On My Desk
I should never have opened the seed pod. My desk was already littered with a growing fall collection, art supplies, field guides, and books I hadn’t put away. But it had been years since I opened a trumpet vine’s bean-like pod and I had forgotten what the seeds looked like. Of course, as soon as I split the case I remembered, just in time for an explosion of paper-thin seeds to scatter everywhere, as nature intended. I can also attest that the tiny round seeds of the yellow foxtail successfully dispersed, and I suspect I will be finding them for many weeks to come.
Tips and Techniques– Clean up your work surface every now and then so that you can enjoy a fresh start. Ha! That is my takeaway this week. But the other is to just go with what’s in front of you. You don’t need fancy subjects or perfect compositions. There’s beauty in the small and mundane, too. That’s one of the things I love about nature sketching. There is so much to discover right in front of you.
Drawn In 
Thank you. I did find some humor in this. I did something similar just lately. After picking a beautiful golden chicken fat mushroom I neglected to wipe my fingers and subsequently left yellow slimy something all over the place. At first I was irritated with myself. Then I laughed. Your observations are real and incite full. I love the natural varieties of colors.
Yes. It happens! I recently left mushrooms too long when doing spore prints and they liquified. Ugh!
I love everything about this Jean, especially the combination of colors….the purple and greens together are so lovely to me
Thanks- this page takes advantage of secondary colors, purple, green, and burnt orange. They do work well together.
Love your work. I’m a seed pod person who finds them fascinating all year.
Tis the season for seeds. It’s fun just to see how many different ones you can collect. I had a few go moldy this summer, so I’ve got some new collecting to do.
Your posts are always so inspirational. Thank you, thank you for keeping on keeping on.
Thanks Melissa! Appreciate it!
A beautiful and fun piece! I love your advice to enjoy a fresh start.
It definitely helps me to clear off my work space every week or two.
Oops!! yes, I’ve had a hot mess of seeds all over my table and floor when something is ready to open (whether I’m ready for it or not!!). Still, it’s worth it and they’ve been some of my favorite sketches!! 😀
Agreed!
Ha. Maybe they will start growing. Love the purple one. So pretty.
Those pods hold A LOT of seeds. I wouldn’t be surprised if something sprouts.
Reminds me of the time when I was teaching and brought in cattails for the kids and when I came in after the weekend, they had opened and seeds blew everywhere. The custodians were not too happy.😁
Now to clean my desk, thanks for the reminder Jean!
Oh yes, cattails! I’ve had those explode in the past, too. VERY messy!