a walk on the wild side

This past week I had the privilege to hike and photograph on a private wildlife preserve in Washington County.  This is a place where not only the native animals own the place, but where native species of Texas flora have been allowed to grow and prosper. I saw so many kinds of grasses and "weeds" that I could not identify, that it made me realize how much I have missed of true Texas landscape,  having looked at cow pastures most of my career. I am looking forward to using these references in my landscape paintings to come.

Here are a few highlights that I am excited to share. Pay close attention! Mother Nature has many wonders, and not all are warm and fuzzy.

Autumn in Texas has so much more texture than any other time of year; all the things that have erupted and blossumed and dried in the sun make a spectacular display of prairie diversity.

 And although not as showy, there are numerous autumn wildflowers, gracing every nook and cranny.

Insects work at a feverish pace, preparing for hibernation or dormancy... look at these honeybees ravaging a ripe persimmon.

Wasps, yellow jackets, hornets, thousands of them, busily lick every acorn clean... especially the insides of the acorn cups, perhaps using the oak tissue to manufacture their paper nests...

Fabulous hues glow in the pastures...

YEOWWW! Watch your step! You should have seen me dancing to avoid putting my boot down on this guy...  approximately 30 inches of a Texas copperhead... yes, poisonous.

Still my heart! He got out of my way and then we stopped and stared at each other....

Still I hiked on... there were many more magical scenes beckoning me, like this lovely enclave... a place where fairies will be dancing... as soon as I leave...
 

A visit to Texas wild...

This weekend I was able to visit an important yet unknown Texas landmark; The Le Tulle Bar O Ranch near Bay City. It has been set aside as a hunter's and artist's paradise. So far, only the hunters have discovered it. Two miles of Texas wilderness along the Colorado River, with natural lakes fluttering with waterfowl; a Texas ranch and game preserve, sporting the most magnificent Texas live oaks I have ever seen, some eight feet at the base, perhaps four or five hundred years old, limbs touching the ground and curling back up another twenty feet. You can't walk within the tree's canopy and not feel as if you are in one of Nature's cathedrals.

It's nice to know there are still places like this on earth. And great seafood just twenty miles away in Palacios!

I plan to hold outdoor painting classes there at the end of March. It should be divine!