Proper Perspective

Day 172: I have often remarked to friends that I have no artistic talent whatsoever, at least as far as putting a medium on paper or canvas is concerned. My "art" is fiber art. I create with threads and yarns (and sometimes create those very yarns and threads in the first place). That said, when I was actively hiking several hundred miles each month, I kept a journal to document the events of the day, illustrated with a Sharpie since it was the only pen available which didn't bleed through the paper of the book. I developed a scribbling style which was quite effective for rocks and trees and mountainous horizons, but when it came to drawing a coffee mug or a sign on the trail, I could never get the perspective right. Since the journal was for my own enjoyment, it didn't really matter that you couldn't tell my tent wasn't an elephant in repose, but I was dismayed by my inability to translate what I was seeing to a flat surface.

One of my sisters-of-the-heart is a talented artist. As I have monitored her activities in classes and on line, I was taken with one of her instructors whose style seemed to be along the lines of my own scribbles. I began following him on Facebook just in time to tune in for a two-hour lesson in perspective. His simple "one-point" method inspired me to make this sketch today in Sharpie and watercolour, drawn entirely from my imagination. While still not exactly what I'd call "artistic" when stood side-by-side with Patty's paintings, the technique helped resolve my issues with perspective. Our other sister dubbed my picture "Tippy Under the Tree." Hey, if they both recognized him as a cat, I must be doing better.

Key Perspective On Ceratiomyxa

Day 235: I try to accommodate my loyal readers whenever possible, so in response to a request and despite what I said day before yesterday, here are more photos of Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. poroides, the top with a key to give a sense of scale because I forgot my measurin' stick again. Now I must point out that this is not the same Ceratiomyxa I've been photographing over the last week. No, this is a brand-new outcropping on a different log about 60 feet away. It was not visible day before yesterday, so the little buggers must have been putting in double shifts in order to build such an extensive slime-tropolis. The original colony is beginning to deteriorate, as is the Lycogala on the same stump. However, the other side of the stump has erupted with a third slime-mold species which of course I will be trying to identify as it develops.

Lichens And 'Shrooms

Day 26: "Perspective," I remind myself. "It's all about keeping things in the proper perspective." When I start to lose my perspective, I go for a nature walk. The lichens and 'shrooms bring me down to earth, both figuratively and literally. Barring a lahar, they'll be there tomorrow and the day after, and the week after that, and if they don't come back next year, something else will take their place: equally beautiful, equally vital in its own niche. I am humbled by their perseverance and resilience as, on a whole, they adapt to changes in their circumstance, and I try to carry away with me the lesson which they silently put forth. Do I succeed? Not always, because I am human, but the lesson remains where I can refer to it time and again until it gives me some modicum of ease. Perspective. I need a walk.