Sunday Sketches

Not in my garden! I could not resist the grace and shapes of this delicate flower; the alpine lily.

Actually, this beauty is a native plant of Washington.

I will have to seek her out for my garden :)

More Sunday Sketchers....

Trillium Addiction

I cannot kick the habit! The trillium wildflowers are still in bloom in the woods, and some are turning from white to pink. I am still captivated by the two plants I saw growing tall against the massive cedar tree.

Here is the oil painting version.....

On my third rendition which is a large watercolor painting.

Addiction is acknowledged.

Recovery, uncertain.

Sunday Sketches

Yesterday Maxine, Ray, and I hiked the Marmot Pass - Upper Big Quilcene in the Olympic Mountain Range in Washington. Amazing waterfalls in the first section, beautiful wildflower meadows in the second section, and scenic views of so many peaks from the top. It was a gruesome hike of 3,500 feet elevation in 5 miles, but worth every ache and pain.

The wildflowers were spectaular!






The view at the top of Marmot Pass was awesome!





I chose one of my favorite wildflowers to sketch: Wild Tiger Lily

Only One Day A Year

It was today, and I was there!

My good friend and fellow artist, Judi Colwell, informed me of a local one day of the year event: Prairie Appreciation Day.

The Glacial Heritage Preserve in Littlerock, where the event took place, is one of the few remnants of a prairie landscape that once covered huge areas in western Washington. The prairies were an extremely important food gathering area for Native Americans. Glacial Heritage and other prairies in the area are now important places for ecological studies by professionals and private citizens.

For the past 14 years, many volunteers and organizations have put this one day event together. They do a phenomenal job! Especially fun were the activities geared towards children, but even us young-at-heart enjoyed learning about the area and its inhabitants.

The Mima Mounds were splashed with colors of blue-purple and yellow wildflowers.


The blue-purple camas was an important food of Native Americans. The bulbs were dug in the spring and cooked for 24 hours, usually in large pits dug in the ground.


These wildflowers were intermingled with the yellows of the western buttercup and spring gold.

The seeds from these and other plants are collected in the summer for prairie restoration.

The Blue Wildflowers

Recently I have been posting blogs about the native plants as they bloom along the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington. I found these lovely blue wildflowers which I believe have been planted either by birds or humans.

Blue Flax
The Blue Flax flowers last only a single day and do not transplant well. Blue Flax was discovered by Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the late 1700's.

Bluebell
This wildflower is definitely a Bluebell, but which variety I have yet to figure out. The bluebell sets seeds profusely and also multiplies by offshoots from its bulbs. As a result it can be a dominant species that carpets the woodland floor early in the spring. The drooping, blue bell shaped flowers, which give the plant its most common name, appear from April to June. The flowers may be violet-blue, white or even pink on rare occasions.