The Nature of Silver Creek
Egrets and Creek
photograph, photoshopped, digital, 2020
Water Ripples, 2020
photograph, Photoshop,
signed, archival, limited edition print
Blue Heron
trail cam photograph, Photoshop,
signed, archival, limited edition, ink jet print
My dog, Harpo
on a trail by the creek
Trail cam photo and Photoshop
Doe on Sandbar
Trail cam photo,
worked up with Photoshop,
signed, archival, limited edition inkjet print
Wisteria in Full Bloom
Photograph and Photoshop
I am so blessed to live in this Louisiana jungle and share it with friends and family. We have trails through the woodlands and swamp. I am not exaggerating when I call it a jungle. Nature is potent, growing in wild tangles. There are oak trees that are 6' in diameter and I guess 60', 80 feet tall. This exuberant nature feeds my spirit with joy.
Nature supports my art creations. I make art almost every day. Nature and art creation nourish my spirit. I can feel the peaceful flowing soul energy of Mother Nature when I walk the trails.
Wildlife here includes: many deer, wild boar, beaver, armadillo, raccoon, rabbits, squirrels, frogs that throb the air with their songs, multicolored lizards, salamander, and box turtle. Water turtle and fish in the creek.
A symphony of birds, including blue heron, large and small egret, king fisher, owls, hawks, a large and a small variety of woodpeckers. The hummingbird feeders bring amazing, tiny, jewel colored birds, that zoom swiftly among the trees.
And Snakes, most are not dangerous. Cotton mouth moccasins are rarely seen. I feel an adrenaline fear rush and back away slowly. I tell the children to watch where they put their feet and hands.
The creek feeds into the Bogue Falaya, which flows into the Pearl River, and Honey Island Swamp. A relatively, sparsely populated green corridor runs more than a hundred miles into the Gulf. I have examined it on Google Earth. It is a migration corridor for birds and other critters. Eye witnesses claim to have seen Big Foot in Honey Island Swamp and along the Pearl. I am on the look out, but have not seen him yet.
Two inch benign banana spiders make webs that shimmer in the dappled sun light. Occasionally, in the spring, mosquitoes bite. Graceful butterflies of many colors. Dragonflies that are black, accented with iridescent pthalo blue wings.
Such beauty, an embarrassment of riches.
The children like to kayak to a sandbar where we swim. Sitting on the sandbar we hunt for fossils, agate and Native American artifacts.
We planted moso bamboo in 2006. This plant can GROW! It covers maybe half an acre now. Sassafras, (historically used to make rootbeer and file for gumbo ), grows as a second story under the tall bamboo.
It took me a long time to get here. I grew up moving around with my Air Force Dad. I moved around quite a bit as an adult. Trying out different spots. When I got close to retirement, I searched for my forever home.
January 1, 2002, my family and I tent camped on our new land. My forever home.
I lived in a tent while my sons, brother, nephew, and friends, built the house. I moved lightly into the house before it was closed in. A bird nested in the woodwork framing. We sat in the area that was to be the living room, the walls were up, but had no windows or doors. Devoted Mama Bird flew over our heads, back and forth to feed the gaping beaks of tiny babies.
I self identified as an Artist in 1980. My family also built me a studio. I create almost everyday, following an evolving stream of inspiration. A few themes migrate into my work at different times. Primarily nature and luminous women. I am a spiritual seeker, art maps out my seeker path.
I am blessed with a satisfying way to experience life on earth.
