2020 Already? Well, Hello, Hellebore!

This is the first flower of the plant Hellebore -- the first hellebore I have ever attempted to grow.

To take its portrait, I had to find a forked stick to lift the flower head, as hellebore, in its humility (or perversity, you decide) always looks at the ground so that ants and small birds can see it, but people can't.

We've talked about figuring out a way to plant hellebore in a six-foot high planter to better view the blooms, but most likely, we'll just lift those beautiful faces with our fingers to admire them.

The old Sony Cybershot I bought in 2007 is still the best camera I have for close up shots like this.

Poppies sketch

So, so very soon, the California poppies will be blooming.

With the aforementioned watercolor brushes, and a few passes of colored pencil, I finished this little bit of play tonight.

I held the pens with their flexible, brush-like points and felt an unaccustomed sense of jealousy; I got watercolor pens for Christmas (and I am grateful and pleased with the gift) but Alex got a graphics tablet for her computer, and she has been arting up a storm with it.

I've borrowed it a couple times, and oh, the things one can do with that beast! The future is unclear ... I may be able to use it while she is at work, and we three will co-exist peacefully, or I will have to get my own.

In the mean time, my daily creation has been either for writing, or cooking, and I've been a negligent blogger about it. It's only with the last two days of amazingly clement weather that Lillian has been yipping at me to work in the studio so that she can safely play out in front of the house. I am the guard dog who watches over her with the garage door open. It is better light for the studio, after all.