Are You Ready for Spring? Got Scarlet Runner Beans?

Gaura mollis - Velvetweed

“From Platte to Peak”. Illustrate type plant specimens collected by Dr. Edwin James during the first actual scientific expedition to the western High Plains, led by Major Stephen H. Long, during the summer of 1820. Many plants are familiar and widely dispersed, and you may already have some finished pieces that fit the size limits. The Call for Entry is at Online Juried Shows, open now and closing August 15, 2020. Martha Narey is the contact for the James Plant List and supporting materials.

Cabin Fever? Here’s a VirtualFieldTrip^TM to the RV & Motorhome Museum in Elkhart, Indiana (https://www.rvmhhalloffame.org). Feast your eyes on some truly marvelous early magic carpets, er, escape vehicles at this exhibit address. Just ‘cause you’re stuck (hey, it could be an electronic ankle bracelet) doesn’t mean you can’t drool over a birch interior instead of Formaldehyde-laced particle board. Take yourself on a short instructive vacation.

Tagawa Gardens RMSBA Sale and Show is Cancelled! So we won’t be haulin’ our stuff out to the Southeast margins in July. Too bad! All classes and events at Tagawa have suffered this same fate.

4/22 Earth Day. 50^th Anniversary of Starting to Pay Attention. Unfortunate national case of ADHD…

4/20 Denver. This year I did not notice a soft gray cloud dissipate above Civic Center Park at 4:20 on 4/20. Stayin’ at home…

Leaf-out Progresses; Hyacinths and Tax Forms Proliferate

The US Curve 

Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Wipe down surfaces. Let's stay healthy.

Drought is a problem for groundwater supplies for agriculture and surface (root zone) supplies for horticulture and natural vegetation. South America suffers from pronounced deficits, and plant life is likely to face great stress.

Crocus & Daffodils, Forsythia & Plum – Spring Blossoms Out Now

CO-NM close-up

Out In LalaLand is published a commentary suggesting that just looking at the word “calm” has, indeed, a calmative effect. Here is an ink sketch of the aforementioned word; feel free to criticize, evaluate, or submit your take on it.

IRS Logo

Business? Help. Your art business might benefit, at least for insurance purposes, from an end-of-year studio inventory. Artwork Archive offers tips. Yes, we know it’s the beginning of the second quarter; what else are you doing?

Images for Artists. Vanessa Martin advises us she has shifted from making journals to making masks. Nice, Vanessa! FYI, if you are microwave-sanitizing your cloth masks, it’s 3 minutes on regular or 2 minutes on high for cotton. Other fabrics unknown…

Karen May confesses that her second-favorite thing is needlepoint – we already know her First Thing is exquisite watercolor. She sends a new pattern going down.

“From Platte to Peak”. Illustrate type plant specimens collected by Dr. Edwin James during the first actual scientific expedition to the western High Plains, led by Major Stephen H. Long, during the summer of 1820. Many plants are familiar and widely dispersed, and you may already have some finished pieces that fit the size limits. The Call for Entry is at Online Juried Shows, open now and closing August 15, 2020. Martha Narey is the contact for the James Plant List and supporting materials.

 

Member Meeting. The April member meeting is CANCELLED. More information will follow.

Gathering of the Guilds Show & Sale is POSTPONED to Sunday, October 4, 2020, 10am to 4pm, American Mountaineering Center, 710 10th Street, Golden, CO. Save the date; enjoy the extra notice.

Art Supply. In support of all our efforts, we do need supplies and materials. Check the Guiry’s in your area for hours and access. Dick Blick and Utrecht are still shipping, if your Editor’s email inbox is an accurate indicator. Meiningers in Denver has curbside pick-up available, Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am-2pm.

Memories. Back during the run-up to Y2K, your Editor was teaching at a Great Plains institution of higher learning and working on a long-distance relationship in Denver. Spouse and I conversed by telephone every night we weren’t together (thank you, Amtrak), and from time to time had dinner together from afar. We relied on voice, as Skype and its ilk had yet to be developed, e-mail was buffered from Pluto, and SmartPhones had yet to overtake the culture. Reach out. Share something for Coffee Break or Happy Hour and keep in virtual touch.

Interesting graphics. Click this link, it’s animated. Then we can think about what we wash our hands with, should we be so unfortunate as to live in a county where the water supply is too polluted to drink.