My Town

2010 sketches from life using binoculars showing
Great Blue Heron, Cormorant, Osprey and Gulls
at the base of Squamscott River.

Exeter, New Hampshire is a New England coastal town that has invested a lot of time and money in preserving large amounts of public open space.  With miles of single-track trails and over 2,300 acres of protected land, Exeter, has become a draw for people who cherish their time in the woods.  On any given day, year-round, you’ll find hikers, dog-walkers, mountain bikers, Nordic skiers or runners enjoying the trails that cross through public and private lands, around and over ponds and vernal pools, alongside streams, under power lines and even under a major highway.  This open space is not contiguous, however.  There are many smaller conservation easements and several large parcels at different corners of the town.  The two I am most familiar with are the Henderson-Swasey/Fort Rock woods and the Oaklands Town Forest.  These two parcels are connected by a tunnel under route 101 and cover nearly 453 acres.

While I enjoy walking and snowshoeing through the forest with my Boston terrier, Oreo, it's the flora and fauna that keep me coming back.  These woods are very popular so it can be difficult to see the evidence of wildlife activity.  But it’s there if you look.  In fact, I find it to be one of the best places within town to view plants and animals of all sizes and varieties.  And despite this active use by humans you can definitely find yourself alone and not see or hear another soul.

Both Henderson-Swasey and the Oaklands are beautiful anytime of the day and through all seasons.  It’s a mixed-woods-riparian forest filled with hardwoods like beech, maple, hickory and oaks intermingled with pine and hemlock.  The landscape is similar to the foothills of the White Mountains, which is why it's so popular among mountain bikers.  Trails lead across ridgelines and along ledges.  Boulder fields cover the acreage and old rock walls crisscross the trails.  There’s plenty of water here, too.  Norris Brook flows through the Henderson-Swasey Town Forest, arising from a beaver pond and emptying into the Squamscott River.  Sloan’s Brook has its watershed deep in the Oaklands.  There are a great number of small wetlands and vernal pools, too, which frogs and other amphibians frequent.

Henderson-Swasey and the Oaklands may be the town “gems” but other public access properties offer an outdoor escape many of us crave.  Phillips Exeter Academy owns and manages approximately sixty acres of forested land with public access.  There’s also Rayne’s Farm, Jolly Rand/Riverwoods Nature Trail, Little River Conservation area, Connor Farm and many, many parcels of town land and easements managed by the Exeter Conservation Commission.  To top it all off, the beautiful Exeter and Squamscott Rivers run through town.  Along the length of the freshwater Exeter and the saltwater Squamscott Rivers the wildlife viewing has been astounding!  Meeting right in the middle of town, the two rivers are life sustaining for all sorts of wildlife and offer many recreational opportunities for us humans.  It’s a great spot for birding, as is the Phillips Exeter Academy fields and woods.  Everything from shorebirds to ocean birds to raptors, ducks, nighthawks, herons and migratory songbirds have been seen along, over and in it.  And it’s not just birds.  Red fox, fisher cats, river otters, mink and beavers make this area home.

2016 sketches from life using a bird scope showing Cormorants,
Gulls and Mallards along the Squamscott River.

In my 15 years as an Exeter resident there have been many amazing wildlife sightings in these open spaces.  So much so that, for the remainder of 2017, I will write a new post each month relating to the wonderful natural resources here in town, illustrated with my sketches.  I hope to bring some delight and wonder to a broader audience who might not already be aware of their surroundings.  Maybe I can introduce someone to the plants and animals surviving living alongside us in our neighborhoods; or pique someone’s curiosity for natural and cultural history.  Maybe, just maybe, I’ll motivate someone to act on this new knowledge and curiosity by becoming acquainted with our abundant open space and inspire within them a sense of stewardship.

Let’s see where this takes us.

Onward,
Sandy

FORM

Happy spring!  Yes, I know.  There's still a lot of snow on the ground and, for some parts of New England, more snow is coming tomorrow evening (I feel your pain, Kelsey!).  However, so many signs of spring have predictably begun right on time.  In my neighborhood the cardinals began singing bright and clear in the early morning about five weeks ago.  Chickadees followed soon thereafter and this morning I heard the drilling of woodpeckers as I left the house.  Can't see anything coming up from the ground yet but soon...

At the start if 2015 I decided that FORM was to be my focus this year.  I've been practicing shapes and proportions for so long that it seems almost second nature to me now.  Form is the next skill to master.  In my last lesson with Barry Van Dusen we practiced capturing form with quick gestural lines, finding the angle of the bird first then building the lines around that.  In the sketch above you can see how it works well for not only birds perched at a side view but especially well for the foreshortened view.  As a part of capturing form it is incredibly helpful to understand what the animal's structure is like underneath feathers, skin and muscle.  The page above represents about twenty minutes of work.  One could easily practice this each day.  Imagine what that could do for developing a sharp and quick eye!

Spring classes are coming up!  Please sign up for my newsletter to learn about my sketching and painting classes.  You can sign up on my website's homepage, bottom right.  I am so happy to get back outside with my sketchbook, paints and brushes soon after such a long winter of impossible weather!  Maybe our paths will cross...

Reminiscing about Warmer Days

I do enjoy the New England winters.  I love to snowshoe and Nordic ski.  And this year I took up winter hiking.  With good planning (and a healthy dose of respect and restraint) the White Mountains in NH are a spectacular winter hiking destination.  But this winter has tested even the hardiest souls with some extremely cold temperatures and incredible winds.  I'm good for maybe one more snowstorm then Id like it all to melt away.  Slowly, so as not to overload the drainage systems.

Clouds Building   3 x 7" watercolor sketch from sketchbook   2014

So on this day I am remembering a warm and slightly humid day in Germany last summer.  I watched the clouds build throughout the day, to end with rain that night and the following day.  I remember the mountains of Austria, Germany and Switzerland all around me.  A lake heavily populated with sailboats carrying people on holiday.  Clouds, blue sky, warm green grass and a gentle breeze.  Absolutely lovely.  Reminiscing is good for the mind.  Just what I need to get through the coming weeks of March.  Some Cardinals in my neighborhood have been singing for three weeks, the chickadees have chimed in with their spring song, and I hear that Red-winged Black Birds have been spotted, too.  Soon the winter ducks will depart for northern breeding grounds.  The loons, who have spent the winter on the ocean, will travel inland to the lakes of New England.  I'll turn my attention to memorizing bird sounds and all the wonderful migratory birds that come through during New England's warm months.  And I'll find myself reminiscing about all the fun and cold air that winter offers.  So it goes...

Dark-eyed Juncos!

Dark-eyed Juncos, a mostly winter bird for our area, are, in my view,  one of the cutest avian species.  Along with the Tufted Titmouse and the Marsh Wren, their shape and button eyes make them so adorable!

According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Juncos spend their summers on breeding grounds all over Canada and western mountains of the U.S.  We start to see them in New England around November and increasingly through December.  By January they can be seen flitting about our woodlands and backyards, often mingling with the Tufted Titmouse and Black-capped Chickadee in the north or Pine and Palm Warblers in the southeast.  Even on the coldest of days they're moving about gathering food not only to fill their bellies but as part of the warming process.  Full belly means warmer body.

The distinctive gray body and pink bill (that often looks white from a distance) make it very easy to spot a Dark-eyed Junco.  It looks especially striking against snow.  Being a member of the sparrow family they have a round compact body with a moderate-sized head (proportionally speaking) and longish tail feathers.  Like the titmouse and wren aforementioned the proportion and placement of the eye is the clincher to what makes this critter so darn cute.

Having twelve subspecies, the Dark-eyed Junco is considered a "polytypic" species.

No sketches today, sorry.  But here's a few links to some decent photos and more learning:
http://birds.audubon.org/birds/dark-eyed-junco
http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/junco.htm
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birding/dark-eyed-junco/

Spend a few minutes looking out your back door or windows today.  You'll be rewarded!

Happy New Year!

Snowy owl on dune, PRNWR Jan. 2014.  WC sketch from personal photo.

For New Year's Day I went our birding early in the morning with a friend.  Unfortunately, our adventure was a quiet one.  I think we went out too early.  As the morning hours passed many more people were out birding and finding things.  One report of a prairie falcon on Plum Island  came in.  Despite our best effort, we weren't lucky enough to site it.

Conditions: 8-11am.  Bright sun, clear sky.  COLD, temps hovering in the teens.  And WINDY.

Location: Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Salisbury State Beach and Hampton State Beach

Tidbit: Snowy owls are not migratory but, rather, they are nomadic.

Sandy

Hiking in Waterville Valley

I love this two-page spread of the view from Mt. Osceola.  It was a cloudy, cool day when I was there recently.  One comment from a friend was that I captured the temperature of the day.

This was a popular peak that day.  I was most certainly not alone at the top.  I hiked with six friends and four dogs who had all moved on to bag a second peak while I stayed back and sketched.  There was also what seemed to be two boy scout groups and many other pairs and groups of people of all ages hiking through, some from Tripoli Rd. and some from The Kancamagus.  I didn't mind; I don't much enjoy being alone in the woods.  My work drew a lot of attention from other hikers, which is always nice.

I really enjoy working in this horizontal sketchbook.  Landscapes work real well in it, especially from the tops of mountains.

This second sketch was done on a 10 x 10" Arches cold press block.  Also from the peak of Mt. Osceola, it's focus is Lake Winnipesaukee in the distance.

Looking forward to doing a lot more hiking and watercolor sketching from peaks this year!

SUCCESS!

The Kickstarter campaign for The Worry Tree is Waiting children's book exceeded it's funding goal by 20%!  172 backers produced $6,624.00!  Many friends, family and colleagues pledged but so did many more strangers from within the U.S. and abroad, which tells us that people all over the world can appreciate this kind of story.

I will begin working on the remaining paintings this weekend and will have them to the book designer sometime in June.  She'll create the layout and send that file to the local printer.  The plan is to have the books ready for distribution in September.

What a journey so far.  Now, off to organize my studio and get these paintings done.

Onward