Welcoming wildlife

Wanting this bobcat to have a good life in our yards that border nearby preserves is why I rooted for AB-1322 via emails to elected officials. Predators like bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes and raptors are skilled hunters that too often fall victim to rodenticides that travel up the food chain.

This bobcat captured a midnight snack.

Presumably this is the same bobcat returning to continue the hunt.

Rufous/Allen’s hummingbird (Selasphorus sp.) working one of the Dudleya pulverulenta I planted on the slope a few years ago

Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) with Dudleya pulverulenta

Callianda x Sierra Starr® is a robust hybrid between Calliandra eriophylla (pink fairy duster) and Calliandra californica (Baja fairy duster) that keeps the hummingbirds very busy.

Great Basin western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis longipes) on the house

Very adorable and tiny Baja California tree frogs (Pseudacris hypochondriaca) often find cover in our potted plants from Andy’s Bromeliads, in this case a Hohenbergia.

A southern pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri) was eyeing me from beneath a chaparral mallow (Malacothamnus fasciculatus) I planted on the slope. Our yard and the preserve is clearly a great place for neighbors’ dogs to be permitted to run and dig off-leash.

greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

This may or may not be the racoon who flipped our container water garden sending the water lilies and lotuses everywhere. The garden is now caged.

chaparral yucca (Yucca whipplei) seed pods with full Moon

Walking while (overly) aware

I wonder how many people have passed this live oak in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve over the years without pulling knives on it and inviting pathogens for a picnic? Weak appeals to tradition could be made to justify new arborglyphs, none of which hold much water when we’re talking about trees in nature preserves; what these clowns did is no Chumash “scorpion tree.”

***

There’re still flowers to see in San Diego other than invasive mustard and ice plants despite our minimal rainfall over the winter. I enjoy the hunt.

brownspined pricklypear (Cylindropuntia californica var. parkeri), Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve

red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus), Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve

lanceleaf liveforever (Dudleya lanceolata), Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve

coyote (Canis latrans), Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve

climbing milkweed (Funastrum cynanchoides var. hartwegii), Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

San Diego barrel cactus (Ferocactus viridescens var. viridescens) with pink sand verbena (Abronia umbellata), Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

sacred datura (Datura wrightii), Torrey Pines State Beach

San Diego goldenstar (Bloomeria clevelandii), Louis Stelzer County Park

delicate clarkia (Clarkia delicata), Louis Stelzer County Park

San Bernardino larkspur (Delphinium parryi), Louis Stelzer County Park

A cherrypicked view from Kumeyaay Promontory at Louis Stelzer County Park sans enormous powerlines.

This is on the way to our trash and recycling bins. I suppose it's my version of a container garden. It started a couple of years ago with some Calorchortus weedii var. intermedius bulbs from Telos Rare Bulbs. Wildlife kept eating the emerging leaves, so I chucked in some Opuntia prolifera cladodes that had fallen from the one I planted at the end of the driveway. The Eschscholzia californica is a volunteer from elsewhere in the yard. Maybe next spring will finally be the year for that C. weedii.

California Native Plant Week

Homeowners nearby got California Native Plant Week started a little early by having a magnificent laurel sumac chopped down. I'd have been thrilled had it come with our house purchase instead of the acacias and ecosystem-altering saltcedar that's since been replaced with a bush rue. I'm hoping our immediate neighbors don't feel pressured to do the same with their lemonade berry; it's trimmed up into an open shape the fire department feels is acceptable for creating a defensible space and isn't going to be responsible for our homes burning down if disaster hits this canyon. Palm fronds grazing our homes’ roofs and embers landing in leaf-filled gutters are another story. Those things are easily addressed without leveling more habitat and making our views hideous, though the powers that be already accomplished the latter at least somewhat by festooning the canyon finger with colored tape last fall urging us to do the former.

I dried my eyes, blew my nose and headed down to Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve to escape the sounds of the chainsaws that were giving me chills and to remind myself of what made me want to live in this area in the first place.

Peñasquitos Creek riparian zone

Mountain lion snacks doing some pruning

It and other discarded masks left with me along with the usual wrappers and plastic bottles.

Parish's nightshade (Solanum parishii)

Coast prickly pear (Opuntia littoralis)

Sycamore and willow holding paws

I learned that our San Diego chapter of the California Native Plant Society is to have a new mascot based on Dudleya pulverulenta. I could have painted one at its plumpest, but liked the contrast of the curled leaves and lush center of this one. It shows how well adapted they are to surviving our dry season while remaining beautiful. The inspiration for this piece is growing near a narrow path that dips low next to a bridge that’s part of a multiuse trail in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. One day, I was standing in said spot photographing it and a guy on a mountain bike shouted down to me asking if I was going to move any time soon. He wanted to take the more challenging way down rather than riding across the bridge. I told him pleasantly that I wasn’t finished and that the path I was on is for pedestrians and equestrians. He retorted that he didn’t see any horses. I suggested he ride across the bridge which he proceeded to do while calling me a few choice words women tend to not appreciate. I’ve learned that trail usage signs do little to stop cyclists out there and that if I stand my ground on the pedestrian/equestrian trails they ride around me into the plants, so I’ve given up on that approach.

Chalk Dudleya (Dudleya pulverulenta). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 140lb hot press paper. 13” x 18” (33 x 46cm).

(Please click or tap on the image above if you’re interested in purchasing a fine art print. )

Wherever we rest our heads the vast majority of nights is our home. Unless we’re camping (or homeless), we leave the preserves and parks and return to our apartments, condos and houses at night. The plants and animals in them have nowhere else to go, thus it’s my opinion that we owe them the right of way when we’re in their home.

California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) and white sages (Salvia apiana) are putting on a show in our yard as are many other sages and wildflowers.

Northern harrier

I'd have thought I was watching a short-eared owl hunting if I didn't know our birds of prey fairly well. Their methods are similar and northern harriers have a pretty flat, owlish face for a hawk. They seem to really like Lopez Canyon which connects to our canyon and don't appear to be as bothered by the established invasive mustard as I am. An enormous striped skunk was foraging busily nearby and the hawk did take a brief look, but who in their right mind would tackle that?!

This would make a fitting profile shot for me if I were still able to stomach social media.

Long Shadows in Lopez Canyon. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 15" x 19" (38 x 48cm).

Here’s a slope cleared for the purpose of creating defensible space for a home backing up to Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. Nature abhors a vacuum and the invasive plants that renew annually take hold and reseed heavily when we don’t stay ahead of them. I spend more time than I’d like weeding in order to keep the worst of them at bay. At least it’s “yoga” in the company of wildlife with the scent of my Cleveland sages and others nearby to cheer me on.

I can’t mention Hawaiian short-eared owls without including a shot of one soaring within a Haleakalā National Park cloud. These are moments one never forgets.

Acorn Woodpecker with starling flight

European starlings aren’t native to this country, but I appreciate them anyway. Their beautiful murmurations are grand enough to make the news at times. This photograph captured a more subtle flight. At the far left you can see an acorn woodpecker watching them jockeying for position among the branches of a California sycamore filled with woodpecker nest cavities.

Nature to the rescue

This isn’t the same pair of great horned owls as was shown mating in a recent post of mine. They also live in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve here in San Diego about a mile west of the others, though I suppose they’re still slumming it in the eyes of some owls since they live east of the 5. Years ago, I was able to come to the conclusion that this isn’t the same pair as the other one by being present for their evening wake up routines at the same time on different days on multiple occasions. I'd not visited this pair in awhile. Their territory is farther from the house with a rockier walk up and out left to contend with in the dark which was done last night while listening to the hauntingly beautiful sound of howling coyotes. I also try to see the closer pair more often because I’d like to figure out where they choose to nest, if indeed they do, and if it’s in a spot I can observe without venturing off trail or onto private property.

We were fortunate to see this male sail silently over our heads and land in a distant tree where he began hooting to his mate. She flew out from deep in the woods along the creek to a spot in a bare California sycamore. They followed each other into inaccessible darkness after a brief duet.

This is the male great horned owl. He has deeper hoots than she does.

That’s the female.

Zooming out, you can see them in their respective perches here. I was shooting with a 100-400mm telephoto lens and keeping my distance from them so as not to impact their behavior.

It left with me.

With so little else open during this pandemic, our local preserves and state parks are getting even more trashed than usual. These spaces were set aside first and foremost to protect the remnants of what was here after people began bulldozing land for our sprawling homes, office parks and large scale agriculture. It’s possible to recreate in them and celebrate their beauty while treating them with respect, but that requires thinking about the consequences of our actions. Discarding plastic, cigarette butts and tearing up narrow trails made more fragile by winter rains and heavy fog threatens the plants and wildlife that live within these areas. They have no other homes to retreat to.

This wintry sunset in beautiful Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve required no editing in Photoshop.

Prints of this photograph may be purchased by clicking on the image.

Happy New Year. Thanks for your continued emotional and financial support of living artists, any living artist. I’d say 2021 can’t be any worse than what we’ve just experienced, but entropy is clearly still a thing.

—Robin Street-Morris

California kingsnake

I was thrilled to see this California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae) heading across a trail in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. Had I not been looking down, I could have easily stepped on it or put the front wheel of one of my bikes across its back. Flattened animals and plants are situations I encounter in our San Diego preserves all too often. I stuck around until it made its way safely across.

Owl encounter

I’ve never seen a bird I didn’t like. That said, I do have my favorites and owls are among them. My first owl sighting was of a snowy in Michigan many years ago while traveling between Ann Arbor and Lansing to drop off some art at a show. That’s a particularly ethereal species that leaves a lasting impression. I was fortunate to see two more snowies near Kansas City during an irruption year. Great horned owls are similarly charismatic. I really got into watching them in St. Louis, first with the guidance of naturalist and friend Mark Glenshaw and then on my own. It’s a pursuit that followed me to San Diego where I’ve continued to seek out new pairs of this species and others. So far, I’ve seen many great horned owls, barn owls and western screech-owls in the preserves, burrowing owls at Ramona Grasslands and Mission Bay, and long-eared owls in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The California spotted owl is my white whale and will likely require many more trips to the mountains if I’m ever to catch a glimpse of one.

The first pair of great horned owls I encountered in San Diego and made a point of visiting for years were (are, hopefully) in Tecolote Canyon Natural Park. Most of my sustained observations of particular pairs have been in Western Hills Neighborhood Park, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve Extension and here in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. I’m aware of three pairs in the main canyon, but there are likely quite a few more given the density of quality habitat and abundance of prey. After checking on some plants in the canyon and picking up trash yesterday, I walked over to see if I could catch glimpses of the pair closest to my home. I heard them dueting deep in the live oaks over the bubbling of the creek. Eventually the female flew out and pinnacled on a California sycamore branch. She continued hooting back to him until he flew over to her to mate. She flew north out of sight shortly afterward with me being unable to reacquire her without trampling plants and wandering through people’s yards. Unlike some other pairs of these owls I’ve watched from the beginning of the nesting season to owlets going off to find their own territories, I’ve yet to see these birds nest. The winter rains arrive and the preserve closes due to dangerous flooding and to keep people off the trails that degrade very easily when they’re wet. Maybe some day I’ll get lucky. Even if I don’t, it’s comforting to know they’re there going about their lives in an area that’s been set aside for wildlife, rare native plants and us.

Riparian Fog at Dawn

The above habitat is part of the owls’ territory and includes the tree they mated in. Prints of this photograph may be purchased by clicking on said image.

Coast cholla (Cylindropuntia prolifera)

This is my favorite cholla species. Yes, I have a favorite cholla species. The one I purchased from Moosa Creek a few years ago bloomed for the first time this spring. This photo is of one growing in situ near the waterfall in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve.

You can learn more about this plant here.

Mariposa lily

When I first saw Weed's mariposa lilies blooming years ago in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, I was struck by their unique beauty.  Mariposa is the Spanish word for "butterfly" and it's easy to see how they earned that common name when one witnesses them fluttering in the breeze.  As with too many of my favorite species that have a limited range in our southern California and Baja California region, its conservation status is vulnerable due to habitat loss from development.  

Weed’s mariposa lily (Calochortus weedii var. weedii)

Better late than never

Self-promotion is the dullest and most nauseating aspect of being a professional artist for me. If I were better at it, I’d have mentioned sooner that a mixed media painting of mine, Los Peñasquitos Canyon XI, was selected for inclusion in Into the Light, an exhibition at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, California. Though the receptions have come and gone, this piece and many other fine works I’m proud to have mine hanging near will be on display through March, 28th 2020. It was inspired by an afternoon ramble through the magical tunnels of oaks, sycamores and understory in the nature preserve I live, work and play at being a naturalist within. I’m so dreadful at pretending to be the interesting, artsy type people want to get to know that I didn’t even put on my name tag at the first reception of the show and scurried back down the 5 to San Diego after quietly making two rounds of the gallery to enjoy everyone’s contributions. The second I missed because I was exhausted after a day of hiking with a heavy backpack of camera equipment at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve while taking photos and picking up trash.

Los Peñasquitos Canyon XI. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 13” x 19” (33 x 48cm).

Two recent pieces inspired by our local preserves are more somber.  Manifest Destiny is my visual response to a nearby canyon finger being bulldozed for development.  While this had been the plan for a long time, hearing the destruction taking place from my home studio and then seeing how a once verdant section of chaparral had been flattened was distressing.  There doesn't seem to be enough destruction of habitat to fill our insatiable desire for expansion.  Had I not been a kid living many states away when our house was built, I'd very likely have been opposed to its creation where it is.  I've been doing my best to give the land outside of the structure's footprint back to the local wildlife by planting native flora it can use.  It's a joy to welcome all of the songbirds, raptors, insects, coyotes, snakes, bobcats, mule deer and others to the yard. 

Manifest Destiny. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14” x 20” (35 x 51cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve with Anthropogenic Starlight is an observation of our disappearing night skies.  The pervasive glow exemplifies humanity's exploitation of this small planet we share with other living things. Light from our collective restlessness has snuffed our views of the seemingly timeless wonder that is the Milky Way in all but the most rural areas that some of us are hell-bent on developing further. 

Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve With Anthropogenic Starlight. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14” x 20” (35 x 51cm).

Less depressing is this recent piece inspired by a cloud-top green flash I was fortunate to witness in La Jolla by the Children’s Pool, a beach famous for its adorable harbor seals who often swim right up to me in nearby La Jolla Cove when I’m there snorkeling.

Sea of Fog with Green Flash. Transparent watercolor with powdered soft pastel on 300lb rough press paper. 14” x 19” (36 x 48cm).

As is most often the case, clicking on any of the above images of my landscape paintings will take you to a reputable art print service with a money back guarantee. If you’re interested in owning one of my originals, shoot me a message through the tab here that reads “Contact.” Thanks for supporting living artists.

—Robin Street-Morris

Paintings inspired by Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve and Del Mar Mesa Preserve

I thought it was worth showcasing part of my ever-growing body of landscape art that celebrates views from the chaparral-covered mesas, hillsides and riparian corridors of Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve and Del Mar Mesa Preserve. These are unique and beautiful habitats that are becoming increasingly rare in San Diego County as shortsighted developers continue their attempts to level them.

These mixed media pieces were made by combining professional, transparent watercolor pigments and powdered soft pastels of the highest quality on 300lb Arches hot or cold press paper to imbue them with an ethereal, dream-like quality.

Los Peñasquitos Canyon XVII. 2019. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 15" x 19" (38 x 48cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve I. Watercolor and pastel on 300lb hot press paper.
14" x 19.75" (36 x 50cm).

Chaparral Path To Black Mountain I. Watercolor and pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 12" x 18" (31 x 46cm).

Afterglow. Watercolor and pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Crepuscule (Los Peñasquitos Canyon XIV)". Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon VI. Watercolor and pastel on 300lb cold press paper.
14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon VII (Approaching Storm). Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon with Black Mountain III. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 51cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon VIII (the Swallows Return). Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Last Light with Moonrise over Iron Mountain. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 53cm

Los Peñasquitos Canyon IV. Watercolor and pastel on 300lb hot press paper.
12" x 16" (31 x 41cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon XI. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon XIII (Coastal Fog at Dawn). Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Chaparral Path to Black Mountain II. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper.
15" x 19" (38 x 48cm).

Coastal Preserve with Invasive Mustard Plant (Lopez Canyon I). Watercolor and pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 15" x 19" (38 x 48cm).

Departure (Crows at Dawn). Watercolor and soft pastel on 140lb cold press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Asterism over Black Mountain. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 21" (36 x 53cm).

Bank of Passing Clouds. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 15" x 20" (38 x 51cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve XII (Walking with Bats and Owls). Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon IX. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 13" x 20" (33 x 51cm).

Westbound at Dawn. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 51cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon XV. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 51cm).

Crepuscule II. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Waxing Moon with Chaparral and Power Lines. Watercolor and pastel on 300lb hot press paper.
8" x 16" (20 x 41cm).

Winter Storm (Mammatus Clouds over Black Mountain). Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon XVI. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 51cm).

A bouquet of southern California wildflowers.

Sunshine has been a bit of a stranger here in coastal San Diego as of late. Our typical May gray and June gloom months have brought moisture that we typically only see in the form of heavy fog at this time of year. It’s a perfect evening to gather together a few of my favorite wildflower photos from this spring and summer as the bloom continues, albeit in a more subtle way than that which made national news. The desert “super blooms” attract large crowds, but there are always plants present to be appreciated no matter the time of year, particularly if you enjoy the hunt as I do.

California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), beach sand verbena (Abronia umbellata) and common phacelia (Phacelia distans) overlook the Pacific Ocean at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in La Jolla.

Ground pink (Linanthus dianthiflorus) growing in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve in San Diego.

Desert or Ajo lily (Hesperocallis undulata) is both beautiful and wonderfully fragrant. I spotted this one growing in the Coyote Canyon area of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Borrego Springs.

Desert five-spot (Eremalche rotundifolia) is a favorite desert sight of mine and one I got to enjoy during multiple trips to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park this spring. Unfortunately, my attempts at growing it from seed myself weren’t as successful as they were last year due to wildlife interference. I’ll sow more seed when winter rains arrive.

Rays of sunshine and Parish's poppies (Eschscholzia parishii) are framed by the ever sculptural and graceful ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) along the Cactus Trail at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

California centaury (Zeltnera venusta) glow in the setting sun on Del Mar Mesa Preserve near my studio.

Giant coreopsis (Leptosyne gigantea) blooming on Santa Cruz Island, part of Channel Islands National Park off of the coast of Los Angeles.

The citrusy fragrance of Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii) blends with the scent of ocean air at Torrey Pines State Beach just after dawn.

A splended mariposa lily (Calochortus splendens) glows in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve.

Calico cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii). Mojave National Preserve between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

I watch for the emerging leaves and developing buds of Weed's mariposa lily (Calochortus weedii) every spring in nearby Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, Del Mar Mesa Preserve and at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, the latter being where I took this photograph.

I believe the featured cactus here is Mojave prickly pear (Opuntia erinacea). A strangely cool for late May day that was mostly cloudy made for a memorable walk in Mohave National Preserve. It was exploding with colorful desert flowers and I wish I’d had many more hours there to explore.

Switching gears a bit, two of my mixed-media paintings inspired by California wildflowers I admired in situ were featured in “The Art of the Wildflower,” an exhibition during Wildflower Week at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, California. From their website: “Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is the largest botanic garden dedicated to California native plants, promoting botany, conservation and horticulture to inspire, inform and educate the public and scientific community about California's native flora. The Garden is a living museum with curated collections of more than 22,000 California native plants, some of which are rare or endangered. Spread across 86 acres in Claremont, California, the Garden is located approximately 35 miles east of Los Angeles. The Garden displays about 2000 taxa of California plants and includes those native to the California Floristic Province.”

As with the wildflower photographs above, you will find prints of these paintings for purchase in a wide range of sizes and on different surfaces by clicking on the images. Please email me if you’re interested in owning one of the original paintings.

Thanks for supporting living artists.

—Robin Street-Morris

Weed’s Mariposa Lily (Calochortus weedii). 2019. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica ). 2018. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 19" x 13" (48 x 33 cm).

A new landscape painting and two upcoming exhibitions.

I'm pleased to share that my mixed media painting titled Crepuscule (Los Peñasquitos Canyon XIV) was selected for inclusion in the 89th Annual Statewide California Landscapes Exhibition in Santa Cruz by artist and juror Ed Penniman . This piece was inspired by my evening nature hikes to look for owls and other fauna in the beautiful nature preserve that surrounds my home and studio here in San Diego.

The exhibition will run from Friday, March 1st through Sunday, April 14th, 2019. The opening reception is during First Friday Art Walk on March 1st from 6 to 8 pm at the Santa Cruz Art League located at 526 Broadway.

Robin Street-Morris. Crepuscule (Los Peñasquitos Canyon XIV). 2016. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

My mixed media painting titled Cloudburst at Sea, inspired by an incoming storm I witnessed over the Pacific Ocean, was selected by juror Gregory Jecmen, Associate Curator of Old Master Prints at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., for inclusion in the 2019 Art on Paper exhibition at the Maryland Federation of Art's Circle Gallery in Annapolis.

This exhibition will be on view from March 28th to April 27th, 2019. The reception is April 7th from 3-5 p.m. at 18 State Circle in Annapolis, Maryland.

Robin Street-Morris. Cloudburst at Sea. 2016. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

It’s been a decidedly wet winter here in San Diego, so getting out on our trails and even getting shots of my paintings in natural sunlight has been a challenge. When the wider trails in the canyon have been traversable, there have still been stretches with pools of water to navigate like the one that inspired the reflected sunset in this mixed media piece. Coyotes, owls and frogs were calling all around me.

Robin Street-Morris. Los Peñasquitos Canyon XVI. 2019. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 51cm).

Prints of all three of these landscape paintings may be purchased on a variety of surfaces by clicking on their images. Originals may be inquired about by sending me an email. Thanks for looking and supporting living artists.

—Robin Street-Morris

Three birds

Two of these pieces are mixed media paintings, one a photograph. All are inspired by birds I’ve met recently while continuing to explore nearby Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve and Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve here in San Diego, California. Prints can be purchased by clicking on the individual images.

Walking Among Barn Owls. 2018. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 48cm).

Raven with Torrey Pine Branch and Cold Moon. 2019. Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Great Horned Owl with Winter Moon II. 2018. Digital photograph.