Incoming Fog and Comet NEOWISE

…is my latest mixed media painting inspired by our recent visitor that has captivated me and many others for weeks. I was up night after night trying to catch the comet over Black Mountain from our yard, but the fog repeatedly sent me back to bed disappointed. Finally, I saw at around 3AM that it was clear and headed out back to enjoy and photograph the peaceful view. Around 5AM fog began to curl around the base of the mountain. A few minutes later I could barely make out anything past our fence.

Robin Street-Morris. Incoming Fog with Comet NEOWISE [C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)]. 2020. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

(Please click on the image if you’re interested in purchasing a print.)

Unrelated, here’s another bloomer I’ve been home to enjoy this month because of the pandemic rather than traveling. Like the Epiphyllum hookeri I mentioned recently, each one of these giant, night-fragrant blossoms opens after dark and closes by dawn. I know this plant as Cereus peruvianus ‘Monstrosus’. This cutting was gifted to me several years ago when I met up with some patrons in California who discovered my art online when I lived in Detroit. Plant presents are hard to top in my book.

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

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