Megan Seagren's Journal

Planting a Native Australian Shade Garden in Sydney

2013-04-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

Bird's Nest Ferns

I'm visiting my daughter, Liz, in Sydney, Australia, where she's rejuvenating the landscaping around her home. Like most gardens in this country, hers is dominated by non-native plants -- in this case English cottage garden plants such as camellias, azaleas, lilies, iris, and daffodils.

This would be fine, except that imported plants have an unfortunate tendency to "escape" from gardens and displace native species in the wild, causing irreparable harm to the delicate ecosystem here. Australia's geographic isolation has allowed its native plants and animals to evolve uniquely, and many species aren't found anywhere else the world. Since European settlement, 61 native plant species have become extinct, and a further 1,239 are threatened. Although many factors contribute to this tragic loss of diversity, the introduction of invasive, non-native plants into the ecosystem is a major one.

With this in mind, Liz has accepted the challenge to replace non-natives in her garden with native plants indigenous to the Sydney area. And a challenge it is. The small part I've taken has made me appreciate why people prefer gardening with familiar plants from their own countries (and may explain why Australia has so many non-natives). There is so much to learn! Australian native plants aren't like anything I've dealt with before. Their appearance is unfamiliar, and I don't know their growth habits or their sun/shade/water/nutrient/soil requirements. I can't distinguish a weed from a desirable plant, or a native from a non-native.

To meet the challenge, Liz has adopted a phased strategy, planning to take on just one section of the landscaping at a time, clearing it and figuring out which plants will work best in that particular spot. This should make the learning curve a bit less steep. Fortunately, most of the existing non-native plants are fairly well behaved and not known to be "escapees," and many of the problem plants can be controlled by removing their flowers and seed pods until such time as the plants themselves can be taken out.

During my visit, I've assisted with Phase I: rehabilitating the garden across the driveway from the patio -- the most visible one. The whole garden is shaded all winter, and the front of it's sunny in summer.

Phase I: This garden hosts several invasive species, including Fishbone ferns, which are native to another part of Australia, but invasive here, where they choke out other plants. The fence in back is covered with Chinese wisteria that Liz will remove in the future and replace with native Kangaroo vine. Just as we experience in Seattle, the wisteria wants to take over the world, and will climb trees and strangle them if not constantly cut back.

Liz clears the ground, digging out roots and tubers. Fishbone ferns seen on the far left of this photo are in a Phase II section of the garden and will be removed later.

We acquired these natives in an expedition to two native plant nurseries. Liz selected plants with a mixture of growth habits, adult heights, and foliage. Small plants are less expensive and easier to plant than larger ones. See below for her plant list.

Here's a close-up of several ferns, which should do well in this shade garden.

The planting begins.

Everything's now in the ground, including some stones for a path to the birdbath. As the plants mature, they will overtake the empty spaces and create a full, lush effect.

Here's a different viewpoint. Liz has started to apply a thick layer of mulch to retain moisture and help give the plants a good start.

And here's the next section waiting for rehabilitation.

Liz's list of shade-loving (or tolerant) Australian native plants and their habitat value:

Indigofera australis - native indigo, shrub, 1.5 m tall. Produces small pink flowers which attract native bees and butterfly larvae, seeds attract birds.
Dianella caerulea – flax lily/paroo lily, perennial herb, 1 m tall. Purple berries attract birds and butterflies.
Alpinia caerulea - native ginger (and Atherton ginger*), perennial herb, 1.5-3 m tall. White flowers and blue fruit attract birds.
Lomandra fluviatilis - no common name, NSW ENDEMIC, 50 cm tall, tufted perennial herb. Attracts seed-eating birds and provides shelter for small birds and lizards.
Cissus antarctica - kangaroo vine/water vine, climbing vine. Provides nesting sites for birds. Purple fruit attracts birds, moths and ringtail possums.
Macrozamia communis - burrawang cycad, NSW ENDEMIC, 3 m wide, 1-2 m tall. Large seeds attract marsupials, large birds and fruit bats. However, they are extremely toxic to humans and non-native animals/livestock and can cause death.
Cordyline stricta – slender palm lily/narrow leaved palm lily, shrub, 2-3 m tall. Attracts butterfly larvae.
Blechnum patersonii - strap water fern. Provides shelter to small birds and lizards.
Microsorum diversifolia - kangaroo fern. Provides shelter to small birds and lizards.
Doodia aspera - rasp fern. Provides shelter to small birds and lizards.
Asplenum australasicum - birds nest fern.
Adiantum spp. – maidenhair fern (already in the garden).
And then of course the sun-loving Banksia integrifolia – coast banksia, tree, 25 m, to create more shade for the shade-loving plants. Large flowers attract nectar-feeding birds and seeds attract small mammals.

*The Atherton ginger was the only plant we brought home that is not indigenous to the Sydney area. This ginger comes from Queensland, but we fell in love with the red underside of the leaves.

For more information on Australia's native plants, see:

Flora of Australia Wiki

Australia Native Plants Society

Australia National Botanic Gardens and Biodiversity Research

Flora and Fauna of Australia

How to Start a Watercolor Meetup Group

2013-04-15T17:06:00.000-07:00

Two years ago this month I started a meetup group on Meetup.com for watercolor painters in Seattle. Since then it's blossomed into a cohesive community with 94 members and a history of 167 meetups. We get together once per week to paint indoors and once per week to paint outdoors, in addition to various individual meetups to attend art shows and exhibits. Close friendships have formed within a supportive atmosphere, and everyone has learned a lot of new things about art.

The other day Barbara emailed me, asking for suggestions on how to set up her own watercolor meetup group in Everett. After responding with a lengthy missive, I decided to post my reply here as well. Usually when someone asks me a question, others are also interested in the answer.

Here’s what I told her:

1. Set up your site. First you need to set up a meetup site on http://www.meetup.com. The cost is $12 per month, and that price gives you everything you need to start and run your group. There’s no charge for participants to join Meetup. I suggest naming your group "[Your location] [your medium] Meetup Group," so people know what and where it is. For example, I named mine “Seattle Watercolor Meetup Group.”

You can associate keywords with your site that allow meetup.com members to find it. For example, my site has keywords such as painting, watercolor, art, and plein air. Individuals who have already joined meetup.com and listed one of your keywords as an interest will be notified about your site. In addition, anyone searching the internet for such a group will be able to find it, even if they haven’t already joined meetup.

To see how my site’s set up, go to http://www.meetup.com/Seattle-Watercolor-Meetup-Group/.

2. Decide whether to charge members for a meetup. You have the option to charge members for attending your meetups. I decided not to do this, even to recoup the cost of the site, because I didn't want to get in cross-ways with the community center where we meet each Friday. They give us space in return for a $2-3 drop-in fee per person because we’re considered non-profit, as I don't charge anything for the meetup. You'll figure out how to handle that issue in a way that works best for you.

Here's a photo of the Friday meetup, held in a wonderful space at the Loyal Heights Community Center in Seattle. This photo was taken a year ago. Now, we need two rows of tables to accommodate all of the attendees.

3. Choose a focus for the group. I decided to have our meetup group focus on watercolor painting for two reasons: (1) I'm a watercolor painter, and (2) watercolor is non-toxic and appropriate for doing indoors in a public space, such as the community center. During the cold, rainy Seattle winter, it’s pretty difficult to paint outdoors, and I wanted this group to meet at least once per week all year round. For our outdoor meetups, members are free to paint in any medium, although, interestingly, even the oil painters in the group opt for watercolor.

4. Set goals and the overall tone of the group. From the beginning, I wanted this to be a highly participatory group, rather than have everything rely on me. I scheduled the first meetup at a coffee shop, to discuss what members wanted to get out of the group. In that meetup we decided on a day and time to meet each week, based on the availability of a suitable room at the community center. We also discussed our collective "vision" for the group, determining that it was to develop a supportive and collaborative community of artists.

Our first meetup was held at Tully's Coffee, to discuss what we wanted the group to be like.

From that first meetup I emphasized that members should expect to get out of the group no more than what they put into it, and that each person is responsible for their own rewarding experience. I believe this set a positive and constructive tone that has been fundamental to the success of our group.

5. Increase membership. There were four artists at the first meetup. Of the original group, only one has dropped out, and over two years we've steadily added members. Today we have about 94, with 12-16 in attendance on any Friday. Our "paint around Seattle" group gets 4-8 weekly depending on the weather. This second weekly meetup spontaneously started after the first one had been running for a full year.

Our first "Paint Around Seattle" meetup, held last April in the Woodland Park Rose Garden.

We get a different mix of people each week, but active members come at least once or twice per month, so there's a lot of continuity, and some deep friendships have formed. Being an artist is a lonely occupation, and our group has brought many professional artists in addition to absolute beginners and everything in between. I believe the key to this success is the participatory nature of our group and emphasis on being supportive and positive. Attendees frequently comment about how warm, welcoming, and fun this group is.

6. Encourage participation. I encourage members to propose and host additional meetups and have named four co-organizers. If someone is interested, I coach them on how to set up a meetup (basically, you need a place to meet and need to greet people and make them feel welcome). Additional meetups can be scheduled in a series or be held just once for something like attending an artwalk, show, or exhibit.

The work of member artists are included in shows all around Seattle, which we often attend in informal groups. I wasn't able to attend the opening of Nelda Hanson's show here at the Sunlight Cafe, but I met up with Beth later to view it.

One member, Eileen, has taken over the Thursday "paint around Seattle" group and figures out the place to paint each week, updates the meetup site, and exchanges cell phone numbers with people who plan to attend, in case anyone gets lost. Another member is hosting a non-publicized meetup at her studio twice per month in the evening for members who work. It isn't publicized for reasons of safety. She invites specific members offline.

I want to make this group as self-sustaining as possible, to succeed with or without me, but have come to realize that completely replacing myself as group leader requires at least one willing party and a lot of coaching -- and willing parties are rare. My current strategy is to hand off as much responsibility as willing members will take on, hoping that if and when I can no longer lead the group, there will be a few folks around with enough experience to keep the thing going.

7. Tips for conducting your meetups. Regarding conducting meetup sessions, it's vital to have a person "on point" for each one. For our group, this person (the host, me, or someone I nominate) makes sure that the still life and tables are set up for indoor meetups, greets each person as they arrive, and introduces newcomers to the others. This person sets the tone for the meetup, which is friendly, non-critical, and supportive. Ideally, this person will also have some ideas in mind to discuss about watercolor painting. This is especially important when the group is getting off the ground to help break the ice, but it's great any time. I used to provide a 30-minute seminar at the beginning of each meetup on watercolor basics. Sometimes I'd demonstrate a particular technique or else bring in a book to discuss. I encourage other members to volunteer for this, and when they do, it's a great addition.

The purpose of the group is to exchange ideas and develop a supportive art community, and getting to know one-another personally is key to these goals. It's helpful to have some off-topic topics in mind for this purpose. While people are sitting around painting, if the silence becomes deafening, it can be nice to discuss a good movie you've just seen, an exhibit, a book, and so forth. Most often, though, our conversation naturally settles on some aspect of art.

Initially I brought tea and cookies, but that was too much overhead, so abandoned that idea after a while. It's nice to do, but anything can get tedious if it becomes an obligation week in and week out. I have, however, set up a still life each Friday for almost the entire two years we've been meeting indoors. This, believe me, gets old, but at the same time, it's important to do. For one thing, painting from life is different than painting from photos. In addition, it helps generate discussion as people walk around and look at each others artistic "take" on the same subject. After a lot of prodding some members have started bringing in still life ingredients so I don't have to do it all, and occasionally a member will handle the whole thing, such as in the rare event that I'm not there (like at the moment, when I'm in Australia visiting my daughter).

"Nell's Breakfast" still life setup.

It’s a good idea to bring a camera and take snapshots of people painting as well as their work (if they're OK with that) to upload to the site. I also encourage people to upload their own photos of what they painted. People are shy about doing this, but less so when I tell them it's for the benefit of the rest of the group, which is true because the photos generate comradeship and chat.

In sum...
We all encourage and inspire one other in the Seattle Watercolor Meetup Group. The tone of our group is absolutely positive at all times. We've never had any disagreeableness, except one time when a new member came solely for the purpose of selling her art and dominated the session with her non-stop self-promotion. Members were polite, although quite irritated. Thinking it over afterwards, I decided that should something like that happen again, I would step in let the person know they were out of bounds. The woman didn't get the response she wanted and never came back, fortunately.

Members have told me over and over again how important this group has become in their life, which makes the effort that I put in feel worthwhile. I hope you’ll decide to create a similar group in your own area. If you do please let me know. Also, feel free to ping me with any questions.

Christina Scott painted this during a meetup at Greenlake.

You might also enjoy:
Art Studio On Wheels - How I set up my art studio in a small space.
Setting up an Outdoor Easel - I demonstrate how I converted my camera tripod into a watercolor easel.
How to Frame a Watercolor Painting - It can be a bit tricky your first time. Here's how I do it.

How to Frame a Watercolor Painting

2013-03-27T18:28:00.001-07:00

I was just framing a painting for my mom and decided to take photos of the process in case some of you are interested in doing this for yourself. I'm assuming you know absolutely nothing, so please bear with me if you already know the basics. For some ideas about where to get the materials mentioned in this post, see Watercolor Resources.

Materials

Watercolor "paper" is actually made from 100 percent cotton rag. Unlike canvas or linen used for oil paintings, watercolor paper isn't given a water-resistant coating. While some artists spray a protective finish on their work, most do not because it changes the way the painting looks, and not everyone likes the result. So most of the time you'll be framing work that isn't waterproofed.

To protect the painting you can use glass or acrylic. Acrylic is much harder to break than glass, which is good if you're shipping your framed painting or putting it in a show that requires acrylic. Otherwise glass is fine. Non-reflective glass or acrylic is nice, although more expensive than the regular stuff.

In addition to glass, you need to protect the painting with a mat and backing (usually foam core), which should be acid free and archival, unless you don't mind your painting turning yellow over time. I always use a double mat because it looks better. You also need some acid-free cloth tape to attach the painting to the mat. The mat keeps the painting from touching the glass, which is very important. If you opt not to use a mat, then you need to put a spacer between the glass and the painting so they don't touch.

Finally, you need a frame. In general, the larger the painting, the wider the frame molding can be, but it's all a matter of taste. Do, however, consider how the end result will look when you're selecting molding. You don't want to either overwhelm or underwhelm the artwork.

Sizing

You have three options for acquiring mats and frames. The cheapest way is to buy a pre-cut mat and pre-made frame. Alternatively, you can purchase the equipment to cut your own mats, and even buy parts to assemble your own frames. Eventually you can save money by cutting your own mats, if you do enough of them, although I've found the mat material to be expensive unless bought in bulk. Finally, you can simply order what you need from a framer.

It you're the painter, you have some options for saving money because you can paint in sizes that fit standard-size mats and frames, which are mass-produced and far less expensive than custom mats and frames. Here are a few examples:

Watercolor paper: 11" X 15" (1/4 sheet of 22" X 30" paper)
Mat inside dimensions: 10" X 14"
Mat outside dimensions: 16" X 20"
Frame inside dimensions: 16" X 20"
This is my go-to size because the mats and frames are readily available.

Watercolor paper: 12" X 15"
Mat inside dimensions: 11" X 14"
Mat outside dimensions: 16" X 20"
Frame inside dimensions: 16" X 20"

Watercolor paper: 6" X 8"
Mat inside dimensions: 5" X 7"
Frame inside dimensions: Various - just make sure the outside dimensions of the mat and and the inside dimensions of the frame are the same.

You can explore what's available online and in your area to decide what works best for you. Here are recommendations from West Charlton Frame Company for the correct size mats and frames to use for different size paintings. I highly recommend using this company for your custom framing needs.

Assembly

Here's the fun part. While framing the painting for my mom this morning, I took some hurried photos to show you the process.

I made this painting of a Great Blue Heron for my mom on Arches 140 lb cold-pressed watercolor paper.

To flatten the painting prior to framing it, I lightly misted the back with water, sandwiched it between two boards, and left it overnight under a pile of books.

This morning I laid the mat face down and then laid the painting face down on top of it, attempting to center the painting over the opening in the mat, which of course I couldn't see because it was upside down. To check, I held the mat and painting together with my fingers and lifted them up to take a peek. Deciding it looked OK, I attached the painting to the mat using two pieces of acid-free cloth tape at the top of the painting, like hinges. This will allow the painting to hang freely inside of the frame and expand and contract without buckling as the humidity changes.

Then I set the mat and painting down inside the frame. I finished it off by setting the acid-free foam core on top of that, and securing it all with the metal tabs that come with the frame.

Voila. Here's a crooked photo of the result. The frame fortunately is not crooked.

Backyard Ideas from the 2013 Northwest Flower and Garden Show

2013-03-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

On February 23, Bill and I went over to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show with our cameras to see what kind of ideas we could find for a new backyard sitting area. Some gave us food for thought, while others were more entertaining than practical.

A column/fountain. Lovely.

I adore the idea of an areal retreat in the garden.

A pretty setting, but probably a bit fancier than we want.

I love this organic-looking metal fence.

Here's a closeup.

Ahhh, with this hammock our garden could become a place to relax, rather than simply a place to feed the crows, chickadees, and squirrels.

This patio is set into a bit of a side-hill, like the one in our backyard. Bill wants to use this as a model for our patio.

We found this Hobbit house in the Washington Park Arboretum display garden, which also showcases the flora from New Zealand. Our climate in Seattle is similar to New Zealand's, so we can grow most of the plants from that region.

I never thought of putting a real painting in the garden like this, but I like it.

Roman fountains could lend a more organized look to the backyard.

I fell in love with the striped pillows as well as the mosaic on the garden wall. We have an ugly concrete retaining wall at the back of our yard that would do well with this kind of treatment.

I was liking this display garden right up until I saw the TV.

Nope. Not seeing this in the yard.

But a popcorn popper could have its uses.

Nope. The last time there was a brown bear in the yard, it scared Rosie and me half to death.

Yup.

I need this fountain created from musical instruments and copper piping.

I probably need these for something, too.

My Artist Facebook Page

2013-02-13T14:36:00.001-08:00

I just created a Facebook page for Megan Seagren Fine Art and plan to post my latest works there and some in-progress stuff. I hope you "like" it!

Pea Green Shirt (Self Portrait)

Listed a Painting on Ebay

2013-01-30T09:54:00.001-08:00

I've been reading Jack White's books on marketing art, and he suggests using eBay as one outlet, so this morning I listed one of my paintings on there. I have no idea how this is going to go, but I'll keep you posted. If you want to see what I did, go to http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-watercolor-painting-of-Valentine-roses-/251221764526?pt=Art_Paintings&hash=item3a7dfbe9ae.

Update: Monday, 8 bids have taken the price all the way up to $11.50, with two days left of the auction. Yay! I've got my material costs covered. I listed some more small paintings, but they've had very few views yet.

Final update: Four paintings sold on Ebay last week. I was astounded! With that encouragement under my belt, I listed some more.

This is the painting I listed on eBay. The auction starts at 99 cents. Let's hope it doesn't end there. :)

Art Studio on Wheels

2013-01-22T11:13:00.002-08:00

Bill and I moved to a small urban home a couple of years ago with no extra room for all of my art stuff, I decided to rent studio space. Although I enjoyed being in the studio and working near other artists, I ended up feeling scattered. I like to work at home during the odd moment, and it always seemed that the very thing needed for a painting at home was at the studio, and vice versa.

I finally let go of the studio and moved my stuff back to the house, where it sat in a heap for several months while I tried to figure out what to do. How could I set up a working studio that wouldn't take up valuable space needed for other uses?

A December sale flyer gave me an inspiration: I'd build two wheeled carts and one small shelf out of Storables steel-post shelving components.

The solution: two 36" X 18" carts on wheels and one small shelf that sits on top of one of the carts, which I custom-made from industrial-post shelving components.

The two carts hold all of the stuff I need to have at hand when painting. They roll up against the wall in our basement multipurpose room (guest room, office, music room, and now art studio). The top of each cart is covered with a sheet of black melamine to create a work surface. Only 18" deep, the carts don't intrude much into the room, but to create a wider worktop, I simply roll them around so their long sides abut, making a 36" X 36" table. The extra small shelf sitting on top of the left-hand cart is easily removed as needed.

The cart consists of five 18" X 36" black steel shelves, four 34" posts, four wheeled casters, and an 18" X 36" piece of black melamine. I also bought heavy clear plastic sheets to cover the shelves so nothing falls through them. This cart holds a LOT of stuff! The small shelf is made of four 24" posts and two 10"X 24" shelves.

This cart consists of two 18" X 36" helves, four 34" posts, four wheeled casters, and an 18" X 36" piece of black melamine. The lower shelf is good for holding paper and matts. Baskets hang from two connectors on the sides. I designed this cart so I can sit at it if I want. Otherwise, it holds still life setups. My drum-playing stool works perfectly with it.

And my portable easel (described in another post) works well with this setup. If we need to open the guest bed or have band practice in the room, I fold it and lean it up against the wall.

Happy New Year

2012-12-31T10:47:00.004-08:00

Wildlife Management

2012-12-20T13:30:00.003-08:00

You may know from previous posts that I feed the small birds in our yard as well as the crow family, Bertram, Corvina, and Ned. What you may not know is that I've learned some valuable lessons about wildlife management this way.

Front Yard Bird Feeders

To attract some feathered friends to our yard, I start by installing several little feeders designed for small birds on a pole in front our house. (Pole, arms, feeders, stand, plus bags of cracked sunflower seed)
As soon as it's set up, a squirrel climbs the pole and empties the feeders.
I add a squirrel baffle to the pole.
Thwarted, the squirrel turns its attention to the backyard feeder (more on this later).
A family of northern flickers begins hanging on the little feeders and gobbling up the food, eventually breaking the feeders, which are not designed for large birds.
I replace the little feeders, and to distract the northern flickers from them, I install a suet feeder. This attracts an enormous flock of starlings who drive away the small birds and within minutes finish off the suet as well as all of the food in the rest of the feeders.
I decide not to refill the suet and learn that screeching loudly at the starlings drives them away, without perturbing the small birds in the least.
My neighbors, however, give me frightened looks and run indoors whenever they see me coming out of my house.
Yet another broken little feeder inspires me to install a “Starling-Proof” suet feeder for the northern flickers. The Starlings enjoy the suet very much.
I begin screeching again. The little birds cock their heads for a moment and then go back to eating. The starlings and my neighbors flee the area.
Some birds (piggy house sparrows in particular) manage to get more seed onto the ground than into their beaks, which attracts the black-eyed juncos, who are ground feeders. This would be fine, except that the ground-feeding birds in turn attract the neighbor’s cat, which hides in our rain garden whilst waiting for a hapless junco to stop by for lunch (an irresistible treat for a cat).
I learn that, unlike with starlings, screeching at a cat is completely ineffective (see Bad Bad Bad Kitty).
I acquire a Super Soaker, keeping it full and handy. Any cat I see in the yard is immediately watered. This does not endear me to certain cat-owning neighbors any more than does the screeching, or perhaps even less so. (Super Soaker: $15.99 The look on the cat’s face: Priceless)
I buy a seed hoop to catch the seed that the sparrows shovel out of the feeders and keep the seed and the juncos above kitty’s reach. I’ll keep you posted about how the seed hoop works after I install it. Bill predicts that it will make a nice platform for the squirrel to use to reach the feeders.

More Stuff

Hummingbird Feeder

Note: This is a separate item, even though it hangs on the main feeder pole, because (1) hummingbirds do not behave like other birds, and (2) squirrels couldn't be less interested in hummingbird food.

I install a multi-hole hummingbird feeder based on the package illustration, which shows three hummingbirds peacefully sipping together on it.
A large, female Anna’s hummingbird takes possession of it. When another hummingbird approaches, she zooms in hot pursuit of the interloper, buzzing “ratatatata” like a machine gun. Having never seen planes in aerial combat, I nevertheless imagine that this bears a close resemblance.
Realizing that only one hummingbird at a time can ever eat at the same feeder, and that even approaching a guarded feeder can be life-threatening to the interloper, I install several additional feeders on different sides of the house, none in clear line of sight from any other.

Back Yard Bird Feeder

So that Bill and I can get away for the occasional day or two without my worrying that the little birds will starve to death because I’m not there to refill the little front-yard feeders, I install a large, squirrel-proof feeder in the backyard that holds 20 lb of sunflower seed.
The squirrels learn that they can shake food out of the feeder by swinging on it. They also learn that if they swing it persistently enough it will fly off the hanger entirely and land on the ground, at which point it becomes much easier to get most, if not all, of the seed out.

Crow Feeding Stations

I decide to see whether a curious crow who hangs about the house watching me garden will eat some peanuts that I set out for him. He will.
After a few days of getting peanuts from me, he starts bringing his mate along. I name the two crows Bertram and Corvina.
After several months of this, Bertram and Corvina feel entitled. Each morning they land on the neighbor’s roof, peer at me through our dining room window, and caw while I’m eating breakfast, to remind me that it’s peanut time. At various points during the day, they stop by for more.
The crow pair subsequently has a child, Ned, who occasionally brings his girlfriend along. So there are now up to four crows wanting handouts.
The squirrels (plural now, as the original squirrel had babies) also show up at peanut time, so I give them a few of their own. They, however, become quite effective at corralling all of the peanuts, preventing the crows from having any.
I experiment with a number of crow feeding stations and settle on the roof of the garden shed, in an attempt to foil the squirrels.
The squirrels quickly figure out how to leap from the plum tree to the roof of the garden shed and gobble up all of the peanuts. (Needless to say, we have very fat squirrels in our yard.)
To distract the squirrels from the peanuts as well as the backyard bird feeder, I install a squirrel corn cob feeder that holds two corn cobs. As of right now, less than 24 hours later, the squirrels have eaten all of the corn and are still getting most of the peanuts.

No squirrel on the seed hoop (yet), although a starling was sitting on it earlier, trying to pass for a goldfinch.

Well, that's what I've learned so far. I hope this has given you some good ideas about how to manage the wildlife in your own yard.

Enjoy!

You might also like:

Meet Bertram

Gardening for Wildlife

Trying Too Hard

2012-08-03T09:57:00.001-07:00

If you're an artist, do you ever paint a scene, and then paint it over again to try and improve it? If so, does it work? I often find, much to my frustration, that the first attempt is better than the second one, and many of my artist friends report the same thing. This seems contrary to common sense because a painting should get better with practice, rather than worse. What's going on here?

I encountered this phenomenon yesterday, painting at Greenlake in Seattle with my watercolor meetup group. Below is attempt #1, depicting my friend, Christina, sitting on a dock painting.

First version. I liked it in general, but noticed that the three trees were similar in shape and size.

It came out well enough, but I thought the composition could be improved, so decided to give it another go to see if I couldn't do better with a second try.

Second version. The tree sizes were better, but nothing else. In fact, the painting didn't turn out as well overall as the first version (in my opinion, anyway).

Oh dear. That didn't work! What happened?

Well, for one thing, my paint was starting to dry out in the fresh breeze that had been blowing all afternoon. So I should have added some fresh paint from the tubes to my palette. (For more about painting with gushy paint, see Overcoming Fear of Paint.)

But that's not all. Something happens to creativity when one stops being receptive and starts being analytical instead. Although very useful in certain situations, such as figuring out why my second painting came out poorly, being analytical requires a critical frame of mind. The artist must decide between bad and good, okay and good, good and better, and so forth. In the judging process, creativity flees, or at least hides behind a bush, because it has a very hard time coexisting with criticism. Brush strokes become more tentative, less confident and sure, as the artist wonders, "Oh, is this really the best place to put this stroke? Did I get the color right? Is there enough paint on my brush. Oh my!"

It seems that the time to be analytical comes after the act of creation, and not during it. For my next do-over, I'm going to try and remember this (without being too analytical about it!) and see if I can maintain a non-critical mindset while painting. Here's the process I'm going to try out:

1. Draw the scene.
2. Critique the drawing and make adjustments.
3. Paint with a non-critical mindset.
4. Critique the painting, deciding what I like and what I want to improve.
5. Go through steps 1-4 again.

We'll see how it goes.

Setting up an Outdoor Easel

2012-05-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

As you know, the plein air painting season is in full swing. Outdoors I usually sit in a low beach chair with my paper clipped to gaterboard in my lap and my watercolor paint and water on the ground. This is OK, but standing up with the paper in front of my face works better because I can see what I'm doing more easily. However, although I've been looking for good outdoor easel for several years, none of them were ever "just right." Recently though, at her Yakima Canyon workshop, I saw Catherine Gill's easel, adapted from a camera tripod. It looked perfect, and so I decided to try setting my own up the same way.

To show you what I did, I'll start with the finished product and work my way backwards through the process:

Here's the finished easel. Gaterboard and paper, attached to the tripod head, is completely adjustable for level and angle. I could even lay it down flat if I wanted, as if it were on a table. BTW, if you don't already have a tripod, you can buy the complete setup rather than baking your own. But that wouldn't be as fun doing it yourself, would it?

Side view.

I bought the tray already made. It's plastic, lightweight to carry around, and has channels that the tripod legs fit into. The legs can be spread farther apart if necessary. You can see the different size holes for brushes and a water cup. The shelf is called a Traveler Series Watercolor Tripod Shelf and cost about $46 with shipping. Catherine's tray was made by a friend out of wood.

Here's where the tripod head attaches to the gaterboard. It attaches by using both parts of a tripod head quick-release attachment, a piece of plywood, and some velcro. It isn't necessary to decorate your gaterboard as nicely as mine.

Here's the female part of the camera attachment. I'm going to connect the gaterboard to it by using the male part of the camera attachment, as you'll see in the next photo.

Here's the male part of the camera attachment, called a quick release plate. I ordered one from B&H Photo so I wouldn't ruin the one that attaches to my camera. This plate usually clips onto the bottom of the camera. Instead, Bill screwed it into a square piece of plywood for me, which my neighbor Pete had kindly cut from a scrap left over from building his new kitchen cabinets. I had to get a particular screw from the hardware store that would work with the quick release plate. After looking at the plate, the hardware store guy knew just what I needed.

On the other side of the plywood, I stuck some industrial strength velcro.

Here's the other side of the velcro stuck to the back of the gaterboard. Voila! All set!

I've already used this ensemble a few times and just love it!

Tomorrow's our open studio party!

2012-05-19T17:46:00.001-07:00

Update: Party's over, boo hoo, but I posted some photos on our studio blog so you can see how nice everything looked.
------------------------------
Our open studio party is tomorrow from 2 to 5 PM at 1545- 49th Street NW in Ballard. I hope you can make it!

OPEN STUDIO pPARTY!

Yes, folks, we're at it again. Another PARTY! Yay!! Here's the scoop:

food, drink, & friends

original art and clothing for sale

Sunday May 20

2 PM to 5 PM

49th Street Studio

1545 NW 49th Street

Seattle, WA 98107

We're in Ballard, one block north of Leary Way between 15th Ave. NW and 17th Ave. NW. For details about the studio, see our blog: http://www.49thstreetstudio.com.

We hope to see you there!

What's the What and So What?

2012-05-07T08:35:00.001-07:00

I recently attended a painting workshop given by Catherine Gill, a wonderful artist and teacher from Seattle. You may be familiar with her recent book, Powerful Watercolor Landscapes, which is one of the very best books of its kind that I've ever read, and simply loaded with jewels of wisdom based on Cathe's 30 years as painting instructor.

Cathe Gill demonstrating

If you've read her book, or even heard her talk, you'll know that one of Cathe's signature expressions is "What's the what?" Before this workshop, I'd never taken a class with Cathe, but I'd certainly heard this phrase plenty from my studio mate, Mara Bohman, who's taken more than one. Mara would look at my work and exclaim, "What's the what? What IS the what??!"

Simply stated, the "what" in a painting is the thing that draws the viewer's eye first -- the most important thing in the picture. Without a clear "what" the viewer is likely to skim over the painting and move on. As I often didn't have an answer to Mara's question, I decided to really focus on this "what" business during the workshop and learn more about how it can help improve my artwork. It turns out there are various methods artists use to draw the viewer's eye, including:

Value contrast-- The lightest light and the darkest dark placed next to each other, or at least near each other, draw the eye. The less the value contrast in an area, the less the eye is attracted to it.
Shape - A big or complex shape can help define the "what."
Color contrast -- Complementary colors placed near each other attract the eye. Complementary colors are those on opposite sides of the color wheel, for example red and green, blue and orange, purple and yellow.
Edges -- Rough edges. These attract the most attention in a watercolor, so should be placed where you want the most attention. Next are the hard edges, and finally the blurry edges, which should be placed in the parts of the painting that are less important.
Details -- Small marks also draw attention, so details should be reserved for the "what" part of the painting.

Cathe says that using just two or three of these elements is plenty to define the painting's what. The artist can reserve the others for the parts of the painting where the viewer's eye can travel after it visits the "what."

Cathe's reference photo

Here's Cathe's demo painting. Where is her "what"? Can you tell which of the methods listed above she used to attract your eye to it?

Golden Times

2012-04-22T11:47:00.002-07:00

Last night Bill and I attended a concert at Seattle’s Town Hall in which the musicians played medieval instruments. One such instrument was a ceng. Looking and sounding a bit like a modern harp, the ceng was played with such sensitivity that, as the music floated up from it, I found myself mentally hanging onto each note as if doing this would somehow freeze it in my mind. After a few moments, though, I realized that clinging to one note prevented me from hearing the next, and that to enjoy all of the music, I had to let each tone freely pass through me as it was played.

In a similar manner, I've found myself wanting to preserve a golden time of my life -- to stop the clock and forestall the end of a wonderful, but transient era -- playing with my children, romping with the dogs on our little farm, hiking with a group of “empty nester” friends, and, lately, painting with fellow artists and enjoying time with my husband Bill, a happy addition to my life's second act.

After all, just like the notes of the ceng, each golden moment recedes into the past much too quickly. But continually looking back and clinging to a passed experiences would keep me from enjoying the ones to come, so instead I remind myself to savor each moment as it moves through my life -- and then let it go.

Time to Paint Outdoors!

2012-04-21T08:55:00.002-07:00

Hurray! It's that time of year again, when painters dust off their plein air gear and head outdoors. I'm gathering information about plein air groups in the Seattle area, and updating the information on the Plein Air tab above. If you know of a groups that's not on my list, please comment on this post and I'll add it. Thanks!

OPEN STUDIO pARTy!

2012-04-14T09:09:00.005-07:00

Yes, folks, we're at it again. Another PARTY! Yay!! Here's the scoop:

food, drink, & friends

original art and clothing for sale

Sunday May 20

2 PM to 5 PM

49th Street Studio

1545 NW 49th Street

Seattle, WA 98107

We're in Ballard, one block north of Leary Way between 15th Ave. NW and 17th Ave. NW. For details about the studio, see our blog: http://www.49thstreetstudio.com.

Robin's Sketchbook, Travels Near and Far

2012-02-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

Robin loves to travel near and far, and lucky for us, she makes watercolor sketches of her adventures. Here are some of them.

Diamond Head, Oahu Island, Hawaii

Somewhere in Central America

A Grey Whale swimming along the shore of Whidbey Island, Washington.

Around Seattle

Chautuaqua, New York

Mexico

Chautuaqua, NY

Portland, Oregon

Occupy Seattle

You might also enjoy:

An Excursion to the Flower and Garden Show

2012-02-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

This morning my friend Liisa and I paid a visit to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Liisa worked on the "Bird Song" display garden, created by the Arboretum at Washington Park and the Seattle Audubon and wanted to go back today as a spectator instead of worker to take photos for her fabulous blog, the Intercontinental Gardener. Liisa's already got some posted, so I won't duplicate things she's already covered.

[Photography Geek Note: Bill just bought a fixed F1.8 35mm DX lens, which I wanted to try out at the garden show because of the low light. The lens worked well, except I didn't always get the right thing in focus. If I had to do it again, I'd manually focus everything. Also, because of the low light, the depth of field had to be so shallow in some shots that the photos just didn't turn out well. I guess that's the price you pay for not using flash.]

Anyway, here are a few of the many things that caught my eye:

Colorful hand-blown glass galore, for garden and in-home use. If you're into glass, this is a great opportunity to see A LOT of it.

Dan Robinson, of Elandon Gardens. It's really hard not to be a groupie, so I just am. He is the rock star of bonsai. If you ever get a chance, get yourself down to Port Orchard to see his nursery. It's worth the trip, believe me!

What we won't do for art! Liisa has gotten permission from Dan Robinson to move his "Gold Medal" award so she can get a clear show of this impressive root that he somehow managed to get into the convention center.

Liisa photographing the gigantic tree root. Hopefully she got a better shot than I did.

This is part of the Arboretum "Bird Song" display. They created a beautiful, natural bird habitat, mostly out of native plants, and put some bird replicas in it. If you're thinking about making your own wildlife habitat, this display will give you some good ideas. For more on that subject, see Gardening for Wildlife.

Another habitat shot.

A beautifully formed Japanese maple. It's obviously been shaped and pruned over the years.

I want a garden shed like this in my backyard!

The best photo ops were of the flower arrangements.

A french horn and a willow variety that has flat branches. Very fun.

I don't know what these little yellow puff ball things are, but I like them a lot.

This was so cute, I included it even though it wasn't all in focus.

And last, but not least, my personal haul. Bill's going to be digging some new holes this weekend.

You might also enjoy:

Gardening for Wildlife - Find out how to create a backyard wildlife habitat.
Plants for Pacific Northwest Shade Gardens - A list of plants that have thrived in my gardens.

Artists Are Not Like Software Engineers

2012-02-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in a previous post, last year I joined an artist studio after having spent more than 20 years in high tech. While I've rubbed elbows with artistic types in the past, I've never been in a work environment with them before, and although this may not come as a surprise to you, what amounts to a revelation to me is this: Artists are not like software engineers.**

This fact first dawned on me during the studio annual meeting (required by regulation because of the studio's LLC status), which was held right after I joined. I'm used to business meetings being called and driven by a major stakeholder or owner of the project under discussion, or at least someone who has a lot of skin in the game. This person sets a formal agenda and keeps people focused on its points during the meeting. The goal is to reach agreement on how each point is to be addressed, and to assign action items to participants. Following the meeting, the owner follows up to make sure each action item is addressed and closed on and the results circulated to the meeting attendees according to an established timeline. (And of course, the fact that time is of the essence goes without saying.)

I submit that if you're a business professional, you've probably read the previous paragraph and thought, "And...?" But if you're an artist, you're likely squirming in discomfort entertaining the image of such an environment, and mentally looking for the Exit door. I could be wrong about this, of course, as I'm just in the learning phases about how artists experience such things. But at least based on my observations so far, artists don't tend to be nearly as linear in their thinking and their goals tend to be somewhat open-ended, allowing for unexpected things to occur. Serendipitous Things. Not that either approach to conducting one's particular type of business is better or worse than the other. The two are just very, very different.

So, back to my first studio meeting. There was a suggested time for us to get together, and when everyone had arrived, about 20 minutes or so after the suggested time (I was probably the only one who noticed), someone suggested that we look at the LLC documents to see what we were supposed to do. The documents were found and dug out of their folder, and it was determined that we needed to elect officers. The current president called for volunteers, and one person volunteered for each spot, while another person wrote down their names and positions on a piece of paper. Because we had a new treasurer, there was some discussion about the bank account and how money was collected and deposited. The departing treasurer indicated that people new to the LLC should go to the bank and sign the signature card. Next, the discussion turned to our studio party and somehow (I was unable to sort out how it happened) the date was picked, and a menu decided upon.

During the entire meeting, I was certain that nothing was going to emerge from this loosey-goosey approach but chaos, but fortunately had the good sense to keep my mouth firmly shut. After a surprisingly short period of time, the business part of the meeting faded into a purely social time, and that was that. Six months later, I can report that everything was carried off flawlessly, and with no fuss whatever. In fact, the way the studio operates is awesome, but I won't take more time for that here. I think I'm still a bit shocked.

So here's my attempt at a visual illustration of the two types of meetings. Interestingly, both software engineers and artists like to draw pictures (although software engineers like to call them "diagrams").

Typical Business Meeting in High Tech

Annual Studio Meeting

** Disclaimer: Of course, I realize that no person is purely artist or purely software engineer, or purely anything else for that matter. Individuals are always a mixture, and imposing stereotypes ensures that nuances will be missed. Nevertheless, I'm going to do it anyway because, taken as a group, IMHO artists are in fact very different from software engineers.

You might also enjoy:

Overcoming Fear of Paint - Someone once said to expand your abilities and horizons, you should do one thing a day that makes you afraid.
More Fear of Paint - I'm still putting lots of paint on the page while holding my breath.

Robin's Sketchbook, Children

2012-02-01T14:03:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pages from Robin's sketchbook, most of them with her notes as captions. This time the theme is "children." Robin is both mother and teacher, so she has lots of time to observe them in school and at play.

Another fun week of school!

Imagine feeling so cool in your bike helmet--that you wear it all day at work as these children did at school! The bikes were used in gym that week...

The school year is almost over!

Going to a high school soccer game.

A sunny day!

A stop at the Greenwood Library.

The students came to school today with Halloween costumes in their bags. It was lively all day! The candy wrappers will be crinkling tomorrow!

The Methow Valley was sunny and charming. From the roads up to the mountains for day hikes----it was beautiful!

You might also enjoy:

Robin's Sketchbook, Seattle Icons - Photos of a watercolor sketchbook.
Sketching on Location - Some of my own sketches.

Artists of the First Nations

2012-01-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

While my daughter and her boyfriend were visiting from Australia this week, we spent a few days in Vancouver, BC. One afternoon we went to the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Containing more than 38,000 objects, the museum is more than a bit overwhelming, so I decided to focus on the First Nations collection, totaling just 6700 objects (!). First Nations are the indigenous peoples of North America who have lived here for about 10,000 years. In the Pacific Northwest much of their tradition and culture has managed to survive* in spite of the concerted and ongoing efforts of European settlers, arriving in the 18th century, to eradicate it. Over the last decade or so, First Nations culture has finally attained a degree of respect.

Upon entering the museum we found ourselves in a lofty vestibule full of First Nation objects ranging from totem poles to canoes to wooden cooking boxes, all carved from Pacific Coast Cedar. After several minutes of walking around in rapt appreciation, I realized my mouth was wide open. I closed it, but it soon opened again for yet another, "Wow!"

Liz inspecting interior house posts

Left - woven rug, back right - wall decoration, front right - funeral box for a chief.

Carved poles were always painted, but most of them have long since lost their paint. This is a happy exception.

Ancestor figure.

Haisla canoe

Traditionally, First Nations people lived along the coast and next to waterways, as the inland forests were (and mostly still are) too dense for easy travel on foot. Their art and craft included no pottery, but rather relied on the wood and bark of the abundant cedar tree for nearly everything, even cooking pots and clothing. For weaving, they also used marsh grasses, in addition to bark.

Totem poles

Looking at this collection I was struck by the integration of art into the everyday things used by these people. Each item in the collection was beautifully formed, carved, and/or painted.

I finally tore myself away from the larger carvings and entered a series of smaller rooms filled with glass-enclosed shelves laden with myriad smaller, but equally artful, objects.

Cedar bark basket

I don't know what this carving might have been used for. Perhaps it was simply decorative.

This was worn about the neck, probably for ceremonial purposes.

Wouldn't this be a fabulous masquerade mask?

I can only try to imagine what these represented. Any ideas?

Beautifully carved ladles for trade.

Haida hat.

* The art of carving totem poles has been passed down and continues to this day. For examples, see John Joseph, Norman Tate, Harold Alfred, and Robert Davidson.

You might also enjoy:

Winslow Homer, The Color of Light, Behind the Scenes - Links to an online exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago
Robin's Sketchbook - Photos of a watercolor sketchbook.

Robin's Sketchbook, Seattle Icons

2012-01-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of interest among artists in sketch-booking these days. It's fun making sketches and people love looking at them, too. Robin Robins, a member of our watercolor meetup group, showed us her sketchbook the other day, and I enjoyed looking at it so much that I asked if I could share it with you, which she has generously agreed to allow.

I have a total of 30 photos of her sketches, which is far too many for a single post, so I'll divide them up and dribble out in smaller batches. For this post, I decided to share her Seattle icon sketches. Thanks, Robin!

Seattle Symphony playing in Benaroya Hall

Seattle Art Museum and the giant Hammering Man sculpture

Seattle Opera House

No eclectic collection of Seattle-abilia is complete without Pike Place Market

King Street Station

Ivar's Salmon House

Walkway around Greenlake

Swimming and boating in Greenlake

You might also enjoy:

Painting in the Manner of Thomas Schaller - I create a painting by following Thomas' painting process.
Overcoming Fear of Paint - Someone once said to expand your abilities and horizons, you should do one thing a day that makes you afraid.
More Fear of Paint - I'm still putting lots of paint on the page while holding my breath.

Gate C

2012-01-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

A story - Sometimes patience pays off, and sometimes it doesn't.

When I got there, the Gate C exit area was deserted. Good. It would be easier to detect the beginning of the next wave of arrivals and start the process of judging where they’d come from. A small group appeared from the gate area and proceeded through the large exit door. I examined them closely, looking for clues to their place of origin, but they could have come from anywhere, wearing or carrying jackets and coats appropriate for the Seattle winter, and having nondescript skin tones, with no evidence of recent sun exposure. The first group was followed by a succession of others just like them.

My attention began wandering, and without its discipline, my thoughts tumbled recklessly: “She’s almost here! I’ve missed her so much. She’s living her destiny that I somehow always expected. My intuition knew she’d live on a far away continent, and soon I’m going to see her again after more than a year.”

Teary eyes would not do for a greeting. I forced my attention back to watching the exit.

A man standing nearby shook his head and walked over to the escalator leading down to Baggage Claim. I fished out my cell phone and checked the time. It was a long walk from the gate to the exit, and barely 10 minutes had passed since the plane’s arrival. Even so, I felt compelled to ask the guard standing nearby if there was another way out from Gate C. No, he said. No other way.

I returned to my station and looked around the terminal, composing mental pictures of it to keep my mind occupied until the next wave of arrivals. A man and a woman walked over from the ticketing area and stood a few feet to my right.

I lifted my left foot a couple of inches from the floor and rotated it, then shifted to my right foot and did the same.

Another group began trickling through the exit. A bright floral-print shirt caught my attention. Next came a face with a leathery tan followed by a Hawaiian shirt, and finally the clincher, a silver jacket and matching silver flip-flops. The plane from LA.

My heart beat faster, and I took a deep breath to slow it back down. Eyes started to water again, so I focused intently on faces. Time passed. A tall man towered over the crowd. Was that an Acubra on his head? No, it wasn't her partner, Jim. Back to faces. Their numbers dwindled. How curious. Under the weight of a sinking heart, my feet stopped shifting and felt rooted to the floor.

The couple to my right put their heads together in discussion. “What plane are you waiting for?” I asked.

“The plane from LA,” the woman replied. “I’m going down to baggage and see if we missed them.” She disappeared down the elevator. After a few minutes she was back. “They’re all down in baggage.”

Forgetting to thank her or even look back, I dashed to the escalator.

You might also enjoy:

On Being a Role Model - My daughter Liz gets some bad news at school.
On Being Friends - Friends broaden my perspective on things, like what makes a good pet.

New Tab for Classes and Workshops

2012-01-18T07:26:00.001-08:00

Notice the new tab. I'm compiling a list of watercolor painting classes and workshops in the greater Seattle area. If you know of any I should add, please comment. Thanks! January 29 Update: I just added quite a few new workshops to the list.

Bertram's Waiting for Santa Already

2011-12-23T19:54:00.001-08:00