Blossom Hunter

Getting to watch the wild black flying foxes in Australia that inspired this piece was a dream come true.

In addition to their intrinsic value and beauty, different bat species help humanity out by dispersing seeds, pollinating crops and controlling insect populations.  Quoting the qld.gov.au website, "Flying-foxes eat flowers and fruit, and sometimes leaves, from over 100 species of native trees and vines. They supplement this diet by eating fruit from introduced plants found in gardens, orchards, parks and streetscaping." 

Habitat loss threatens their survival like it does for so many organisms.  

Robin Street-Morris. Blossom Hunter (Black Flying Fox-Pteropus alecto). Transparent + iridescent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14” x 21” (36 x 53cm).

Please tap on the image of the art above if you’re interested in purchasing a print of this mixed media painting. Send me a message here if you’d like to inquire about the original.

spring in San Diego's desert

Our desert is full of jaw-droppingly beautiful plants that are supported by fragile biocrusts.

strawberry hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii var. engelmannii) is stealing the show here.

strawberry hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii var. engelmannii)

desert five-spot (Eremalche rotundifolia)

beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris)

This silvery young brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) is finding its way in a crevice.

A perfect bouquet of chuparosa (Justicia californica), multiple cactus species and wildflowers

Mojave desertstar (Monoptilon bellioides)

strawberry cactus (Mammillaria dioica)

teddy bear cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii ssp. bigelovii)

There’s nothing quite like backlit cacti at dawn and dusk.

Arizona chalk dudleya (Dudleya arizonica)

Bigelow’s moneyflower (Mimulus bigelovii var. bigelovii)

California barrel cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus)

California barrel cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus)

Emory's rockdaisy (Perityle emoryi)

Parish’s poppy (Eschscholzia parishii)

This ornate checkered beetle (Trichodes ornatus) was visiting Wolf’s cholla (Cylindropuntia wolfii) to grab a meal and perhaps lay eggs. I’d have liked to stick around to observe a bit more and take additional photos, but I was ready to pass out from the midday heat in this low elevation portion of the desert near the San Diego County and Imperial County lines.

Wolf’s cholla (Cylindropuntia wolfii) in all its glory

Imagine the night skies we could enjoy if we cut the lights when we weren't actively using them. Thankfully, the campground lights illuminating the foreground and skyglow from Calexico-Mexicali at left don't entirely obscure our Milky Way Galaxy when viewed from in this spot. Saving power in this respect would help migratory birds as well.

Anna's hummingbird nest

If you’re thinking about pruning a tree at this time of year in southern California (and a lot of other warm locations), please look closely for bird activity first. It’d be really easy to send this family of Anna’s hummingbirds tumbling to the ground and I suspect most of us can agree that’d be incredibly sad.

Here’s a female Anna’s hummingbird near her nest site in our largest tree, a Peruvian pepper that came with the house. She built it with twigs, spider webs and bits of lichen from our fence which add a bit of much-needed camouflage.

She’s foraging in bladderpod I planted.

Why is a Cooper’s hawk a hummingbird's best friend?: https://www.science.org/content/article/why-hawk-hummingbird-s-best-friend

OCEAN / EARTH / AIR exhibition

Three of my nature-inspired, mixed media paintings were selected for inclusion in OCEAN/EARTH/AIR, an exhibition juried and hosted by the Surfing Madonna Oceans Project, a local pro-environment and arts group here in San Diego County. The dates are March 29th through April 30th at The Poway Center for the Performing Arts located at 15498 Espola Road. The reception is taking place from 1-4PM on Sunday, April 23rd and will feature live music and readings by this events winning poets. General gallery hours are Tuesday-Thursday 10AM-2PM, Friday 12-5PM and Saturday 10AM-3PM.

Robin Street-Morris. Fata Morgana IV (Catalina Island). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14” x 19” (36 x 48cm).

Robin Street-Morris. Nighthawks with Waxing Gibbous. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold 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).

An Angraecum sesquipedale-inspired painting

This painting was inspired by one of my own orchids that blooms faithfully every winter. I'm a huge fan of Angraecoids for both their flowers' celestial appearances and their incredible evening fragrances.

Please send me a message if you’re interested in the original painting or tap on the image if you’d like to support a living artist through a print purchase, always much appreciated.

Robin Street-Morris. Darwin's Star Orchid (Angraecum sesquipedale). Transparent watercolor on 300lb hot press paper. 12.5" x 19.5" (32 x 50cm).

A trip northward

Looking toward Point Pinos Lighthouse—it’s been operating in Pacific Grove since 1855.

Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus)

Two eastern North Pacific gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) on their impressive annual southbound migration

I’d like to go back in time and bump my shutter speed for this one, but I can’t pass up including a shot of the Monterey Bay celebrity known as Casper. This was my second time seeing said albino Risso’s dolphin.

northern kelp crab (Pugettia producta)

shells at Asilomar State Beach

Menzies' wallflower (Erysimum menziesii)

northern snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus ssp. nivosus)

black oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmanister)

​Monterey cypress grove​ at ​Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Morning in Big Sur

Big Sur River

coast redwood fire survivor (Sequoia sempervirens)

western sycamore leaf (Platanus racemosa) with charred coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Rio Grande turkey (Meleagris gallopavo ssp. intermedia) is a subspecies of wild turkey introduced to the state in the 1950s by the California Fish and Game Commission (now the California Department of Fish and Wildlife).

Cypress Cove at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

North American osprey (Pandion haliaetus ssp. carolinensis)

I watched this southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) hunting for awhile in Cypress Cove. Despite the churning waves, it made an easy snack of a decidedly overabundant purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus). The high urchin numbers are decimating kelp forests on California’s Central Coast.

Here’s a magnificent wall of Dudleya farinosa. My farinose form (powdery white) was purchased from Annie’s Annuals in Richmond. I also scored a green one at CNL Native Plant Nursery in Marin last year. My point is there’s no need to poach members of this genus with so many specialty nurseries propagating them responsibly.

Recent memories of Agua Caliente County Park

Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae) working chuparosa (Justicia californica) 

ghost flower (Mohavea confertiflora) and Emory's rock daisy (Perityle emoryi)

narrow-leaved cryptantha (Johnstonella angustifolia)

Bigelow's monkeyflower (Diplacus bigelovii)

brown-eyed primrose (Camissonia claviformis)

Arizona lupine (Lupinus arizonicus)

turtleback (Psathyrotes ramosissima)

Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae) working Fremont's desert-thorn (Lycium fremontii)

brittlebush (Encelia farinosa)

California's only native palm (Washingtonia filifera) viewed through an oasis window of red willow (Salix laevigata)

California fagonbush (Fagonia laevis)

California barrel cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus) and Emory's rock daisy (Perityle emoryi)

phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens)

desert needles (Palafoxia arida var. arida)

Carrizo Mountain sandmat (Euphorbia pediculifera)

black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura) in creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) 

teddy-bear cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii)

Happy New Year

Sphaeralcea ambigua 'Louis Hamilton' (a horticultural selection of desert globemallow) is leaning on our massive Dudleya brittonii in the latest bout of rain.

Chaparral denizen

We may be off to a cold start in San Diego, but it's spring as far as I'm concerned. Patience was required to catch this shot of an Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) working a grove of mission manzanitas (Xylococcus bicolor) today. Look at how tight that range map is for the mission manzanita, the only member of its genus (the fancy word for that is "monotypic").

San Miguel Island foxes

I spotted three individual island foxes while camping on San Miguel Island which made for a very special and all too brief trip to Channel Islands National Park. This is my fourth subspecies sighting of island foxes and the most elusive of the northern Channel Islands subspecies according to fox biologists I've interacted with. I'm able to tell them apart by their ears and one of them being collared, the tracking being funded by everyone's support of Friends of the Island Fox. I encountered another on a trail in the dark and was unable to capture a photo, though it may have been one of these three. I also caught nocturnal images and video with my camera trap placed near our tent which may or may not be a different fox, as the ear outlines aren't clear.

Song sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

A fox biologist held this southern alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata) briefly for us to admire.

Northern elephant seal cow (Mirounga angustirostris)

Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) off of Santa Cruz Island

Surfing Madonna Oceans Project "Save the Ocean" Exhibition

A trio of board members of the Surfing Madonna Oceans Project selected a mixed media painting of mine for inclusion in the second annual “Save the Ocean” exhibition. This group show of California artists will be on display at the Escondido Municipal Gallery from October 7th through November 4th, 2022. The reception is October 8th from 4 - 7PM at 262 E. Grand Ave. in Escondido. Gallery hours are Tuesday 11:00 - 6:00PM and Thursday-Saturday 11:00AM - 4:00PM.

Robin Street-Morris. Crescent Moon with Venus and Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 21" (36 x 53cm).

Nighthawks with Waxing Gibbous

This mixed media painting is loosely inspired by watching lesser nighthawks hunting for insects near an oasis in Twentynine Palms, California.

Robin Street-Morris. "Nighthawks with Waxing Gibbous." Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14” x 19” (36 x 48cm).

Please tap on the image of the painting above if you’re interested in a print or contact me directly if you’d like to inquire about the original art.

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).