Flower illustrations from ” Plants - 2400 copyright-Free Illustrations of flowers, Fruits and Vegetables”

January 03, 2010

TREE
Graphite on panel, 2007
18” x 24”

WINTER TREE
Graphite on panel, 2007
18” x 24”

- By Anastasia Ugorskaya

December 30, 2009

Frozen lake in Pennsylvania.

First snow on Rugby Road, Ditmas Park, Brooklyn.

December 20, 2009

Walton Ford
Borodino, 2009
watercolor, gouache, pencil, and ink on paper

Walton Ford
The Island, 2009
watercolor, gouache, pencil, and ink on paper

New paintings by Walton Ford at Paul Kasmin Gallery. 

December 19, 2009

December 18, 2009

December 16, 2009

December 05, 2009

Involuntary Parks by Caitlin Parker.

“The continent’s imperiled rims therefore become a new kind of landscape, the Involuntary Parks. They are not representations of untouched nature, but of vengeful nature, of natural processes reasserting themselves in areas of political and technological collapse. An embarrassment during the twentieth century, Involuntary Parks could become a somber necessity during the twenty-first.” —Bruce Sterling

November 25, 2009

anastasiaugorskaya.com

November 18, 2009

anastasiaugorskaya.com

November 12, 2009

‘Seconds’ are items, which, in some way, are not quite right. They are imperfect and therefore of lesser value. But who made these rules that we use to judge perfection? Who says the decoration has to be in the center? Who says a whole bird is better than half a bird? Who says a flower can’t grow down? - Jason Miller

Ceramic Superordinate Antler Chandelier by Jason Miller (Miller Studio)

November 11, 2009

Nature Deficit Disorder, is a term invented by Richard Louv in his book called “Last Child in the Woods”. Louv writes that children are spending less time outdoors, resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems. Louv claims that causes for the phenomenon include parental fears, restricted access to natural areas, and the lure of the screen. Recent research has drawn a further contrast between the declining number of National Park visits in the United States and increasing consumption of electronic media by children.
Richard Louv spent 10 years traveling around the USA reporting and speaking to parents and children, in both rural and urban areas, about their experiences in nature. He argues that sensationalist media coverage and paranoid parents have literally “scared children straight out of the woods and fields,” while promoting a litigious culture of fear that favors “safe” regimented sports over imaginative play.
Causes:
Parents are keeping children indoors in order to keep them safe from danger. Richard Louv believes we may be protecting children to such an extent that it has become a problem and disrupts the child’s ability to connect to nature. The parent’s growing fear of “stranger danger” that is heavily fueled by the media,  keeps children indoors and on the computer rather than outdoors exploring. Louv believes this may be the leading cause in nature deficit disorder as parents have a large amount of control and influence in their children’s lives.
Loss of natural surroundings in a child’s neighborhood and city. Many parks and nature preserves have restricted access and “do not walk off the trail” signs. Environmentalists and educators add to the restriction telling children “look don’t touch”. While they are protecting the natural environment Louv questions the cost of that protection on our children’s relationship with nature.
Increased draw to spend more time inside. With the advent of the computer, video games and television children have more and more reasons to stay inside, “The average American child spends 44 hours a week with electronic media”.
Effects:
Children have limited respect to their immediate natural surroundings. Louv says the effects of nature deficit disorder on our children will be an even bigger problem in the future. “An increasing pace in the last three decades, approximately, of a rapid disengagement between children and direct experiences in nature …this has profound implications, not only for the health of future generations but for the health of the earth itself.”
Childhood obesity has become a growing problem. There have been multiple studies that show children who go outside more often exercise more.
Attention disorders and depression may develop. “It’s a problem because kids who don’t get nature-time seem more prone to anxiety, depression and attention-deficit problems.” Louv suggests that going outside and being in the quiet and calm can help greatly. Attention Restoration Theory develops this idea further, both in short term restoration of a person’s abilities, and the long term ability to cope with stress and adversity.
In an interview on Public School Insight, Louv stated some positive effects of treating nature deficit disorder, “everything from a positive effect on the attention span to stress reduction to creativity, cognitive development, and their sense of wonder and connection to the earth.” From Wiki.

October 30, 2009

Flower inspired earthenware by Walter Ostrom.

October 26, 2009

Birds by Kenojuak Ashevak. Kenojuak Ashevak was born in an igloo in an Inuit camp, Ikirasaq, at the southern coast of Baffin Island. 

October 23, 2009

October 19, 2009

Vancouver and New York based artist Aurel Schmidt.

Creek Tangle A/2, 2009
Gordon Smith
Acrylic on Canvas
60 x 67 in.

Creekside Grasses #1, 2009
Gordon Smith
Acrylic on Canvas
67 x 85 in.

October 18, 2009

Semi #2, 1999
Kevin O’Connell
Platinum palladium photograph
4.75 x 6.5 inch

Erosion #3, 2001
Kevin O’Connell
Platinum palladium photograph
4.75 x 6.5 inches

Jet Trail #4, #2/25, 2001
Kevin O’Connell
Platinum palladium photograph
4.75 x 6.5 inches

Prairie photographs by Kevin O’Connell

September 27, 2009

Mandra on Earth Day Network writes: When I was a child, the cornflower was a very common view in every grainfield in Sweden (we grow barley, wheat, rye and oat), as in many other countries. Then, because of the over-use of herbicides, they disappearded, I haven’t seen them in over 40 years!
When I last traveled from my country-house to Stockholm - they where suddenly there again! Not everywhere, of course, but i saw a huge field with this blue in it - it was a lovely scene! :—)
Centaurea cyanus (cornflower) in the past often grew as a weed in crop fields all over Europe, hence its name (fields growing grains such as wheat, barley, rye, or oats were formerly known as “corn fields” in England). It is now endangered in its native habitat by agricultural intensification, particularly over-use of herbicides, destroying its habitat.

September 17, 2009

September 13, 2009

Biodegradable moss planter(organic carpet consisting of assortment of mosses) by Japan-based flower artist Makoto Azuma  

September 06, 2009

Hummingbird




Humming bird, detail



Crimson necked bullfinch

Brunonia Serica
Ferdinand Bauer
1760-1826
from Floral Illustrations of New Holland

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
15th or 16th century
Gouache on vellum

From Vienna Dioscorides



From Vienna Dioscorides



Botanical Illustration from Codex Anicia Juliana, AD 512

From Vienna Dioscorides



Banksia coccinea (Scarlet Banksia)
Ferdinand Bauer
Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae
Early 19th century



Adele Morosini Rossetti (for Botanic Garden)
Rosa Abraham Darby
Watercolor , color pencil, tempera on paper




California flowering plant





California snow flower

Peruvian flowering cactus

September 05, 2009

September 04, 2009

I ♥  Mineo Mizuno sculptures. Mineo Mizuno was born in Japan and currently resides in Los angeles, CA.  Water-drop/pebble like large ceramic forms are covered in small holes in which mosses are planted.

July 18, 2009

The High Line was built in the 1930s. It lifted freight traffic 30 feet in the air, removing dangerous trains from the streets of Manhattan. No trains have run on the High Line since 1980. Friends of the High Line, a community-based non-profit group, formed in 1999 when the historic structure was under threat of demolition. Friends of the High Line works in partnership with the City of New York to preserve and maintain the structure as an elevated public park.

This is wild strawberry or Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria Vesca)  growing in Brooklyn backyard. Mmmmm!

Wild strawberry is not like a regular strawberry at all. It has a different taste and smell.  It smells like forest. Red, juicy and fragrant wild strawberries are false fruits Berries are seeds hidden in a juicy pulp. Examples of berries - blueberry, cranberry, tomato and watermelon. The seeds of the wild strawberry sit on the surface of this false fruit that functions as a bait for the animals, who eat the seeds and help spread the seeds with their droppings.  Wild strawberries are so delicious and aromatic because they wants us to eat them (yes yes!), ha-ha!
Wild strawberries usually are found near trails, young forests and forest openings.

There is so much can be said about this amazing fruit. 

June 11, 2009