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).

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).

The Conversation and Foxfire Oak

My two latest pieces were inspired by encounters with animals in places that are special to me. The pair of crows featured in The Conversation are regulars on our back fence. The flaming red moon, Mars and smoke (why the moon is that color) are also rooted in reality. Smoke was billowing from the Valley Fire to the southeast of us near Alpine, California. It isn’t intended to be a depressing piece, but to encourage thought about climate change and where we choose to build long-term dwellings and businesses. As with all art, it’s also o.k. in my opinion to simply enjoy the imagery and decide what, if anything, it means to you.

Foxfire Oak celebrates both another recent Catalina Island fox sighting (I adore them) and a shapely, old island scrub oak at Wrigley Botanical Garden in Avalon, California. I combined personal experience and folklore in this mixed media painting that’s primarily watercolor with a bit of soft pastel added toward its completion to punch up the cold flames in the tree hollows and the fox’s eyes. Despite being quite different in both the techniques used and the outcome, it’s a bit of an homage to my favorite piece of visual art, New Year's Eve Foxfires at the Changing Tree, made by Utagawa Hiroshige. I was fortunate enough to see an original woodblock print of it at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

If you’re interested in owning either of these originals, please send me a message here. Prints may be purchased through Pixels.com by clicking on the images of the paintings below.

Thanks for supporting living artists.

—Robin Street-Morris

Robin Street-Morris. The Conversation. 2020. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 51cm).

Robin Street-Morris. Foxfire Oak. 2020. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 140lb hot press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Black Widow Moon

We have more than a few Western black widow spiders living in the yard. Their erratically woven webs betray their presence. Sometimes I catch glimpses of them like I did late yesterday afternoon, a female and a male. He was brown and roughly half her size. As is the case with most wild animals, they wished to be left alone and scuttled back into their homes when I got too close for their comfort. In addition to having intrinsic value, they prey on insects like cockroaches, mosquitoes and flies.

The original painting is available. Prints may be purchased by clicking on the image.

Happy Year-round Halloween…

—Robin Street-Morris

Robin Street-Morris. Black Widow Moon. 2020. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 140lb hot press paper. 12" x 18" (30 x 46cm).

Musing over birds

Occasionally, I make paintings in response to memorable encounters I’ve had with particular birds while spending time in nature. My goal is to capture the essence of these moments in my art rather than document them.

Some of these pieces are available; please contact me if you’re interested. Prints of any of them may be purchased after clicking on an image. Thanks for supporting living artists.

—Robin Street-Morris

Barred Owl Moon. Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 13" x 21" (33 x 53cm).

Qui Vive. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on incised 300lb cold press paper. 9" x 14" (23 x 36cm).

Torrey Pine Remains with Raven. Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 12" x 17" (31 x 43cm).

Little Owl. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb incised hot press paper. 9" x 14" (23 x 36cm).

Reclamation (Santa Cruz Island Ravens). Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Crows Above Basilica. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 15" x 20" (38.10 x 50.80cm).

Oration. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 140lb cold press paper. 10" x 15" (25 x 38cm).

Los Peñasquitos Canyon VIII (the Swallows Return). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Raven Pair with Diurnal Moon. 2015. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Ocean of Glass with Seabirds. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 13" x 20" (33 x 51cm).

Raven with Torrey Pine Branch and Cold Moon. Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Unbounded (Crow Over Tijuana Estuary). Transparent watercolor with metallic gouache and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 12" x 19" (30 x 48cm).

Canyon Denizen II (Great Horned Owl with Eucalyptus Branch). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel with iridescent medium on 300lb cold press paper. 12" x 18" (30 x 48cm).

Departure (Crows at Dawn). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 140lb cold press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Nesting Great Horned Owl. Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 12" x 21" (30 x 53cm).

Sentinel (Great Horned Owl in Cottonwood Tree). Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 16" x 21" (41 x 53cm).

Pueo Encounter (at Haleakalā National Park). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 51cm).

Three Birds and Evening Star. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 14" x 19" (36 x 48cm).

Hunting Moon I (Great Horned Owl). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 140lb hot press paper. 8" x 13" (20 x 33cm)

Hunting Moon II. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 140lb hot press paper. 9" x 13" (23 x 33cm)

Hunting Moon III (Great Horned Owl). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 9" x 14" (23 x 36cm).

Hunting Moon IV (Great Horned Owl). Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb hot press paper. 13" x 19" (33 x 48cm).

Hunting Moon V (Great Horned Owl). Transparent watercolor on 300lb cold press paper. 13.5" x 20" (34 x 51cm).

Walking Among Barn Owls. Transparent watercolor and soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 14" x 20" (36 x 48cm).

Conflagration included in 'OCCCA@40'

My mixed media painting titled Conflagration was accepted into the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art’s invitational exhibition celebrating their 40th year. It’s an online event for obvious reasons.

Conflagration. 2019. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb rough press paper. 15" x 20" (38 x 51cm).