A serendipitous moment

I love this little guy! Doesn't he just look like a drunk staggering out of the bar after a wild time? He has had such a great time with all that pollen! This was a huge surprise -- I was trying to get a nice picture of this gorgeous flower, and this bee entered the scene. After stuffing his little pollen sacs as full as they could get, he made his exit, and I managed to get the picture! (I hope his wife doesn't find out. ;-) )

More botanical drawings

This was a fun piece to do because it incorporated pencil work with carbon dust. In order to make the apples so dark and shiny, I had to use a nail file on a carbon pencil to get some dust, then apply the dust to the apples with a small brush.

This class has taught me to really look at things in a new way -- to see texture, shadow and contrast. I can't wait until my next class, when I get to begin using colored pencils!

Frustration!

It's been about 3 weeks since my computer had a "fatal error" and Don took it to work to let the experts try to revive it. I'm on Don's computer, which is fine, but we haven't tried to download pictures onto this computer yet. And thanks to my wonderful, techy husband (yes Don, that's you!) all my pictures from my computer are safely backed up! I created some more pencil botanical drawings at my Arboretum class, and hopefully I can post some soon.