Paying my respects

It's been over a year since a catastrophic wildfire swept through Cima Dome in Mojave National Preserve. Having recently read about restoration efforts in progress gave me the courage to walk the snowy Teutonia Peak Trail on the first day of 2022. Many of the statuesque joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) who perished were significantly older than our comparatively nascent U.S.A..

Before the Dome Fire.

After.

I found no signs of this beautiful Mojave pricklypear (Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea).

Mojave kingcup cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus ssp. mojavensis)

This Mojave kingcup was no match for a fire of that intensity.

Engelmann's hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii ssp. engelmannii) didn’t make it.

Blackened joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) sprouting from its base.

While there, I contemplated the Biden administration’s decision to approve more large scale solar farms in our deserts. I understand the urgent need to do something to faze out our dependence on fossil fuels, both to curb rising CO2 emissions and because they're finite resources. We’ve got a few years before entropy decommissions the Sun which makes adding solar infrastructure a great choice, but it's difficult for me to accept that the best way to continue harnessing its power is by bulldozing habitat that doesn’t resemble Tatooine in the slightest. In addition to parched farmland that’s no longer viable due to our water crisis, there are many rooftops and parking lots where solar could be installed. That would require our elected officials putting utility companies that are inexplicably encouraged to profit off of a basic need in their places, so I won't be holding my breath.

Desert iguana says, “Hey, this is my home!”

Robin Street-Morris. Passage X (Homeward Through Mojave Wilderness). Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 15" x 19" (38 x 48cm).

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Closer to home, I recently experienced a wonderful encounter with a resident bobcat in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. We locked eyes briefly before it disappeared into the riparian vegetation along the year-round creek.

Robin Street-Morris. Gaze II (Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve Bobcat). Colored pencil on 300lb cold press paper. 13” x 15” (33 x 38cm).

A few moments in Wilderness Gardens County Preserve

This is a species that results in muffled squeals when I find one. Everything about it is beautiful in my opinion. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with myself for having left my macro lens at home.

California Peony (Paeonia californica)

Kumeyaay Ehmuu (Bedrock Mortar) with Oak Leaf and Acorn

These are used by native people to grind acorns and other foods.

Discarded Butt

If this action had resulted in an inferno, would it really have been a “wildfire?” Careless arson is more like it. And the native plant “fuel” would be blamed.

Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum) with Buffalo Gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima)

Coyote Stare

It was a brief encounter and wonderful as always. Coyotes who aren’t fed by humans will be out of sight shortly after you see them.

Fingertips (Dudleya edulis) and Chaparral Yucca Remains (Hesperoyucca whipplei)

I planted this very combination in our backyard years ago and both have become huge. Sea dahlias (Leptosyne maritima) have woven themselves through the chaparral yucca and are currently blooming; the latter will send up a large inflorescence at some point, bloom profusely and then die. Sculptural hardly covers it.

A heartfelt thank you to the people who saved this land for the native plants, wildlife and us to enjoy respectfully. Some “things” are irreplaceable.

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