Today I'm posting a great piece of art by a young California artist, Wesley Armstrong, who created his own nature journal entry after his grandfather gave him my book The Young Naturalist's Sketchbook, published a few years ago by Pomegranate Communications. Wesley is 8 years old, and his drawing skill and care in recording this sighting in a pond impressed me so much!
Today I am sharing photos of the new book Birds: Season by Season, written by Zoe Burke, graphic design by Stephanie Odeh, and with illustrations from my bird prints, plus a photo sent to me by my friend--it's her daughter and granddaughter enjoying the book. The book is available online from the publisher, Pomegranate Communications and also at the Audubon stores in Seattle as well as many other locations. I've seen it at the Friends gift shop at the downtown Seattle Public Library, too!
You can pre-order my new book coming this spring from Skipstone, an imprint of Mountaineers Books! It's called Birds of the West: An Artist's Guide and it's packed with over 100 sketches, prints and paintings of birds with lots of fun information on where I saw the illustrated birds, and many tips and techniques for artists, experienced or new! Below are links to places you can pre-order, and I'll be keeping readers posted about all the book events coming up as we schedule them.
Indiebound – https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781680511505
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Birds-West-Artists-Molly-Hashimoto/dp/1680511505/
Barnes & Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/birds-of-the-west-molly-hashimoto/1129244605
Mountaineers Books (coming soon)
The Elisabeth C. Miller Library hosted their annual Craft Sale on Friday evening and it was a very well-attended and fun event for all of us. I thank everyone who came; I truly enjoyed the opportunity to talk to friends and new acquaintances. Although several pieces have sold, there are still many framed and unframed prints for sale, among them this etching, one of my favorite printmaking efforts from the last few months. This is a representation of a grove of mountain hemlocks that I saw on a hike a few years ago--it's located just before the Railroad Grade approach to Mt. Baker. The cost is $115 unframed, and $195 framed. I will share other prints in the coming days. I'm also planning to post my upcoming workshops and classes for Winter 2019.
I've been doing alot of printmaking in addition to watercolors these last few years. Today I am posting a recent effort: Mountain Hemlock, Pacific Crest Trail. Back in September I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail up to Lake Susan Jane with my old college friend Gerry and we had a wonderful day together. As we approached the lake I saw this beautiful old hemlock, leaning way out on the edge of the trail, its response, no doubt, to blankets of heavy snow in the winter. Mountain hemlocks have been a bit of an obsession for me lately--I'm now working on my third print--they are among the most graceful of trees, and here in the Cascades they take such amazing forms, and achieve great size at times, also. This print is available for sale for $115.
This coming Saturday I'll be celebrating Small Business Saturday with David B. Williams, author of Seattle Walks, at University Bookstore from 12 to 1pm. We'll be having a conversation about our books, and ways to appreciate the world around us with a closer look through history, natural history and sketching and painting. Later in the day I'll be at Magnolia's Bookstore, one of my favorite Seattle area booksellers. Hope to see you there.
Please join me for the opening reception this Friday from 5 to 7pm of my exhibit of paintings and prints at the Elisabeth C. Miller Library at the Center for Urban Horticulture, UW Botanic Gardens in Seattle. Address is 3501 NE 41st ST in Seattle. Call (206) 543-0415 for more information or visit the Miller Library's website for hours and more. If you can't make the opening, you can visit during Library hours. In December I will be at the Holiday Art, Craft and Gift Sale at the Library on Friday, December 7th from 5 to 7pm. I'll be showing block prints, etchings and watercolors, both framed and unframed. I will also have my book Colors of the West: An Artist's Guide to Nature's Palette on hand to sell, plus all the work published by Pomegranate Communications, which includes calendars, notecards, puzzles and books for children, among other products. I hope to see you there!
I've just returned from a trip to Yellowstone to teach a class for the Yellowstone Forever Institute. My co-teacher was Gardiner-area teacher, writer and poet Ilona Popper--she led the writing component of the workshop and I led the watercolor painting. The photo here shows the students writing at Obsidian Creek. We took turns writing and painting; as students shared their writing my experience of Yellowstone was very much deepened. I've taught several times there and have never gotten such insight before.
Yesterday my college friend Gerry and I hiked to Lake Susan Jane, a kind of a shallow dip into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. Beginning at Stevens Pass ski area, the hike is surprisingly beautiful, in spite of winding around chair lifts and power lines. It must have been the bronze and maroon blueberry bushes, together with intensely blue skies without smoke, and late fireweed and pearly everlasting flowers.
Today Daniel Smith posted a step by step watercolor demonstration that I wrote up. It's all about the dramatic sea stacks and headlands at Rialto Beach on the Olympic Peninsula, part of Olympic National Park. This watercolor appears in my book Colors of the West: An Artist's Guide to Nature's Palette and I thought it would be fun and useful to offer a demo for Daniel Smith on the techniques I used for that watercolor. I worked with several students in June at the Seattle store and watched them try it out, live and in person. We had a very good time!