Here’s a beetle illustrated in egg tempera for a local entomologist, Rob. It would fit in a basketball player’s hand. Fortunately, these live in Brazil, not in my backyard.

Macrodontia cervicornis

In Fall 2015, local artists teamed up with Soaring Hearts Artists to create paintings, sculpture, ceramics, and other works. The pieces will be auctioned tomorrow to benefit the Soaring Hearts art program (part of ALSO -Advanced Learning Systems of Oregon). Parris Foley is the dynamo who maintains the Soaring Hearts studio at her Infusion Gallery in Troutdale. She coordinated all the artists for this event.

For me, it was a rich experience to work with Janie — a young woman who is talented at painting, enjoys sipping lemonade, and whose favorite apple variety is Jazz. We created our painting, “Granny Smith’s Red Delicious Jazz Gala,” side by side. She had her eye on the Jazz apple, and it kept us focused because she knew she couldn’t eat it until our work was finished!

As a natural science illustrator, I tend to measure everything twice. Janie is very spontaneous. She drew the initial apple shapes holding her brush like a Sumi-e artist and worked just as quickly. I was shocked! Don’t we need a grid??

From there I mixed some colors and offered suggestions, but Janie knew what she was doing. Lastly, each apple needed a highlight. Dab. Dab. Dab. Dab. Janie nailed it. Then she grabbed the Jazz apple and took a bite.

My Grosbeak and Shrew found new homes! Fun, interesting artist guys stopped by Troutdale Art Center First Friday tonight and left with pics for their man-caves.

This was a little shrew who met her end on Bear Creek Road, Carson, Wash.

A headline in ArtForum newsletter, led me to read this Wikipedia entry on Neue Sachlichkeit and Magic Realism.  This is what I want my art to be about. It’s not “magic” or fantasy art. It’s observation of an ordinary thing or scene, and saying “What is it?” (a Zen question)

While the term magical realism first appeared in 1955,^[1]:16 the term Magischer Realismus, translated as magic realism, was first used by German art critic Franz Roh in 1925^[4] to refer to a painterly style also known as Neue Sachlichkeit (the New Objectivity),^[5] an alternative to expressionism championed by fellow German museum director Gustav Hartlaub.^{[1]:9–11[6]} Roh identified magic realism’s accurate detail, smooth photographic clarity, and portrayal of the ‘magical’ nature of the rational world. It reflects the uncanniness of people and our modern technological environment.^[1]:9–10

Roh believed that magic realism was related to, but distinct from, surrealism, due to magic realism’s focus on the material object and the actual existence of things in the world, as opposed to surrealism’s more cerebral, psychological and subconscious reality.^[1]:12 Magic realism was later used to describe the uncanny realism by American painters such as Ivan Albright, Paul Cadmus, George Tooker and other artists during the 1940s and 1950s. However, in contrast with its use in literature, magic realist art does not often include overtly fantastic or magical content, but rather looks at the mundane through a hyper-realistic and often mysterious lens.^[7]

I think of “Christina’s World” or “Winter 1946” by Andrew Wyeth.

Three versions of the giant cone of the Sugar Pine tree, Pinus lambertiana. Oil on canvas, cedar frames, 16 x 28 inches each.

Solarplate etching was a challenge. The Grass Widow was too light to make a good plate. Luckily, I brought along some old Plants of Michigan pen & ink copies. The milkweed made a pretty nice etching. Printmaking is one of those things in my life where I take lesson after lesson, and like photography, golf, and tennis — I never seem to catch on!

Barbara Mason, master printmaker, offered lots of help and other artists at the workshop made some outstanding prints. I’ll get another chance in July. More information on Solarplate etching and classes at Atelier Meridien: http://www.ateliermeridian.com

A large version of Pinus lambertiana in oil.

This was a little shrew who met her end on Bear Creek Road, Carson, Wash.

C. hispida is another Paintbrush native to Oregon. It’s hairy, as its name suggests!

The genus is named for 18th C. Spanish botanist, Domingo Castillejo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domingo_Castillejo).

How exactly is Castilleja pronounced? I heard a botanist on an OPB show pronounce it as: cas-till-AY-zha

I had been pronouncing it Spanish style: cas-tee-YAY-ha

And I’ve also heard: cas-till-AY-ha

Anyone know what is correct?