Comic-Con Art Show 2022

Here are the eight pieces of original art I framed with archival materials for the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con Art Show. It’s taking place July 21st through July 24th. I'll have two panels of work for sale in auction format. The Art Show is located in the lobby level of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in Grand Hall CD along with this year's Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. Doors will be open Thursday & Friday: 9:00 AM–9:00 PM, Saturday: 9:00 AM–6:00 PM and Sunday: 9:00 AM–7:00 PM. Silent auction final bidding closes Saturday at 6:00 PM. Winning bids are posted at 9:00 AM Sunday morning. All purchased art must be picked up Sunday by 6:30 PM. You don’t have to have a Comic-Con badge to visit the art show.

If you see a piece you’re interested in owning, please send me a message, as I have other work I can hang. Prints may be ordered by tapping on the images of the art below. Thanks for supporting living artists!

-Robin Street-Morris

Robin Street-Morris. Puma. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb incised hot press paper. 10" x 17.5" (25 x 44cm).

Robin Street-Morris. Sleeping Volcanoes with Evening Star. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Robin Street-Morris. Phantasm (White Whale). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 13” x 21” (33 x 53cm).

Robin Street-Morris. Empyreal Brume. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 21" (36 x 53cm).

Robin Street-Morris. Storm. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 8” x 8” (20 x 20cm).

Robin Street-Morris Celebrant (Raven at Skull Rock). Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 14” x 19” (36 x 48cm).

Robin Street-Morris. The Stare (Owl Moon VI). Transparent watercolor, colored pencil and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 13” x 13” (33 x 33cm).

Robin Street-Morris. Black Widow Moon. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 140lb hot press paper. 12" x 18" (30 x 46cm).

Yeah, I'm talking about island foxes again...

I have educated guesses about good spots to watch for island foxes on various California Channel Islands. Not unexpectedly, they're creatures of habit to some extent like our mainland bobcat and coyote neighbors. I sat down low on the slope by Banning House Lodge hoping to capture a Catalina Island fox with my 100-400mm lens. When one padded through, there were quite a few people up top eating and drinking in the courtyard which is a shared space for guests to come and go as they please. It didn't take long for some of them to start squealing at the cuteness and conjecturing about what it was. "I thought foxes are black." What? "Oh, look! It's a baaaby!" Nope. "Is it going to come up here and give us rabies?" [sigh] Someone spotted me photographing this charismatic apex predator and tried to shush their crew, but the fox was already on its way down the hill, quite understandably wanting nothing to do with us unless we’ve left food out. If you know me, you're likely aware that my brand of polite in public is a smile and a "hey" before we go on about our respective business, me as quickly as possible. Public speaking is my idea of living hell and I don't enjoy being in large groups, particularly when observing nature, but the comments I heard inspired me to walk up the hill. The intensity of my fox watching was noted by a table of people and I proceeded to present Island Fox Natural History 101 which I only feel somewhat qualified to deliver due to lots of reading, attending online seminars about them and a growing bit of first hand observation. I wrapped things up with the suggestion that they do an Internet search for Friends of the Island Fox if they want to learn more about its life history and ongoing studies and conservation efforts. Hopefully even one of them will follow through with that and maybe even throw a couple of bucks for research said organization's way.

coastal pricklypear (Opuntia littoralis)

Catalina California Quail (Callipepla californica catalinensis)

Looking toward the California mainland past Ship Rock. Word on the street is that it’s a good spot for seeing larger great whites than the juveniles I’ve seen in San Diego.

I hung out inside this bait ball on one of my swims which is always a magical experience.

An old man wishing for younger days .

Hopefully see you again soon, fox.

Celebrant (Raven at Skull Rock)

This mixed media painting screams “every day is Halloween.” It’s loosely inspired by Skull Rock in Joshua Tree National Park. Truth be told, there was a much smaller scrub jay perched on said rock formation, the raven was near a campground and the sky didn’t suggest the 15 was on fire. Combining imagery, simplifying some elements and adding others where they are not is part of what makes art art in my opinion.

I'm planning on framing this piece for my display in the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con Art Show running July 21st-July 24th. I'll have two panels of my original work for sale in auction format. The Art Show is located in the lobby level of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in Grand Hall CD along with this year's Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. Doors will be open Thursday & Friday: 9:00 AM–9:00 PM, Saturday: 9:00 AM–6:00 PM and Sunday: 9:00 AM–7:00 PM. Silent auction final bidding closes Saturday at 6:00 PM. Winning bids are posted at 9:00 AM Sunday morning. All purchased art must be picked up Sunday by 6:30 PM.

Much of the diverse work in my own studio was purchased at this annual event. If you’re local or in town for the con, please consider dropping into the art show and supporting living artists. You don’t need a badge to enter the Manchester Grand Hyatt to check it out.

Robin Street-Morris Celebrant (Raven at Skull Rock). Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 14” x 19” (36 x 48cm).

Please tap on the image of the art if you’d like to view print options. Select the Purchase Original Art tab in the navigation bar if you’re interested in owning the original.

Blue whales are in town!

We spotted three blues and one fin yesterday under June Gloom skies. This kind of lighting doesn’t make for epic photography, but you’ll never catch me complaining about moisture in the air. It keeps vegetation from drying out sooner than it must and me from cooking as well.

I spotted a handful of Haller's round rays (Urobatis halleri) in Quivera Basin.

Jellyfish? Nope. It’s our plastic trash floating in the ocean that sea turtles and other marine life mistake for food.

Eat up, California ground squirrel! If only they’d consume all of that brutally invasive ice plant.

Something about this great blue heron (Ardea herodias) walking across a sea of greenery amused me. They’re common in Mission Bay which doesn’t make them any less fun to watch.

Our first rorqual sighting of the day was this fin whale. They’re the second largest whale after the blue and extremely fast. You can learn about them here.

Blue whale! If you squint you can barely make out the San Diego coastline in the distance. They’re the largest known animal to have ever inhabited Earth.

Check out the tiny dorsal fin on this blue.

The second blue whale we spotted has a larger, curved dorsal fin.

We were lucky to catch a glimpse of the one blue’s fluke (tail). Typically when we get a good look at their flukes straight up it means they’ve gone down on a deep dive. That they weren’t throwing them high suggests the krill they were feeding on were somewhat near the surface.

I’d have loved to get closer to this northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), but sometimes we have to accept these proof of life nature moments for what they are which is good enough for iNaturalist data.

This western gull (Larus occidentalis) was hoping we were a fishing vessel. I still like them even though they’ve stolen lunch straight out of my hands.

Owl Moon VI (Barn Owl)

This is the latest in my Owl Moon series. As always, it was inspired by an actual owl encounter. This barn owl was perched in a palm and peeking around the corner at me, no doubt hoping I’d leave and stop scaring any nearby mice and rats away. Their eyesight is keen, but they hunt primarily by listening.

Robin Street-Morris. Owl Moon VI (Barn Owl with Crescent Moon). Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 9.5” x 9.5” (24 x 24cm).

If you’d like to purchase a print, please tap on the image of the art. Contact me directly if you’re interested in owning the original painting. As always, thanks for supporting living artists.

Hummingbird flight

The Cedros Island bush snapdragon (Gambelia juncea) being worked by this Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) in our backyard is native to nearby Baja, California, Mexico. Hummingbird flight is truly remarkable and you can read about it here if you’re interested.

Formations

I've been sluicing ore for a few years from a local mine here in San Diego County located along the way to Palomar Mountain State Park and I made a friend. She wants to see more of the gem etc.-inspired work I created back in the day and I made this blog post for her. The pink tourmaline piece was made in response to an image of "Pala pink" long before San Diego was on my radar when I was working at the Exhibit Museum of Natural History (now the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History) in Ann, Arbor Michigan. I could see revisiting this source of inspiration based upon specimens I've found myself, but I'm mostly personal landscape-driven these days. Who knows, though? I enjoy having an arsenal of overlapping interests that continues to inspire me. They are all rooted in natural history.

Please tap on the images of the art below if you’re interested in purchasing a print of one of these. Contact me via the “purchase original art” tab in the navigation bar above if you’d like to inquire about original art.

Tourmaline. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 18” x 28” (46 x 71cm).

Chrysocolla I. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 20” x 20” (51 x 51cm).

The above piece was juried into a group show at the Ford Center in Dearborn, Michigan. I never submitted the rest of this art for anything.

Smithsonite I. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 8” x 10” (20 x 25cm).

Smithsonite II. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 11” x 15” (28 x 38cm).

Dispersion. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 8” x 11” (20 x 28cm).

Glacial I. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 8” x 10” (20 x 25cm).

Glacial II. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 140lb hot press paper. 12.75” x 20” (32 x 51cm).

Emerald. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 18” x 28” (46 x 71cm).

Flourite. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 18” x 28” (46 x 71cm).

Ruby. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 10” x 16” (25 x 41cm).

Nebulous. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 8” x 11” (20 x 28cm).

Opal. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 18” x 28” (46 x 71cm).

Fossil I. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 140lb hot press paper. 14.25” x 22” (36 x 56cm).

Fossil II. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 140lb hot press paper. 14.25” x 22” (36 x 56cm).

Fossil III. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 140lb hot press paper. 14.25” x 22” (36 x 56cm).

Fossil IV. Transparent watercolor and colored pastel on 140lb press paper. 14.25” x 22” (36 x 56cm).

Ammolite. Transparent watercolor and colored pencil on 300lb hot press paper. 14.25” x 22” (36 x 56cm).

A March visit to San Diego's desert

On the other side of the mountains from coastal San Diego lies the Sonoran Desert, an ecoregion that spans multiple states in two countries. As Earth’s most biologically diverse desert, its intrinsic and aesthetic value is immeasurable.

ccotillos (Fouquieria splendens) at dawn

ghost flower (Mohavea confertiflora)

Bigelow's monkeyflower (Mimulus bigelovii)

This California barrel cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus) is beautiful even in death.

Gander's cholla (Cylindropuntia ganderi) backlit at dawn

A male Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae) perched on a creosote bush (Larrea tridentata)

As with many areas of the desert where human activity has disturbed the cryptobiotic crusts, invasive, highly flammable grasses and other weeds from overseas have set up shop in Galleta Meadows. It’s an impressive sculpture park that gets a lot of foot traffic—and car traffic despite the signs asking people to park along the road and walk a bit. There is, or was, a particularly grand desert lily I make a point of visiting there and it was nowhere to be found this spring. Its emergence may have been impacted by the mechanical method used to clear weeds from around the creosote shrubs; it shredded desert lily leaves and unearthed the bulbs of very young plants that were still close to the surface (they sink lower as the plants mature). I wish I'd documented the tiny, unearthed bulbs before frantically replanting them as best I could with my hands, but it didn’t cross my mind in the moment.

Desert lilies (Hesperocallis undulata) have a fragrance that matches the beauty of their blossoms and leaves. The leaf damage is apparent here.

This is the mature desert lily I was unable to find this year.

A male phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens)

A queen butterfly (Danaus gilippus) working Hartweg's climbing milkweed (Funastrum heterophyllum)

This Coquillettapis sp. bee was curled up for the evening in a desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) blossom.

dune scorpion (Smeringurus mesaensis)

There are eight desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis ssp. nelsoni), including two lambs, blending into the pale rocks here. I heard them charging up the mountain before I saw them.

After talking to the rangers about doing so, I set up my camera trap to see who might visit the spring running through the campground during our stay. This coyote walked off with an early morning snack of what was most likely a Baja California treefrog. I hope to “catch” a fox here someday.

Robin Street-Morris. Desert Star Rise. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

NightVisions 2022

My mixed media painting titled Oasis was selected by a panel of four jurors for inclusion in NightVisions 2022 at the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff, Arizona. The exhibition is being produced by Creative Flagstaff in collaboration with Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition. The exhibition dates are May 21st – August 27th, 2022. The opening reception is Saturday, May 21st with a members and special guests preview from 5-6 pm. There will be a keynote lecture at 6 pm by astronomer David Levy who co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 in 1993. The public reception is from 6-8 pm.

My inspiration for this piece was spending a late evening looking up outside our tiny cabin at Twentynine Palms Inn near Joshua Tree National Park. We’d just gotten to see Saturn’s rings through a volunteer’s telescope at Sky’s the Limit Observatory and Nature Center.

Oasis. Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 51cm).

(Please tap on the art if you’re interested in a print.)

Desert View with Starlight and Cactus (at Anza Borrego). Watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

The above is a companion piece to Oasis that I didn’t submit to the call for entry. I’m not intent on selling the original due to its sentimental value, but prints are available if you tap on the art.

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

Cypripedium montanum

I made this Cypripedium montanum-inspired painting in celebration of the two plants I found during my visit to Yosemite National Park. It was a dream of mine to see them growing in situ. When nature is in balance, the giant sequoias’ shaded understories can be full of incredible plant life which in turn supports diverse wildlife.

Understory Jewel (Cypripedium montanum). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14” x 19” (36 x 48cm).

If you’re interested in purchasing a print of this piece, please tap on the image of the painting.

I will have this mixed media painting and a few others on display in the San Diego County Orchid Society’s spring show next week at the Scottish Rite Center. Details may be found here.

Moonrise, Moonset

One coyote was calling.

This Costa’s hummingbird (Calypte costae) was bathing in a flow from the spring at first light with no other humans out and about in the campground. We saw Baja California treefrogs mating in it the night before.

Said Costa’s hummingbird and his competitors were guarding this Lycium fremontii shrub and others of its kind.

Another Costa’s working chuparosa (Justicia californica) along the Marsh Trail.

Encelia farinosa

A native bee foraging in Ferocactus cylindraceus

Palafoxia arida

It’s not going to be a “hashtag superbloom” year in our desert, but I saw pockets of germination. Plant enthusiasts who enjoy the hunt will be rewarded by a bloom here and there.

Mammillaria dioica

I carried this stick insect out of a camp bathroom.

Long-eared owls see us all, even while slumbering.

Sea dahlias

It’s sea dahlia time, both in our garden and what’s been preserved of San Diego’s coastal strand and coastal sage scrub. Once these perennials finish flowering for the year, they’ll enter summer dormancy and receive very little garden water. I trim the leaves once they’re brown and accept that having some “dead” sticks in the yard is worth it for the show they put on in the spring. They reseed easily if you let them—I’ve even got some popping up in my giant pot of spare coastal cholla pieces which is somehow a thing I have.

View from the Guy Fleming Trail at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

Backlit beauty

I watched this California ground squirrel inhale blossom after blossom after snacking on Phacelia leaves.

Katydid nymph in our garden. Visit the California Native Plant Society-San Diego Chapter’s seed shop if you’d like to grow this plant yourself.

Great white sharks!

The water has been calm around here as of late and I knew the conditions were perfect for spotting sharks and other ocean life from the cliffs at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. I was super excited to see three juvenile great white sharks as well as harbor seals and nearshore bottlenose dolphins.

It might be tough to see them on a smartphone screen, but there’re two sharks here—one at the far left and one on the right.

It’s pretty easy to tell the dolphins and sharks apart even at a distance.

It’s a delight having harbor seals whiz past me when I’m snorkeling.

Whale watching in Monterey

Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) in 2009 is where and when I saw my first cetacean in the wild, a mammal-eating transient killer whale. Since moving to San Diego, I’ve been able to observe many more species between Cabo San Lucas and Victoria, including around the Farallon and Channel Islands. One of my favorite things to do is park myself on a bench at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and watch the eastern North Pacific gray whales hugging our coastline for relative safety. They make trips between their feeding grounds in the Arctic and where they most often give birth in Baja, California (Mexico). Some do so along the way and I’ve been lucky to see a newborn calf in San Diego waters that still had its natal folds. They make these perilous semiannual journeys in the presence of large ships and pods of killer whales that prey on the young grays. It’s about 6,000 miles each way.

Being up in Monterey for a few days recently afforded me the opportunity to head out with Monterey Bay Whale Watch again.

Southern sea otter with a crown of sparkles

A humpback whale lunge feeding on a school of fish with shorebirds dining as well

The mighty back of a humpback whale

The darker bands above the coastline are smoke from the wildfire near Big Sur which we’d planned on revisiting for two nights till the 1 was shut down. It was started by an ember blown from a burn pile inexplicably going while there were strong winds in the area.

Humpback mating behavior

This Pacific white-sided dolphin inadvertently put on a spectacular show for us while hopefully living its best life.

Pacific white-sided dolphin headed up to bow ride

Northern right whale dolphins are finless (and adorable in my opinion).

That’s a northern right whale calf leading the charge.

California sea lions thermoregulating

All Risso’s dolphins appear to be smiling.

This is Casper, the aptly named and locally famous albino Risso’s.

Gray whales heading south

Gray whale mating behavior

Gray whale diving into the swell

Goodnight, Monterey Peninsula.

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).

***

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 California landscape art exhibition

Paintings of mine titled Bioluminescence at Torrey Pines I and Calefaction were selected for the 91st Annual Statewide California Landscape Exhibition in Santa Cruz. The show will be on view at the Santa Cruz Art League November 19th through January 9th, 2022. Here they are being held by some of my friends after I carefully framed them with archival materials. You may find the Anna’s hummingbird if you look closely.

Robin Street-Morris. Bioluminescence at Torrey Pines I. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Robin Street-Morris. Calefaction. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 15" x 20" (38 x 51cm).

They deserve better than this.

I checked the headlines Saturday morning shortly after waking up; it feels like an obligation from a big picture standpoint and a terrible idea on a personal level. There it was, an oil spill off the coast of Southern California that’d already killed some of the “things” that made me want to get out of bed in the first place. Eying the oil and natural gas platforms in the area, I’d always wondered when the next disaster was going to take place, not if. It’s not as though one needs a third eye to foretell situations where people in charge of keeping shareholders happy probably won’t dip into corporate profits often enough to meticulously maintain their operation’s aging infrastructure. Imagine how trashed this place would be without any government oversight. That’s certainly the dream of some…no accountability, just profits as far as the eye can see, morality be damned.

A common dolphin with her calf in Orange County waters. I hope they and the rest of their pod know how to evade the oil slick.

And hopefully this humpback whale and her calf are coming up for breaths far from the coordinates of this sighting.

A threatened Western snowy plover foraging on an Orange County beach. How long till the crustaceans are safe to eat again?

California sea lions sunning themselves in the shadow of an offshore oil and gas platform in San Pedro Bay. Wildlife makes pretty good use of our junk at times.

A red-footed booby on an offshore platform in San Pedro Bay.

Basking sharks swimming near offshore platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel.

A peek at what our nearshore kelp forests look like. They’re having a tough enough time without dumping the oil directly on them. Swimming in them is one of my greatest joys—a bit of good news is I spotted my first critically endangered giant sea bass in Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve this past weekend. I wish it went without saying that pollution doesn’t respect park boundaries, county, state and national lines.

A fluking humpback whale in Orange County.

***

Harvest Moon

Equinox Greetings from San Diego.

Night-fragrant orchids like Neofinetia (Vanda) falcata make excellent moon viewing company, as do the neighborhood bats. I've been lucky to see barn owls fly across it and great horned owls backlit by it as well.

Fuukiran Moon. Fall, 2021.

Speaking of night-fragrant orchids, this Brassavola cucullata flower has a crab spider in it. This is a pretty frequent occurrence for me (not 100% on the species of spider yet). They must have some success catching insects attempting to pollinate it. I’ve read some rather unflattering descriptions of its fragrance, but I’m a fan of citrusy everything. This plant is now an old friend I acquired in person at Miller’s Tropicals of Texas more years ago than I care to contemplate.

A great horned owl “eye” peeks over the mountains.

Gaze

This drawing was made as a meditation of sorts on a shared moment with a Catalina island fox, one of the six subspecies of island foxes that are descendants of mainland gray foxes.

Robin Street-Morris. Gaze (Santa Catalina Island Fox). Colored pencil on 300lb cold press paper. 12” x 18” (30 x 46cm).

Heading to Catalina Island out of San Pedro to look for foxes and snorkel among abundant fishes will take you past Angels Gate Lighthouse, built in 1913. The 9,250’ breakwater was built with rock quarried from Catalina. You’ll likely see many seabirds, cetaceans and pinnipeds near the Port of Los Angeles, along with casual mariners and what feels like a greater number of enormous container ships overflowing with Earth’s grave goods.

Hotaru-gari VIII etc.

Fireflies exist in California, but they're not the showy sort I knew living in the Midwest. Most species out here are only bioluminescent in their larval stage, so making a point of watching fireflies is a big deal to me when visiting Michigan in the summer. Somehow there's never enough time to enjoy said activity. We’re lucky to have friends and family there still and our schedule is packed meeting up with them at restaurants during prime firefly hours. My New World Orchid friends were kind enough to share a delicious grilled dinner with us before we played a couple games of cornhole out back in their rural yard. They’ve let it become mostly meadow much to my delight and the wildlife's as well. As the sun sank lower, one of nature's subtle fireworks made an appearance. I also got to appreciate them while walking around the Diag of my alma mater's campus in between gentle rains.

Robin Street-Morris. Hotaru-gari VIII. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 15” x 21” (38 x 48cm).

(Please click or tap on the image of the art if you’d like to purchase a print.)

A more recent and unusual moment in nature is this one that took place in Two Harbors on Catalina Island last week. We passed a flock of American crows and paused to watch them while they returned our gazes. After we walked away, one of them flew over and dropped this California mule deer bone one step behind us and then returned to its group. Its intent will remain a mystery.

California mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus ssp. californicus)

Two of my mixed media paintings were selected by the jurors of the Carlsbad Oceanside Art League’s 69th Open Juried Fine Arts Awards Show, so I framed them archivally and made sure to get them where they needed to be before heading to San Pedro to catch the ferry. Their gallery is located at 300 Carlsbad Village Drive, Suite 101 in Carlsbad, CA. The art will be on view there through October 3rd, 2021.

Robin Street-Morris. Empyreal Brume. 2021. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 21" (36 x 53cm).

Robin Street-Morris. Bioluminescence and Skyglow. 2020. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 51cm).