drAnn's Art

Botanical Illustration

Someone mentioned in passing that whereas most people in the US think that Scarlett Runner Beans are toxic, most people in Europe do not.  Remarks like that make me have to think a bit and then off I go to the search engines looking for an answer.  Recently Wikipedia's article on this plant was accompanied by a breathtakingly beautiful botanical illustration of the leaves, flowers, and seed of this plant, but today when I went back to take another look it was gone! 

The same print is reproduced on an English site, however:

A Wonderful Drawing

So you can see it if you like.  When forced to make a career choice between botany and a humanities field as a young college student, it is a sad fact but true that I thought I would not have the drawing skills to keep a decent field log as a plant scientist, and who knew then that digital cameras were on the verge of being invented.  Now one of the reasons I am ecstatic about being able to grow plants quickly indoors using air gardening techniques, is that every day will bring a new opportunity to get excited about drawing and sketching plants.

Of course, it is also great that there are no bugs on them.  But wait!  Most of the really wonderful old paintings of flowers include insects. As one thing always leads to another when one does an internet search, a hunt for old master floral paintings with insects brought me to this interesting article:

The Premier Insect Painter of China

None of the universities I have attended ever offered a class in botanical illustration to my knowledge, but I am awe-stricken by the program available through Denver Botanical Gardens.  When I was a starving student, I drove past this facility on my way to the airport after visiting a friend who lives in Colorado Springs.  Although the garden was about to close and I could not have afforded the modest entrance fee anyway, the fates shined on me that day as I was able to gain admittance for a few minutes all the same.  Heavenly! 

That brief experience will stay alive in my heart and mind forever, but seeing what the artists over there are doing now brings all the freshness of it back: 

Botanical Illustration at the Denver Botanical Gardens

The Little Green Babies are Keeping me busy

... so I haven't drawn anything for a few days.  But we are getting lots of nice reference photos:
  

The more reference photos, the better!

Some of my cyberpals has Blogger accounts, so I put something up over there to facilitate their finding me here.

This is what I have on Blogger so far:

Janet Ann's Art Blog

And I particularly like the detail from that first photo, the purple pepper plant we grew, which is here:

Purple Pepper Plant

We are Nuts about Nuts

Brain-enhancing nuts are not just a healthy snack, but they are also delicious.  Although I've really never met a nut I didn't like, some of the best nuts we ever had were ordered online from a company aptly named Nuts Online:

We stumbled across this company while looking for  black walnuts.   There was a  big old black walnut tree  at the place where I grew up and our whole family  went out together  and gathered 2 or 3 gunny sacks full of them  every year.  We pounded the green nuts through the knot-hole of a board  to get the outer husk off and stored them shelled in the barn, where they kept all winter long.    That was a long time ago, but sometimes I still just have to have a  handful of black walnuts.   Not all the nut companies carry them.

Among other to-die for products, Nuts Online also sells crystallized ginger, dry roasted cashews, and dark chocolate covered brazil nuts.  

TrackVia Helps with My Filing so I Have More Time for Art

I have been using Smart List software by DataViz on my PDA for years.  As Smart Phones started getting smarter, I really wanted to combine the PDA and phone into one compact unit, but until recently there was no Windows  software that I was aware of that came close to the ease of use and functionality of Smart List. 

So there were all those pretty Smart Phones and not a one of them came equipped with what I needed.  Finally, an online database that is for me one step above having my own administrative assistant and much more affordable

The generous free trial will give you every opportunity to find out for yourself whether the service meets your needs, but I didn't need more than a day to know it was going to be perfect for me. I haven't needed much customer service but when I did ask a few questions, they were answered accurately and graciously. For me, having this service is a dream come true.

More about Water Safety and Smart Boating

The more familiar I become with Arizona Game and Fish Department's web pages, and especially their new campaign to get the word out that people do not have to die in boating accidents, the more impressed I am with what they have to offer.

So this morning I dragged myself away from the drawing table and did a little more promotion on their theme of swimming with the fish:

My Qassia Intel

Safety Hub

Swimming with the Fish

My Xomblurb

As the Arizona Game and Fish folks put it: 

Boat Safe, Boat Smart, Boat Sober!

Making Tiny URL Safer

I spend a lot of time trying to warn people not to click on links that others send in e-mails, and trying to explain what the term "redirect" means, but people still forget. 

So I have some reluctance to use utilities such as TinyURL, even though they may be excellent resources.  If you are unfamiliar with TinyURL, it is simply a free service that allows you to subsitute a short anonymous URL for a longer one that is awkward to use.   It is a great utility.  Unfortunately unscrupulous people rush to exploit this kind of service for spamming and other nefarious activities. 

So here is what to do: 

When you see a TinyUrl  link, either in your e-mail or posted to a forum, or wherever, instead of clicking on it, just cut and paste the link into a new browser tab or window and then insert "preview." before it as in the following example:

http://tinyurl.com/63qatq  Do not click

http://preview.tinyurl.com/63qatq  Click here instead!

The second link will take you to a page that reveals the original link, and that makes it easier for you to determine whether that is a page you really want to open or not.  Of course, this is just one kind of redirect, so please exercise caution around links.  Some can be malicious. 

Let's Spread the Word about Safe Boating

This is for tourists visiting my home state of Arizona as well as for my fellow residents:

Did you know that half of the people killed in Arizona boating accidents lost their lives because of alcohol-related mishaps?

It is just as much against the law to operate a boat while impaired as it is to drive a car, and either way the legal limit is .08.

Boating Operating Under the Influence

Arizona Boating

Be smart. Take the  free boating safety course:

Boating Education Online

Arizona Fish and Game says it best:
Boat Safe, Boat Smart, Boat Sober & take a boating education class in person or online.