'Tis the Season

Decorated for Christmas

 

On December 16 we had a some very wet snow that brought about nine inches. It would probably have amounted to more, but in the afternoon the temperature rose and the snow turned to rain for a few hours before turning back to snow. I had just finished putting up the outdoor Christmas lights a day or two before, and the fresh snow gave our house the perfect look for a White Christmas. At dusk, I just I had to run out and take some photos!

Christmas decorations

The following week was cold enough that the snow lingered on the ground, but alas, the day before Christmas Eve, another storm brought over an inch of rain and melted all the snow! Indoors, my Christmas cactus put forth its first flower-- a lovely pink and white bird-like creature. I thought that all three buds would open at roughly the same time, but the first flower has now faded and the other two buds will be a while before they are ready to open.

 

Christmas cactus flower

The Fabled Franklinia

Franklinia alatamaha, watercolor and graphite, 13.5"h x 10.5"w

 

My painting of the fabled Ben Franklin tree (Franklinia alatamaha) is finally finished. When I started this painting based on my field sketch last summer, I had been thinking of writing a post illustrating the process of painting it step-by-step, but as often happens, I forgot to take photos and ended up with only one intermediate photo, so that was not practical.

It's taken me a while to figure out exactly how to go about finishing this piece. I started experimenting, adding a few branches in the background to give a better idea of the tree's growth pattern using graphite pencil, so as not to detract from the one lovely flowering branch in color. I think this treatment works; the graphite fills in the background with a soft, silvery look that gives a better idea of the tree's habit.