Natural History Art & Science Illustration
Looking through ISIIS still images. Photo by Mark Farley
One tool the science team uses to collect information is ISIIS. The In Situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System (ISIIS) is dragged through the water and collects images from the shadows of organisms that pass through the camera slot. There are two camera areas, one big and one small. Each camera acts like a scanner and shines light through the water to record the shadows of the animals…
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Sketching as artist in residence in the Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve
Photo by Richard Kahn
I’m excited to announce that I am on a podcast and it’s up for you to listen to. Gale Straub hosts a show called She Explores about inquisitive women in the outdoors, on the road, and besides. The podcast episode starts with Gale talking to Chevon Powell about an exciting upcoming event called the Refuge Outdoor Festival. Then we talk about my story of how I grew up spending time outdoors, how and why I moved to Alaska and got interested in science illustration. I also talk about why it’s important for me to make art in the wilderness and to participate in artist residencies on public lands.
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I’m sitting down at my computer to write in the evening. I just watered the garden, but a new rainstorm is moving up the valley from the Chugach. I hear Robins and Varied Thrushes singing outside and I found that many of the Calypso Orchids are in bloom today. Many other flowers will follow them. Summer and its’ frenetic energy seem to have arrived on the Nizina. I thought I’d sit down and give you a summary of where I’ll be and when, so you can follow along with me.
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I enjoyed sketching from this spot on the top of a waterfall overlooking Derickson Sprit in the Nellie Jaun -College Fiord WSA
I’ve been working on this blog post for a while. I keep putting it off because wilderness is a complicated idea near and dear to my heart. Before I begin I feel the need to disclaim that I’m not going to be able to fit all of my thought in one blog post, but that doesn’t mean I should share some of them.
One of the projects I am working on right now is to illustrate a poster for the Nellie-Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area. Last summer I did an artist residency there with the US Forest Service...
Read moreIn the last year or so I’ve been changing up how I work. I’ve been taking more photographs when I travel, and spending more time working in my studio, working from photographs and specimens. Nevertheless field sketching has always been an important part of my practice, and remains so now.
I travelled a lot this summer so I mostly used my sketchbook to slow down and have a moment of reflection in a new place as well as to document the landscapes, plants, and other things I found. I thought it would be fun just to peek into the disorganized pages of my sketchbooks.
Read moreLast year I wrote an end of year post summarizing many of the projects that I worked on, I want to do something similar again because I haven’t been diligent about documenting my work online. In 2016 I got to try some new things (like illustrating a coloring book and teaching in Savoonga) and I’m excited to share that with you. I also have some ideas for this year that I’m excited to talk about.
Read moreThis fall I was selected to be one of six artists to spend three weeks as a resident at the Lost Horse Ranger Cabin in Joshua Tree National Park. Let me say here that it would be easier to write an artists blog about successes, and finished pieces. However what I really enjoy reading about is the process and the struggle to get to that point of creating finished work. A part of me wanted to save this post for later, when I had more time to finish what I started during my artist residency. Then you could see the end result and probably part of the story of how I got there. But today I am sharing the story of unfinished work.
Read moreI am writing to you today from Joshua Tree National Park, two-thirds of the way through a three-week artist residency. I know it has been several months since I’ve updated the blog. Summer in Alaska is incredibly busy and I like to use my spare time (if there is any) drawing and exploring, but I promise an update about summer work soon. Right now I want to take you to the desert.
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