I made a rare trip deep into the metropolis to catch up with some loved ones in Silver Lake and Echo Park. Rising tall and skinny above the traffic, graffiti, noise and grit—palm trees as far as the eye can see.
silver lake skyline
Month: April 2023
tomato day
The garden is still chock full of winter veg, but I found spaces to squeeze in some tomato seedlings. More will be planted as we finish off the abundant goodness that’s currently filling the raised beds.
Quiscalus mexicanus
Great-tailed grackles do indeed have great tails—they can fold them in half to make a vertical presentation. These birds are larger than starlings but smaller than crows. Males are iridescent black which sometimes has them simply called “blackbirds”. Females are brown with darker wings and tail.
It’s breeding season, and there’s a lot of grackle activity (and song!) going on at Legacy Park, where they are sharing space with red-winged blackbirds, another beautiful and melodious black bird.
Photo reference: Vivek Khanzodé
Viola pedunculata
Viola pedunculata, the Johnny jump-up, California golden violet, or yellow pansy, is a perennial yellow wildflower of the coast and coastal ranges in California and northwestern Baja California. The plant grows on open, grassy slopes, in chaparral habitats, and in oak woodlands. We see its cheerful yellow flowers in the Santa Monica Mountains from early to late spring.
found list
I love finding (and illustrating) strangers’ lists. I wonder what food they bought for Colin?
Quercus agrifolia
UPDATE 5.6.23: I incorrectly showed the position of the female flowers. See this post.
It promises to be a great year for acorns around here! Most of the coast live oaks are currently sprouting thousands of yellow fingers, male flowers on their long catkins. Their female counterparts are hard to see, but if you look closely you can find them wedged in the angle between leaf and branch.
California’s oak woodlands sustain higher levels of biodiversity than virtually any other terrestrial ecosystem in the state. More than 300 species of birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals depend on oak woodlands for food and shelter, and that doesn’t count the many hundred species of insects, spiders, mosses, lichens and fungi.
Like so many other habitats, oak woodlands are under severe threat from development and climate change. But for this year, at least, we can look forward to a healthy acorn crop. Yay!
Sisyrinchium bellum
Pretty blue-eyed grass is actually an iris, not a grass. It’s putting on a good show around here right now. No Chumash uses were recorded for this plant, but the Ohlone used an infusion of the roots and leaves as a cure for indigestion and stomach pain.
new sketchbook, refreshed palette
I like to sketch my current palette on the first page of a new sketchbook (in the case, a Stillman and Birn Alpha 8 x 10). It was time to top up the pans, so I decided to make a few changes, adding in Lavender and Cobalt Turquoise Light for some fresh spring tones. My paints are nearly all Daniel Smith, with a couple of Schminckes. Some of the initials make me smile—FU (French Ultramarine), GAG (Green Apatite Genuine).
Kalaveras
I went to a new-to-me Mexican restaurant for lunch; my meal was delicious. I wondered at the preponderance of skulls in the decor, until I looked up the meaning of the establishment’s name and it all made sense.
Pleurotus eryngii
While in town yesterday, I made a special stop at the Japanese market to get mirin, but they wouldn’t sell it to me without photo ID, which I’d accidentally left at home. However, the visit wasn’t wasted … king oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus eryngii) were on sale.
hashiworks 