the Each Week, One Beast project: week 22

Three cows conversing.

One of my favorite projects last summer was an art-for-food trade with my friends at Hemlock Creek CSA. I drew them a butterfly, and they provided us with many weeks of beautiful vegetables. We canned and froze a lot of those, which fed us well over the winter. So I was stoked that Stephanie wanted to do the same thing again this year. I got to draw their three very sweet cows (two are Dutch belted, and the speckledy one is a Randall).

Poppy cow coffee desk.

the Each Week, One Beast project: week 21

Top half of a great horned owl. My first portrait, and my only job ever commissioned by an actual owl. Mm-hm.

the Each Week, One Beast project: week 20

Mink gone fishing. On a recent hike, Matt caught a glimpse of someone long, dark and slender slipping into the creek. From the opposite bank, we spied the hole it might have disappeared into. After consulting a field guide, mink is what we think... but it's hard to be sure.

Dark things

Just wanted to share a few pictures from the garden this morning... The combination of chocolate vine and gavota tulips is one of my favorites. So many of my favorite things are blooming and happening right now. All it takes is three drops of rain to pop out our first edible mushrooms of the season (dryad's saddle). There are some coming on top of the hill that we'll pick later today. For now, I must go hunt warblers. I mean "hunt" in the passive, watch-them-fly-over sense, of course. B-bye.

the Each Week, One Beast project: week 19

Screech owl in the pines. Everywhere I go, I am ALWAYS looking for owls. That is why I trip and fall so much. And also why I forget the things I am supposed to bring with me. I haven't seen an owl in the feather lately, so I keep a virtual eye on things at the Avian Reconditioning Center for Birds of Prey. Someone there takes great pictures of their birds. I am in love with the little one-eyed screech owl...

the Each Week, One Beast project: week 18

So, I think we all know what's happened here. She was sleeping under the kitchen table, snout resting on mangled old squeaky toy. The fresh scent of newly-spread manure wafted in on the spring breeze. Her nostrils quivered... one eyebrow perked... and she popped up, nudged the screen door ajar, scampered down the hill and into the field, rolled in the poop, had a dip in the cow pond, and now here she is in the kitchen again, having just had a good shake. She used to be a white dog, but now she's sort of... off-colorish.

But I think she needs a name, and I can't seem to come up with one. Help! What do you think?