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).

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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 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.

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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).

Angraecum sororium

Two years after bringing home Angraecum sororium from a plant sale in Westminster, CA, it's opened the first of its four buds. This species in native to Madagascar and is wonderfully night-fragrant like most Angraecoids. Along with succulents, I've been growing orchids for over twenty years now. I’ve learned enough along the way for it to be a rewarding hobby.

You can’t go wrong with reading books written by experts in their respective fields if you want to get better at something. There’s no one size fits all approach to orchid culture even within a genus.

I’m breaking my general rule of ruthlessly editing and instead showing this flower in another light. Both photographs are pleasing to me for different reasons. This is the one I uploaded to Pixels.com. Please shoot me a message if you’re interested in a print of the other one.

Redux

We may move and become part of another place, but none of us can change where we're from. In my case, that's Lake Michigan's eastern shore of sugar sand beaches and dunes. I doubt I'll ever return to my salmon stream to stay. I would be unhappy leaving San Diego's leopard sharks, mountains and desert to move back. But I do still enjoy visiting the lake and friends who are excited to see me. I stay on top of conservation issues related to the Great Lakes and pick up trash on the beaches and in parks while I'm there. I swam my laps along the buoys in Ludington. It was somewhat surreal not having to do the stingray shuffle to get out there like I do at home. My subconscious has merged pods of pilot whales I've seen just south of the U.S./Mexico border and my hometown lighthouse. I’ve even seen killer whales pass it while I slept.

A lone gull off of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I’ve been asked here in California if one can see across Lake Michigan. Yes and no. I’ve certainly seen Chicago’s skyline from Grand Mere State Park near where I grew up, but that’s a short distance away. The lake is about 118 miles (190 km) across at its widest point.

Sandhill cranes before they descended to Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve. A relative by marriage lamented to us during our visit that they tear up lawns. I prefer wildlife to manicured sod and can hear the Anna’s hummingbirds squeaking in the California fuchsia planted where grass used to be as I type here.

We spotted this doe at dusk in Ludington State Park. Her fawn was nearby and we felt bad putting them on guard even as we quietly padded through.

My snake senses are finely tuned and I knew roughly what I’d heard before I looked over my shoulder and saw this beautiful eastern hognose going about its business in Ludington State Park.

This ruby-throated hummingbird was working Impatiens capensis in Arcadia Dunes Marsh Preserve, as were quite a few others. It didn’t surprise me to see them chasing much larger birds—the hummingbirds pretty much rule the yard here. I used to ride my bike over to the Kennedy Forest portion of Forest Park in St. Louis to watch the hummingbirds visiting these plants. I’d be growing an enormous bank of them if I lived in the region to attract and nourish these birds. Clean feeders are a great addition to a wildlife-friendly garden, but helpful (often native) plants and insects provide better nutrition.

The Lost Lake Trail at Ludington State Park is sublime.

I was lucky to see orange-fringed orchids (Platanthera ciliaris) growing in a small, west Michigan preserve from the vantage point of a boardwalk. This species is endangered in Michigan and threatened in other locations as well. Minimal land has been spared for them to thrive in because wealth extraction of land and our fellow humans seems to make more sense to a lot of people. Argentine ants and plagues may have the last laugh.

Sphagnum moss in the bog supporting the orchids and wild blueberries.

Ghost plants (Monotropa uniflora) can be missed easily if the light isn’t hitting them just right.

A monarch butterfly caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) feeds on a common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). This plant species throws quite the pollinator party and is wonderfully fragrant.

Here’s an adult monarch working common boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) at Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve.

This American red squirrel and I watched each other for awhile at Ludington State Park.

American white waterlily (Nymphaea odorata) at Ludington State Park.

Flow.

A side of sauce. This shot could have been taken anywhere. My exhibition as a senior in art school studying photography with Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Taro Yamasaki was a series of aesthetically pleasing prints I shot of plastic pollution in the Ann Arbor River.  It bothered me then and more so now. The situation has worsened as our convenience culture continues its conquest.

This white sage is thriving in my alma mater's botanical garden and in various spots in the yard. I love Salvia apiana and so do my animal buddies. The arid house at Matthaei struck a chord with me the first time I saw it. It was my first exposure to the Agaves, Aloes and Haworthias I grow too many of.

Arcadia Dunes is protected, owned and managed by the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.

Lightning overhead and raindrops on my forehead.

Comic-Con at Home 2021

I’m participating in an online version of the spectacle that is San Diego Comic-Con, my 8th year overall. Please check out all of the makers’ works and consider supporting a living artist if you see something that grabs you: Comic-Con@Home Art Show 2021

Offering

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Coyote shares his thoughts on being surveilled

…and probably on the bobcats as well.

Seeing the wildlife around here makes my day.

This bunny has good reason to hide in the Shaw’s agave and Cleveland sage.

Juvenile cooper’s hawks raised in the canyon finger have been crying to be fed for weeks now. There’s a lot of circle of life behavior to observe in the yard and adjacent preserves.

Valley Carpenter Bee working a white sage.

Anise swallowtail butterfly pausing on golden cereus.

This Texas red yucca is currently being relished by a Costa’s hummingbird, a bird species I most often see in the desert. It’s no ocotillo or chuparosa, but he thinks it’ll do in a pinch.

Happy Solstice!

It’s quite clearly the summer one here in San Diego. The Sun plays a big part in making life on Earth possible, so I’m a longtime fan.

Robin Street-Morris. Canyon Sunrise. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 13” x 19” (33 x 48cm).

Our local star brings us flowers.

Avonia quinaria subspecies alstonii with Salvia ‘Royal Bumble’ looking over its shoulder. Outdoors, I mostly grow plants native to our area, but I’m a citizen of the world when it comes to cultivating species from elsewhere that don’t exhibit weedy growth habits that push the locals out.

Whale tails are back...

This ethereal watercolor and soft pastel painting was my response to seeing blue whales a week ago. Blue whale flukes (tails) are more grayish in real life. Said species was given that common name because their bodies glow blue when they're just below the surface.

Owning this painting or a print of it while wearing a thong peeking out of the top of your low-rise jeans while driving a car with the cool whale plates that benefit the California Coastal Commission would be totally meta. Increase the Droste-ish Effect by buying the art and getting a design of it tattooed on your lower back. ;-)

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

California sea lions in San Diego

Tourists and locals alike understandably flock to La Jolla to see the California sea lions and harbor seals, particularly when it's their pupping seasons. I need to have my increasingly mislaid "I can cope with the public" hat on in order to brave the crowds. It's typically the lure of getting in La Jolla Cove that does it. Both pinniped species are curious and will often approach me underwater on their own terms which never gets old. I couldn't effectually chase them in their oceanic realm if I wanted to and neither could Michael Phelps. We humans are comparatively out of our element in the water no matter how much we love being in it. On land, I keep my distance and photograph them with a 100-400mm telephoto lens. I've seen a lot of folks get way too close over the years putting both themselves and the wildlife at risk, but I've never been present when animals were being beaten or their newborns picked up. Those photos and stories fill me with rage, sadness and disbelief that anyone could do this. Bad actors in our parks and preserves are why we need to pony up cash to pay more rangers who can dish out actual consequences as needed. If that's not a good use of taxpayer dollars I don't know what is, not to mention the creation of hard yet surely rewarding jobs. I'm in favor of closing Point La Jolla during sea lion pupping season for the same reason the Children's Pool is closed for the harbor seals when they're giving birth and nursing. I want to believe most people who visit mean these animals well, but there are enough assholes out there that these animals need better protection. Please join me in signing the Sierra Club's San Diego Chapter's petition to Mayor Gloria and San Diego City Council by clicking or tapping HERE.

Please back up. A little more…a little more… Perfect!

(Hey, I never said I’m a nice person.)

Look closely and you’ll see one blending in with the rocks. They’re pretty inaccessible in this spot. The youngest pup is almost vertical.

I could easily spend all day watching them surf. Waves and weather that keep me and my snorkel dry are seemingly nothing to them.

The sea lions and harbor seals can swim so fast that sometimes I don’t see them until they’re in my face! I’d rather not have that encounter with one of the larger juvenile white sharks aggregating off of our coast, though I REALLY want to see one from a safe distance…as in having been out to the Farallon Islands three times levels of interest with no luck yet. And now I want to reread The Devil’s Teeth by Susan Casey.

Resting up for the hunt. They can appear lazy, but are very active at night in search of fishes. Yup, it’s “fishes” because we’re talking about a diverse diet that includes many species of fish as well as squid and octopus.

On second thought, why hunt when you can just train the fishing crowd to do it for you like this charismatic bull did?! Everyone involved was clearly having a great time, but this is one reason why NOAA doesn’t want us to feed them:

“Marine mammals change their natural behaviors, including feeding and migration activities, and show decreased willingness to forage for food on their own. They may also begin to take bait/catch from fishing gear. These changed behaviors may be passed on to their young and other members of their social groups, increasing their risk of injury from boats, entanglement in fishing gear, and intentional harm by people frustrated with the behavioral changes.”

Chilling on a bait dock at dusk.

This guy benefited from SeaWorld’s rescue, rehab and release program. They’re who I call when I find a distressed pinniped.

California sea lions thermoregulating off of San Diego.

Hanging out with a juvenile California brown pelican. La Jolla is a great spot to watch them, cormorants and gulls as well.

“Thanks for helping me out!”