Tree People?

Well, I am traveling back to Tennessee today so, it is now time for something completely different. We can consider it something like a New Years Eve outfit for the blog. Here is a very old drawing in charcoal that I did in college for one of my drawing classes, maybe in 2005?

I can't tell you where I got the idea. I think I just started drawing it one day. It's one of those things that can mean whatever you want it to mean, but I was probably thinking about sitting outside under the trees, thinking about how they are alive, and well, honestly, about how they too could think and feel, but we could never know or prove it. Although there have been studies... anyway, there it is. Hope it's not too crazy for anyone reading. Tomorrow, back to normal.

Golden Seal Leaves

Here is an illustration of Golden Seal from either 2009 or 2010:

Although it's the roots that are used, the plant is so pretty with its big leaves and little red fruit.
I was just reading on wikipedia that golden seal seems to work as an antibiotic, but it doesn't actually kill germs. Instead, it increases the flow of healthy mucus which has its own antibiotic properties. It just helps our bodies do their jobs a little better rather than doing it for us. I thought that was neat.
Golden Seal is also endangered due to over-harvesting and loss of habitat through mountain-top removal mining. So, you happen to see some in the wild, please leave it there. Better to grow your own. :)

Cleome or Spider Flower

Here is an illustration from around 2009 of Cleome:

These are some unique and lively-looking flowers. The first place I noticed them was on top of the mound covering the root cellar at Twin Oaks where they volunteered themselves one summer. I think the most interesting part of them is the long stamens that shoot out of each individual flower.
This flower is native to southeast South America. As I learn more about where different flowers originated, it seems as though a lot of them are from central and South America.

Yellow Pear Tomato

Here is sort of a strange old one that I believe I did in 2010 of Yellow Pear Tomatoes:

I say it's strange because the different tomatoes, leaves and stems seem totally unconnected, like they are just all separate studies that happned to end up on the same peice of paper. It's not necessarily bad, just different than my normal way. I think it gives it a sort of scientific study feel.
Anyway, wikipedia tells me that the pear tomato originated in Europe in the 1700's and that the first recorded yellow pear tomatoes were grown in Europe in 1805. I think you can probably tell from the illustration why they are called "pear". It's not because of their taste, which is mild and tomato-y! The SESE catalog says they are great for popping in your mouth.

Scarlette Nantes Carrots

Here are some Scarlette Nantes carrots I illustrated in late 2009 or early 2010 I think:

I like the repeated carrot image in all sorts of direction. It sort of looks chaotic and orderly at the same time. These carrots are kind of interesting because they are more cylindrically shaped rather than the regular tapered shape of a carrot.
Wikipedia tells me that the carrot's wild ancestors probably came from Iran and Afganistan, which is still the center of diversity for the wild carrot. Apparently, carrots were not originally grown for their tap roots, but for their aromatic leaves and seeds just as some of their relatives still are like parsley, fennel, dill and cumin.

Bright Lights Cosmos

Here is a drawing of Bright Lights Cosmos that I think I did in 2009:

Cosmos are native to the warmer areas of the Americas according to wikipedia.
A neat tidbit about Cosmos from aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu: "Spanish priests grew cosmos in their mission gardens in Mexico. The evenly placed petals led them to christen the flower "Cosmos," the Greek word for harmony or ordered universe."

Tomato Montage

Here is one I did in probably 2009, maybe 2008, for the generic tomato seed pack illustration:

This one I still like. I guess I just like the colors and all the colorful varieties next to each other.
There is sort of a fun story in tomato history, although I am not too sure how true it is, but I am going to copy it here as told on homecooking.about.com:
"Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson of Salem, New Jersey had brought the tomato home from abroad in 1808. He had been offering a prize yearly for the largest fruit grown, but the general public considered the tomato an ornamental plant rather than one for food.

As the story is told, it was Colonel Johnson who on September 26, 1820 once and for all proved tomatoes non-poisonous and safe for consumption. He stood on the steps of the Salem courthouse and bravely consumed an entire basket of tomatoes without keeling over or suffering any ill effects whatsoever. His grandstanding attracted a crowd over 2,000 people who were certain he was committing public suicide. The local firemen's band even played a mournful dirge to add to the perceived morbid display of courage.
Johnson's public stunt garnered a lot of attention, and North America's love affair with the tomato was off and running.
By 1842, farm journals of the time were touting the tomato as the latest craze and those who eschewed it as 'objects of pity.'"

Spring Peeper

Here is a Spring Peeper I drew for my mom shortly before I drew the Fowler's Toad. I believe this one was for her birthday while I was in college:

Once again, it seems unfinished to me now, although I thought it was pretty good then. I still like his expression though. My mom's obsession with frogs is what originally gave me the idea for the 2011 Southern Exposure Seed Exchange cover. I had been trying to think of what could follow the gnomes of the year before and I was visiting my mom where I was surrounded by frog decorations of all kinds. The two just came together in my head as toads protecting the garden from bugs and insect pests. Of course.

Fowler's Toad

Here is a real old drawing I did for my mom, I think for mother's day, in college of a toad of the species called Fowler's Toad:

I thought this was pretty good when I first did it and I am sure it is still good to others, but to me, compared to what I do now, it looks quite unfinished. I used to be really embarrassed when I showed other people old things that I didn't think were very good anymore, but one day I said this to my good friend Tina Olsen, who is also an artist, as she was looking at some old veggie illustrations. And she said, "Oh Jessie! It is so good to see everything from an artist, even the bad stuff. You need to see the bad stuff, so you know that you can do it too, so you can see that not everything they did was a masterpiece." And she is right. So, from that moment, I have much less of a problem showing others the stuff that I think is not as good as the rest. It's ok to be human! Other people need to see that you are.

Finished Dark Green Zucchini

Here is the finally finished illustration of Dark Green Zucchini:

And a fun fact about zucchini from wikipedia: In Mexico, the flower is often used as an ingredient for soup, sopa de flor de calabaza, and it is quite popular in a variation of the traditional quesadillas, becoming quesadillas de flor de calabaza. One day I will have to try this. But not today! It is too late in the year in Indiana and I have to go play games with my little sister. :)

Tashkent Marigold

Here is an old illustration from... maybe 2009? I am surprised I never put it up before because it is one of my favorites, Tashkent French Marigold:

I just love the way the yellow outlines every petal. I think they are one of the most beautiful flowers. These Tashkent Marigolds also have a sweeter smell than the normal astrigent odor of other marigolds the SESE catalog tells me.
I found this neat website today that's connected to the Royal Botanic Gardens all about plants and people, our cultures surrounding plants: http://www.kew.org/plant-cultures/index.html
And of course there is a lot on there about the marigold. Marigolds apparently originated in Central Mexico and were introduced to South Asia in the 16th Century. Now they are used as decorations and offerings for weddings, funerals, and all sorts of ceremonies.

The next steps of the Dark Green Zucchini

Here is the next installment of progress on the dark green zucchini:

I worked on it in a coffee shop today while my dad, who I am visiting, was in a meeting across the street. It's getting close to done. I need to add some darker colors to the leaves, stems and flowers, and also add the detail.
Here are a couple of fun facts from http://homecooking.about.com: "The word zucchini comes from the Italian zucchino, meaning a small squash. The term squash comes from the Indian skutasquash meaning 'green thing eaten green.'" I love that name :) And it's interesting because now we are used to so many kinds of squash of so many colors. I tend to think Orange when I think squash myself. I guess this veggie has just come a long way.

dark geen zuke

here is the beginning of a dark green zucchini illustration:

i was trying to keep it loose and start with a wash on each zucchini, but i have such a hard time staying loose. i think it'll work out alright though. A fun fact about zucchinis from ehow: "Italian immigrants brought the zucchini squash to the United States in the 1920s, according to the University of Illinois Extension. The squash caught on and became popular in the 1930s."
And just to let you all know, for the next couple weeks there might be a lot of half way finished stuff or quick sketches since I am visiting family for the holidays.

Peanuts

And today I am driving up to Indiana to see the family for the holidays so I am posting another old one. I think this one is also from around 2008, a general illustration of peanuts:

SESE sells lots of varieties of peanuts. They even sell one, called Schronce's Deep Black, that has black skin! Neato! If you are not a gardener or have not grown peanuts you may not know the interesting way that they grow. They start off normal, shoots and leaves and flowers, but then they turn around and head back toward the ground, burrow in, and once there, then grow the peanut! How do they know what to do? I always thought it was amazing anyway. Apparently, as wikipedia tells me, this is called geocarpy,"production by plants of diaspores within the soil." more specifically hysterocarpy, " aerial flowers, which penetrate the soil after flowering.

Shallots

Today I am hanging out with Juneau for the one day in four weeks that we have together so no art today. Instead, here is a pretty old drawing, perhaps from 2008 if I can remember, of shallots:

SESE sells two kinds of shallots Grey Griselle and French Red. They say the French red is more widely adapted and has superior flavor, though it does not keep as well as other shallots, and that it is valued in gourmet cooking and fine restaurants. The Griselle, on the other hand wikipedia tells me, is a shallot that grows wild from Central to Southwest Asia. I would love to walk outside and pick some wils shallots! At least we can go outside and pick some wild garlic, or ramps. Juneau and I found a bunch on the side of the road in Oklahoma, (his Okla-home-a, I had to say it), at the end of last summer. They were all dried out and perfect for harvesting and they were tasty too.

Plymouth Rock Hen, Gloria

Here is what I have been working on today. I don't think it's finished yet, but I won't be working on it again for a couple weeks so you'll just have to wait to see the finished product :) Here is Gloria, a Plymouth Rock Hen:

AnimalsComeFirst, the farm where she lives, had a good long story about her and I am just going to post it here, word for word. From an email from Katie: 

 We don't really have a name for our farm, for we only have 2 chickens, 1 dog and 2 hamsters.  We did have three hens... Hazel died a month ago due to a tumor in her throat.  :(
They are both rescued hens; found in a 4 x 4 pen with 15 other chickens.  Their owner abandoned them; our friend rescued her and soon realized that Penny was partially blind in one eye and after she rescued Gloria her foot got stepped on by a horse, so she limped around the yard.   So, with a chicken with a broken foot, a partially blind chicken and a totally blind chicken (Hazel, R.I.P.) she knew that it would be a hard life on her farm of 4 dogs, 5 horses and over 20 chickens (2 roosters.)
She wanted to find them a home that could provide extra love and care and attention.  My friend also does riding lessons, and I ride at her place, so she asked my mom if she would be interested in opening a kind of disabled chicken farm, because we love animals so much.  We have a Rat terrier mix, Luna, who loves to *chase* squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks and crows.  We thought "Oh no, she'll attack the chickens!"
Nope!  She was a little weary at first, but now she enjoys to go out each morning and "let the girls out"!
Now here's the thing, at first, our friend only offered us Penny and Hazel, the 2 buff orpingtons.  When we went on vacation, we brought both of them back to our friends for a few days.  Gloria, the lonely outcast, became friends with them and protected and guarded them from the roosters and mean hens!  Michelle then offered Gloria, and how could we resist a adorable Barred Plymouth Rock?
Each morning i'll go out with my dog and let Gloria and Penny out of their (small, only fit for 3 - 4 chickens) coop.  The run (only 2 1/2 feet high, but covered with a net.) is across the yard, so I leave them out in the fenced in yard to walk over to their run eventually.  Their run does have shelter, a dog house filled with shavings.  In the summer, Gloria lays 1 egg a day... penny doesn't lay.  (If she does, its whenever she feels like it, i guess!)
Gloria comes up on our patio and likes to look in the glass door at the activity inside, and now she has taught Penny to do the same.  I don't like them up there because they go to the bathroom and its hard to clean up.

Finished Delaware Rooster

Here is the finished Delaware:

He's very proud.
This guy lived happily with a bunch of other chickens and a few roosters at Catalpa Farm in Columbia City, Indiana, as I was saying yesterday. I was very impressed with his owner, Soni, when Juneau, my partner, my mom, and I all went to visit. She was well spoken, very informative, welcoming, and friendly. She told us all about the importance of heritage breeds and stories of her chickens. One of the sadder stories was that this year they had a lot more birds than they did when we visited. They had put about $1000 into taking care of a bunch of meat birds, Jersey Giants, (more about them another time when I do a Jersey portrait), but one night an animal came along and killed all but a few of them. They still have their chickens for eggs, but they are out a good amount of money and a good number of birds... I hate to end on that note. Well, maybe if you find yourself in Columbia City, IN and you want to make an appointment to go see Soni and get some healthy, happy eggs maybe you could buy a dozen and throw in a little extra if you can afford it.

Delaware Rooster

I'm switching gears for a day or two to keep painting more lively for myself. So, it is not yet finished, but here is the first of a series of heritage breed chickens. This one is a Delaware Rooster from Catalpa Farm in Columbia City, Indiana:

Because we rely so heavily on just a few breeds of chickens, bred and modified to survive in industrial settings, there are some old breeds of chickens on the verge of extinction. This is one that a year or two ago was on that verge, but because of people like Soni on Catalpa farm this breed is doing better. Catalpa is really just a sweet farm house on a little land with a nice little building for the chickens out back. They have a movable fence there in which they corral the chickens with its two ends butted up to the chicken house so that the chickens can move inside and out as they want. They get to forage on the bugs outside and the green things under their feet. Soni sells the eggs and meat, (when their is meat to sell, more on that another time), to a local CSA.

eva purple ball finished

I decided to take it easy on the art today and just finish this one up. Sometimes, if you don't take a break from painting veggies it begins to feel too much like a job and I'd rather stop for a day and feel inspired again. Anyway, here it is:

Fun tomato facts: Wikipedia tells me there are around 7500 tomato varieties! And I thought the few hundred that SESE sells seeds for was a lot. It also tells me that the heaviest tomato ever weighed 3.51 kg (7 lb 12 oz), was of the cultivar 'Delicious', and was grown by Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986.

almost done eva purple ball

Here is an unfinished illustration of a tomato called Eva Purple Ball:

I only have to put in the small details to sharpen it up, but I just feel like letting it go 'til tomorrow.
The SESE catalog tells me this tomato variety was developed in the late 1800s in the the Black Forest region of Germany and that it's one of the most blemish free tomatoes they've grown.
And a fun tomato fact: The largest tomato plant (a “Sungold” variety), recorded in 2000, reached 19.8 meters (65 feet) in length and was grown by Nutriculture Ltd. of Mawdesley, Lancashire, UK. -taken from tomatodirt.com
Wow, I wonder what kind of trellis they grew that on.

little leaf cucumber

Today's painting is of Little Leaf Cucumber:

They are little cucumbers with little leaves, extremely cute. :) We grew these at Twin Oaks for pickling. They fit right in the jars and were yummy too. They were also very convenient because we could easily explain which cucumbers were for slicing and which were for pickling when we were having new people harvest. The picklers were the ones with the little leaves that you harvested when they were longer than around the size of your pinky finger, and the slicers were the ones with big leaves that you harvested when they were full and round if you looked straight at the end, instead of sort of triangular, like the under ripe ones were. This variety of cucumber, the SESE catalog tells me, was developed and released by the University of Arkansas in 1990.

Lemon Cucumber

Today's illustration is of Lemon Cucumber:

From the picture I guess it's pretty obvious why these cucumbers are called Lemon, but although they look more like lemons than the cucumbers we are used to, the Southern Exposure catalog tells me they taste like an old fashioned cucumber with a hint of nuttiness. "Old fashioned with a hint of nuttiness", I can think of a few people who fit that description too :) And the New World Encyclopedia tells me that they have a thinner, more delicate skin than the cucumbers you normally find here in the grocery store.

autumn beauty sunflower finally finished

Here is the finally finished illustration of Autumn Beauty Sunflower... unless I change my mind in the morning:

It's hard to believe all of those flowers come from one variety, but there they are.
So for fun sunflower facts before I go to bed: Apparently there is a mathematical equation for the pattern of florets in the head of a sunflower. I would copy it down here, but it really means nothing to me. It is just kind of neat and crazy that someone, who is named H.Vogel, actually figured that out. I have noticed while drawing sunflowers the interesting pattern in the middle. I always get it down on the page by drawing curves out from the center of the flower like C's all the way around, and then flipping the C and doing curves like that all the way around too, if that makes any sense.
And one last fun fact, International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening day is on May 1st. "It is a day when guerrilla gardeners around the world plant sunflowers in their neighborhoods, typically in neglected public places such as tree pits, shabby flower beds and bare roadside verges. It has taken place since 2007, and was conceived by guerrilla gardeners in Brussels." I like it :) Perhaps this May 1st, wherever I am I will find myself planting a sunflower.
-info on the math equation and Guerrilla Gardening taken from Wikipedia

More Autumn Beauty Sunflower

Well, this painting is taking a ridiculous amount of time. I guess I am getting too wrapped up in each petal. Maybe tomorrow I will let it go and hurry up. I will get it done one way or another anyway. So here is the next installment of the Autumn Beauty Sunflower:

Actually, I think it is just taking so long because there is so much variety within the variety of sunflower that it takes a lot of sunflowers to show it all on the seed packet. There are just so many possible colors.
Sunflowers are not only pretty to look at with tasty seeds,but they also have other uses in the garden . At Twin Oaks we would plant one every few feet or so in rows of beans to attract beneficial birds and insects and through them, keep the bad bugs at bay. They were also useful when we grew pole beans for the beans to grow up as a trellis.

Autumn Beauty

I will probably still do some more work on this later, but I thought it would maybe be interesting to some to see how I start an illustration. After collecting a bunch of pictures for reference, looking at everything I've collected I try to visualize putting the images together and how they would fit nicely on the paper. Once I have a good idea of where I would like things to go, I do a very light pencil sketch of the contours, so light so that when I cover it with watercolor you can't see any pencil through the paint. If I don't do this and just jump in, I will end up making one part too big and not being able to fit the rest in, or I will tend to make things not in the right proportions to each other and watercolor is so unforgiving that things just have to be planned out. So, here is the beginning of Autumn Beauty Sunflower. It looks weird and dark because I messed with it so that you can actually see the pencil drawing. Just know that the pencil lines are much lighter in actuality and that the paper is one solid white color.

I didn't used to plan things out so much or even stick to any drawing that I started with. I was very bad at composing an image. I was more interested in making what I did get down look the most real, not caring about where it sat on the page, or how it interacted with the rest of the picture. But it's been a good challenge to try to change that. Things looks a bit less awkward in the end :)
And for some fun facts, here is a bit about heliotropism and sunflowers from wikipedia:
A common misconception is that sunflowers track the sun. In fact, mature flowerheads typically face east and do not move. The leaves and buds of young sunflowers do exhibit heliotropism (sun turning). Their orientation changes from east to west during the course of a day. The movements become a circadian response and when plants are rotated 180 degrees, the old response pattern is still followed for a few days, with leaf orientation changing from west to east instead. [I find this part particularly interesting. It is as if the leaves and buds have to learn where they are supposed go in this new situation.] The leaf and flowerhead bud phototropism occurs while the leaf petioles and stems are still actively growing, but once mature, the movements stop. These movements involve the petioles bending or twisting during the day then unbending or untwisting at night.

Catalogna Chicory

Here is today's painting, an illustration of Catalogna Chicory:

When I think of chicory I think of the little purple, or some people would say blue, flowers that grow in fields and along roadsides. I think of when a couple of friends and I at twin oaks went out and gathered a bunch of roots, roasted them, ground them, and then made a coffee substitute, which was pretty yummy, but of course, missed the caffeine. I don't necessarily think of salad, or I didn't until I went searching for pictures of this vegetable. Apparently, there are two types of chicory, one grown for its roots, and one grown for its greens. And this second type has five sub-groups of its own: "radicchio (popular Italian variety), sugarloaf (a popular heading variety), large-leafed chicory, cutting or leaf chicory (Catalogna or asparagus chicory), and Belgian endive or witloof chicory (white or blanched varieties that originated in France and Belgium)," which I just learned from howstuffworks.com. Who knew chicory was such a versatile plant?

Black Mammoth Sunflower - finished

Here is the finished illustration of the Black Mammoth Sunflower:

I think it did end up coming out alright in the end. Today I found more motivation... in coffee.
So, apparently there is actually a national sunflower organization. It seems that its purpose is mostly centered around industry involving the sunflower, but there is some interesting info about the sunflower on their website. It tells me that the sunflower was originally cultivated by Native Americans in present-day New Mexico and Arizona. It was taken to Europe by Spanish explorers around 1500, use spread and then it was eventually brought back to the Americas for commercial use in the 1900's. It also tells me that Native Americans had many uses for it, not just food. "Non-food uses include purple dye for textiles, body painting and other decorations. Parts of the plant were used medicinally ranging from snakebite to other body ointments. The oil of the seed was used on the skin and hair. The dried stalk was used as a building material. The plant and the seeds were widely used in ceremonies."

the middle of a black mammoth

Some days it is harder to push yourself into painting than others, and sometimes a painting moves more slowly than you expect. I guess it might have been the weather, rainy and dreary, good for laying around and cuddling with kitties. On those days I push myself a little and know that if I give it enough time and patience the painting will come together eventually. Of course there's always the option of giving up too or saying, good enough, which I do choose too sometimes. Anyway, I did get half way done with this one and tomorrow I am sure it will come together, the Black Mammoth Sunflower:

The SESE website tells me that these are the sunflowers to grow if you are growing them to eat their seeds, "big seeds" "great for munching".
And I just learned the neatest thing about sunflowers from wikipedia. Their heads, the part we think of as the flower, are actually 1000-2000 individual flowers joined together by a receptacle base. Here is some more on that, "What is usually called the "flower" on a mature sunflower is actually a "flower head" (also known as a "composite flower") of numerous florets, (small flowers) crowded together. The outer petal-bearing florets are the sterile ray florets and can be yellow, red, orange, or other colors. The florets inside the circular head are called disc florets, which mature into seeds."

SESE's new catalog

and I almost forgot. the new SESE catalogs for 2012 are ready. If you want to have a free one sent to you you can go to their website here: http://www.southernexposure.com/free-catalog-p-586.html

Clemson Spineless Okra

Today I did an illustration of Clemson Spineless Okra:

Apparently the spines on okra can make some people itchy when they pick them, but not these okra. I don't remember ever getting itchy from picking okra, but I can imagine how some people would. The worst for me was always squash. My hands would get red dots from the pokey leaves.
I just learned from wikipedia that okra is also called "lady fingers" and "gumbo" in some parts of the world. The word "okra" is actually of West African origin from "okwuru" in the Igbo language spoken in Nigeria. Some people believe okra originated in West Africa while others think it might be from South Asia or Ethiopia.

Table Queen Vine Squash Finished

Here is the finished illustration for Table Queen Vine:

I just picked up a few things from about.com about acorn squash, one being that although they are considered a winter squash, acorn squash are actually in the same family as summer squash.
Other interesting things: Squash seeds have been found in ancient Mexican archeological digs dating back to somewhere between 9,000 and 4,000 BC; and the first European settlers originally thought squash to be a type of melon since they had never seen them before.
-http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/acornsquashhist.htm

A Tender Gray End leads to the beginning of the Table Queen

First I will post the very beginnings of the Table Queen Vine Winter Squash, which I am not going to finish today as it is my last day with Juneau before he visits his family for two weeks and then I leave and visit mine for two weeks. So, here is the very beginning of that painting:

I decided to start with all the yellowy, peachy, orange colors before moving into the dark blue greens that will dominate the painting. These are a type of acorn shaped squash whose seeds are sold by SESE. The catalog tells me that it was, "Introduced [in] 1913. The precursor of this variety was cultivated previously by the Arikara Indian tribe in the early 1800's."

And here is the finished illustration of Tender Gray Zucchini, (this time I will spell it right).

I finished up by brightening the yellow and orange in the flowers with watercolor and then adding detail with colored pencil to everything, mostly just around the edges to tighten it up. As my two year old niece Emma would say, I like it. It's ok to be proud of a painting sometimes, right?

And some fun zucchini facts:
The world’s largest zucchini on record was 69 1/2 inches long, and weighed 65 lbs. Bernard Lavery of Plymouth Devon, UK, grew the humongous veggie.
And,  a zucchini has more potassium than a banana.
-taken from http://www.foodchannel.com/articles/article/top-10-zucchini-fun-facts/