaturephotos.com, and I’ll make it happen.

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The post Sherman Peak Loop Trail appeared first on Exploring Nature by Sheila Newenham.

“Matter is memory, and memory is a medium,” says artist Annalise Neil, whose surreal cyanotypes brim with animals, fungi, geological specimens, shells, and more that she augments with watercolor. Recently, the artist has been adding rich, earthy tones with natural dyes such as wild strawberry leaf, oak gall, loquat leaf, and chestnut. She has used botanical teas to shift the natural blue color of the cyanotypes for quite a while, but the sepia tonality has emerged as a larger focus lately, which allows her to layer hues like browns and purples.

Neil’s experiences in nature profoundly influence her individual pieces in a process that she poetically describes as “melting, rolling, pinching, sanding, walking across meadows, cheek on sun-warmed boulders.” This year, she’s a resident artist at Volcan Mountain Foundation in Julian, California, which merges artistic and scientific inquiry. “I endeavor to create work that will lead to contemplation and reflection and that invites a thoughtful examination of our relationship to reality and our surroundings,” she says.

“For my site-specific work, I begin by hiking for many days and photographing intriguing things I find, including birds and mammals, plants, geological forms, and insects,” she says. “As I photograph specimens in wild and cultivated spaces, I capture a brief version of their existence that I transmute into a negative and then into a cyanotype.” The images are then supported on hand-carved wooden panels.

Neil’s work is currently on view in Fast Forward: Analog Photography as a Third Space at the Los Angeles Center for Photography and Sanguine Glimmers at Hey Books! in San Diego, among others. See more and follow updates on the artist’s Instagram.

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Pejasar posted a photo:

Some branches are more than the blossoms that dance along their surface. Some, like the quince branch, tell their story through deep symbolism and historical significance. Our Crepe Paper Quince Branch video workshop draws from those rich elements, inviting you to recreate a little of nature’s magic.

The post Crepe Paper Quince Branch Video Workshop appeared first on Lia Griffith.

Living in a high-rise apartment or a house with a small yard comes with the disadvantage of not having access to garden space. Fortunately, fine wallpaper manufacturer Astek has a way to bring beautiful blooms indoors. The company’s collection of dreamy floral mural designs called Eterna Nouveau reinterprets the Art Nouveau movement of the early 20th century, which historically flourished in Europe and emphasized nature-inspired motifs like flowers and birds.

Eterna Nouveau’s arching, sinuous stems and leaves nod to its namesake style’s characteristic “whiplash” lines. “Aquavita,” for example, features lilies and other water plants and illustrates life both above and below the surface. And “Carnivoria” celebrates more unusual plants, like Venus flytraps. A variety of colorways emphasizes the designs’ bold forms and delicate metallic outlines.

The motifs were first created by hand, then digitized so that they can be sized up or down to fit custom spaces. Printed to order, the colors and shapes can even be customized for special projects. See more on Astek’s Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article A Line of Mural Wallpapers from Astek Celebrates ‘Eterna Nouveau’ appeared first on Colossal.

Ronald Douglas Frazier posted a photo:

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“Color, for me, is a heightened reality,” says J Carino. Through palettes rooted in a dynamic dance between earth and jewel tones, the artist renders lush scenes in which nude figures commune with nature. A sturdy back buttresses a fallen tree, chests and limbs peek through a summer meadow, and a muscular grip cradles a small mule amid a raging flood. Blocks of color and gestural brushstrokes characterize each composition, which question what we deem natural and innate.

The intimacies of queer life figure prominently in Carino’s work, which layers bodies and organic motifs into dense expanses. He employs a variety of source materials that range from renderings of live models and videos of himself to nature studies and plein air drawings in pastels, the latter of which often inform his color palettes. “Typically, my work begins with observation of nature. It might be a fallen tree, a particular animal or plant that I then make drawings of,” he adds.

Researching the historical and cultural symbols associated with these organic forms follows, while allowing connections between objects and motifs to emerge spontaneously as he works. “I see patterns as a kind of personal language to symbolize larger concepts and themes that I can then weave together into different narratives,” the artist tells Colossal. “There is a collage-like aesthetic to my work that reflects these different pieces coming together.”

From biblical floods to determined donkeys to autumnal leaves, the elements that comprise Carino’s paintings touch on questions of desire, paradise, and queerness through human connection to the natural world. Even when disaster strikes, there’s an overwhelming sense of beauty and resilience, bolstered by both physical strength and deep bonds with one another.

Carino recently relocated to London, and he will start a master’s program at the Royal College of Art this fall. If you’re in Los Angeles, his work will be part of a group exhibition opening in early June at Albertz Benda. Otherwise, find more on his website and Instagram.

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With bodies composed of ghostly ferns, flowers, and fungi, Molly Devlin’s fantastical and ethereal acrylic portraits invite us into a dreamy woodland realm. Her works tap into the beauty and resilience of living creatures, from a white bear cloaked in translucent butterflies to a diminutive mouse composed of different lifecycle phases of a dandelion. Part fauna and part flora, each elegant animal is a reminder of nature’s interconnectedness.

Devlin is currently working toward a solo exhibition opening in early August at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles. She’s also finishing up a mural in collaboration with S.V. Williams along the American River in Sacramento. See more on Instagram.

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Galicia, Spain-based artist Abi Castillo continues to create iterative self-portraits through her evolving ensemble of ceramic personas. Her delicate yet emotive figures are an invitation to consider the inner self, transformation, and the beauty of the natural world.

Femininity, nature, and symbolism play a central role within Castillo’s sculptures, contrasting with the notion of concealment. “This ambivalence between mysticism and drama, between monstrosity and beauty, is all very present,” she explains in an artist statement.

Though each ceramic character is distinct, her body of work carries overarching formal motifs including colorful hairstyles and wide eyes with light blue irises. Organic elements—such as flowers, insects, coral, and marine foliage—wrap themselves around Castillo’s figures, evoking a sense of protection through delicate armor.

Last time we checked in with Castillo, she mentioned plans to move into a larger studio, where she works now. The artist shares that this opportunity has given her larger creative freedom, and she is looking forward to an exciting year including a group exhibition with Beautiful Bizarre Magazine opening next week at Outré Gallery in Melbourne. For updates and studio views, find Castillo on Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Abi Castillo’s Ceramic Beings Contrast Delicacy With the Natural World appeared first on Colossal.