'Beary Season'
A summer lost in the hills of Rossland.
This piece was inspired by my time spent exploring the local Mountains this summer.
I took time off my day job to focus on my art career, and was quickly sidetracked off course. Lured into the woods by the sights and sounds of summer; my hour long morning walks soon turned to all day events. Stopping for hours to pick berries or explore new trails, not returning home until dusk with a full camera storage and a pack full of foraged goods. Yet accomplishing nothing productive for my art career. The work just wasn't happening: I couldn't muster up the energy or the motivation to sit and create art, I would just sit there and stare at the wood- I wanted to be out exploring the woods instead.
As the summer went on I seemed to get less and less accomplished. The panic started to set in as I realized I took the summer off to get ahead and I'm further behind than ever.
And then I realized,
all that time spent out there wasn't put to waste.
I had photo's; so many photo's of local plants and animals, and the scenery. I had the sights and the smells, I had the inspiration, I had the field research.
And so I rolled with it.
I started 'Beary Season' August long weekend, and I predicted it would take maybe a week or two at most; could probably get two of these big pieces done.
I seriously miscalculated.
I worked on this piece for hours, every single day from the beginning of August until mid september. Over 500 hours of work.
There is not a single square inch of this piece that I have not obsessed over, not a single detail that I have overlooked or left out. There is no filler spaces, filler plants or blurs- everything is depicted accurately and with great detail: From the veins on the plant leaves to the hairs on the mice.
It was important to me for this piece to be accurate as far as size proportions for the animals and plants in relation to one another,
as though you're viewing the undergrowth and the canopy at the same time from a slight distance, with the bear looming in the background.
I wanted to ensure that everything was cohesive and accurate: the mice are slightly smaller than the chipmunks, the bugs are smaller than the mice, the berries are all accurate sizes compared to each other, as are the leaves, and the plants to animals and vice versa.
It would have been much easier and preferred by some to complete a collage style-however I wanted this to be like an educational piece with accurate depictions of relative size rather than an artistic take.
I had no plan laid out with this piece, I started with the bear and then I just slowly added the rest of the plants and animals as I went.
This was exceptionally difficult given the additional challenge I set for myself with keeping the subjects proportionate to eachother.
This piece is expertly textured, giving depth and realistic details, and no coloured mediums have been used; the different shades have been accomplished by burning and sanding the piece only.
There are over 30 plants and animals species included in this piece: all ones that I have personally encountered out
there this summer, and I have used many of my own photo's as reference.
This piece is a true embodiment of a Kootenay summer, and the greatest achievement thus far.
Take a look Below for the names of the plants and animals featured on the piece,
and why I may have chosen them.
This was my first year experiencing the bright white beauty of the mock orange bushes that grow in the area, we didn't have these in the East Kootenays where I grew up. I managed to save a few of the blossoms, and have successfully preserved them in resin for future projects. I wish I had been able to grab more but as suddenly as the blooms appeared, they were gone.
Saskatoon berries almost didn't make the cut, as I find them to be quite seedy and horrible*, but it felt like a disservice to the piece to exclude them, as I did see them out there often.
*If you are from a different province apparently Saskatoon berries are different and taste good, but I have yet to taste proof of that.
The swallowtails are my moms favourite butterflies, these are ones she's photographed and sent me. They are the largest butterflies we have in the area, their bright yellow and black wings getting up to about 4 inches from tip to tip.
Hummingbirds are one of my favourite birds, although honestly they hardly seem to count as birds being so different, and fast. I plant runner beans in my garden for the hummingbirds, they love them. There are 3 species of hummingbirds here in the Kootenays, and all of them leave for the winter and I am so jealous.
Squirrels were a no brainer for this piece: they are the animal that I interact with the most out there. The loud chattering is a source of comfort, however shrill. They are always yelling at me for getting to close to their coveted mushrooms, and are always choosing to harvest pinecones on the trees right above me. They are a constant source of entertainment as they attempt to subtly hide their pinecones in plain sight, challenging you with their most ferocious chatters when you get too close.
Chickadee's are birds that I think a lot of people are quite fond of around here- a comforting bird as they are here all year long. Many of us refer to them as "cheeseburger birds" due to their unique song that sounds like a high pitched "Cheeese Bur Gur" or their other one where they say there own name "chickadee-dee-dee". I hope you liked those bird sounds, I hope you google them if you don't know what a chickadee sounds like, or you can ask probably any Canadian near you and they won't be able to resist sounding it out for you.
Mountain ash used to be a tree I only knew for being excellent projectiles for berry fights as a kid, but I have a new appreciation for them being one of the first trees to bud in the spring, and for being one of the most beautiful leaved trees when they turn colour in the fall.
I still don't know if it's supposed to be chokecherry or chockcherry, I always see both referenced, but I say "choke" because that's what happens when you try to eat these. They are horribly bitter, and your mouth will go numb after tasting them, however in a pinch they can keep you alive. Apparently they are better when jellied or otherwise- but regardless of my personal opinions they are incredibly important plants for the animals and the ecosystem.
Here in the Rossland area we have the blue elderberry bush whereas over in the East Kootenays I would always see black Elderberries. The light blue is a beautiful pastel, similar to light blueberries and they can be spotted from quite a ways away. I haven't yet dabbled much in elderberries but they can be used to boost the immune system and other medicinal purposes.
Hee
The top portion of the piece includes Black Capped Chickadee's, A squirrel, hummingbird, and a Swallowtail butterfly, placed among a backdrop of chokecherry, Elderberry, Mountain Ash, Lewis Mock Orange, and Saskatoon Berries.
The centre of the piece, and also the main focal point, featuring a Grizzly, Honeybees, another swallowtail butterfly, and a Bumblebee.
Yes there's a difference between the bee's and I hope I managed to depict that. Bumblebee's are much fatter and larger, with more vibrant yellows whereas honeybees are more golden brown. All bees are welcome anywhere, anytime. Sometimes way up in the hills in the meadows I see the biggest bumblebees I have ever seen, at least 3 inches, but they move to slyly for me to grab any good shots.
Another of the lovely swallowtails photographed by my mom. We get two hatchings of swallowtails in the Kootenay's, and with each the butterflies only survive for about two weeks. That's something I only learned this year, and it kind of blew my mind- I guess I had assumed they were around for most of the summer. I'm even more appreciative when I see them now.
You may be wondering why I chose a grizzly over a black bear for this piece, as this piece is made up of the animals I've encountered this summer- surely I haven't run into a Grizzly. Well that is correct, and the answer is simple- grizzlies are the easiest bears to burn. Black bears darker fur is hard to make out details, and this piece was hard enough.
While I haven't seen a grizzly out in the hills, one has been known to come through town briefly in the fall, to the misfortune of some of the local black bear yearlings. Nature is pretty wild sometimes (ha) I'm grateful to live in a town so close to the mountains so we can experience it literally out our back doors.
A bear was the obvious choice for me as the main subject when it came to berries. A large male Grizzly can eat about 200,000 berries per day- that's almost as much as me.
This middle section features Thimbleberries, huckleberries, Black Raspberries, oxeye daisies, pacific tree frog, field mouse and a wasp.
Here we get in to some of the Berries, including my personal favourite of all time- Thimbleberries. They're one of those berries you love or you hate, the seeds can be off putting for some as they literally crunch almost like sand in your teeth. But delicious sand. It sounds crazy but it's weirdly accurate. They don't keep well at all, and so you won't find them in stores or being sold anywhere, but you will definitely find them in pretty much any ditch along any back road or any trail in the Kootenay's from June-August. Anytime I stop it's usually to grab handfuls of these berries.
And then we have the huckleberries, the *Mountain Huckleberries*, that's a dig at my west coast brethren who have a completely different type of huckleberry that is completely different and not even comparable, so let's not confuse the two. The Mountain Huckleberry, coveted by people birds and bears, and one of the best berries out there. Huckleberry patches are kept highly secret, although it's not needed because they grow in abundance all over most of the mountains around here, you just have to drive or climb to a higher elevation to find them. They are like tart blueberries, but with a distinct and beautiful wild flavour to them, and they go good in literally everything. They are hard to resist, and it becomes evident by the amount of purple stained hands you start seeing around during the season. If you go picking with others there will be an air of competition over who can fill their buckets the fastest, and this is a race I lose everytime as I put more into my face than I do the bucket- A race I happily lose. During the summer the leaves are green, however in the fall they turn beautiful mottled colours as well as bright red. I honestly still to this day cannot tell you what a huckleberry blossom looks like, the berries just kind of appear.
We have the Oxeye Daisies which is actually an invasive weed, but it's a really just a cute little daisy, so it's hard to hate it.
The pacific tree frog; One of my favourite little creatures to find out there, and it usually never happens as they are so difficult to spot with their camouflage. As far as I know we didn't have these over in the East Kootenays, or if we did they successfully eluded me for my entire life until I moved, and so I was absolutely delighted to find these little guys around here. I had the absolute pleasure of hosting one who camped out in my flowerpot for a few days over the summer until he moved on due to my incessant staring. I miss you Fernantoad.
Lower right of this section we also have a field mouse. I wish these actually weren't a part of my life and that they would stay the heck out of my house.
The berries in the lower right section are not blackberries as you may think, but actually black raspberries. I found a few patches growing in the area and I was excited to try them, but they were honestly a bit disappointing, kind of dry. I have been informed however that this was an off year, so I will update my review of the local black raspberries next season.
There's a wasp in here too, because like it or not those little jerks are a very important part of the ecosystem. Just don't step on an underground nest or you'll get stung on your back 9 times while your mom cackles from a safe distance as she pulls ahead in the huckleberry race.
The busiest bit of the piece, the bottom features, Chipmunks, another field mouse, blue tailed skink, a snail, a ten lined June bug, Cat faced spider, Beetle,
kinnikinnick, Moss, Oregon Grapes, Bead lily, wild strawberries, false turkey tales, Polypore Conk, Short stemmed Russula and it's parasitic plant the ghost pipe, and Little brown mushrooms (LBM's)
The Bottom bit,
The most obvious subject in this half is the chipmunks, and rightfully so as I love them. They are the cutest rodents out there, they could get away with anything with those cute striped little cheeks. They hang out on the ground more than the squirrels, and they're weirdly talented at sounding like a much larger animal as they crash through the bush. Nothing like hearing a crash in the woods, getting an adrenaline rush and grabbing the bear spray, just to come face to face with a killer chipmunk.
Probably one of the lesser recognized subjects of the piece- The Ghost pipe, located at the bottom left corner, and directly tied to the mushroom located on the bottom riught corner. To say that I became obsessed with these plants this year would be an understatement. Let me tell you all about the ghost pipe. It has no chlorophyl, and so it does not use photosynthesis fro the sun to obtain it's nutrients- instead it acts as a parasite to a mushroom species near by: the short stemmed Russulla. This is also the same mushrooms that can get infected by a fungus to become the delicious red lobster mushroom. The short stemmed russula feeds the ghost pipe, and so the ghost pipe is able to grow in dark areas of the woods, and it grows completely white. This spring I found a patch of old ghost pipe from last year, and I watched that patch for months, andticipating when they finally emerged from the soil. Ghost pipe is not common to find around here, and so I was excited to see it, obsessing over the patch and being sceretive as to not give away the location of this mysterious and ancient plant. Jokes on me I guess because apparently it was an especially abundant year and there was ghost pipe popping up everywhere. Not that I'm complaining, it's the coolest plant I've ever seen.
Between the ghost pipe and the lobster mushrooms, the short stemmed russula mushroom played a major part in my summer, just the coolest relationships between plants. The Chipmunks are seen chowing down on wild strawberries. I like to imagine that wild strawberries taste how normal strawberries used to taste. You almost have to be careful eating them as they will actually ruin the store bought strawberries for you, their taste is of the sweetest strawberry you could ever imagine. The ones growing in the sun can get a bit ripe and as they age they taste slightly of wine- strawberry wine will start blasting in my head as I spend 40 minutes of my hike searching for these tiny little berries. They don't keep well unfortunately, and any that are put into a container or bag will turn to jam at the slightest jostling.
Oregon Grapes: beautiful and tasty looking and yet so so horribly sour. Basically inedible, but they stain bright red so you can use them to leave notes on trees or to apply the gaudiest lipstivck ever. In the spring the have beautiful yellow flowers, and in the fall the berries are a bright blue among the green and red leaves. If you break the stems of these the wood is actually bright yellow. These can also be made into jellies- a common theme with these sour plants.
I have included some false turkey tail mushrooms on the stumps- the only tails of turkey I seem to be able to find, and I made the conk kind of nondescript becsuse I honestly have a really hard time telling all the conk species apart. But I will be learning because I have some exciting projects coming up involving conks.
The lizard may be hard to identify due to the lack of colour in the piece- that's a big hint right there as the only lizard in BC where colour would really apply is the blue tailed skink. I had the pleasure of finding some of these this year and actually getting a close look at them- prior I had only ever seen the quick flashes of the blue tail as it scurries away into the rocks. These little lizards are one of only 3 lizard species found in BC, the other being the Alligator Lizard in our area.
Slightly behind the Skink we have a bead lily, or a queens cup, or a brides bonnet. This is the only inedible berry on the piece, but I added it because of the irony of it being the most delicious looking little blue berry ever, and yet it's one you can't eat. A reminder that not everything you find out there is safe for consumption, and you should never ingest something you aren't certain you can positively identify.
On top of the Short stemmed Russula with the moss we have Kinnikinnick. This berry is edible but honestly not worth it in my opinion. It was an important berry for indigenous cultures in the area, as the berry has a tough skin and can last into the winter, able to be foraged from under the snow. Kinnikinnick growing is a good sign, and it's fun to say.
Some bugs in this part of the piece include a Ten lined June bug, a scary big beetle that's kind of cute and makes you really crave one of those British Humbug mints. They make a nasty hissing noise when they are threatened, but they don't actually bite.
The beetle in the bottom right is disgusting and I hate them but part of getting over your weird fear of black beetles is to add them to your artwork in the hopes that you eventually become jaded to them (ha)
And finally the little not so little spider in the background. The cat face spider, a beautiful and docile orb weaver with two points on it's bum that resemble cat ears. These look scary, but they are so peaceful and content to just sit tucked away somewhere until something hit's their big perfect webs. I always knew these as 'popcorn' spiders, and they are also known as jewel spiders. We have a 'don't touch' relationship, I keep my distance if they keep theirs, but I am never unhappy to see them take up residence outside my door. Until my morning walk through their web with my face, you'd think they'd eventually learn to relocate but they keep at it.
A snail makes it's way along the very bottom. I do see these scattered among the ground in a lot of the places I go. I actually always think they are empty shells because they are so bleached and drab looking, but I guess thats just how the snails look around here. I actually added the snail as a subtle nod to a cartoon show, iykyk.
Finally, The "LBM's" aka the "little brown mushrooms". I've recently gotten more involved with foraging the wild mushrooms in the area, and something I've learned is that there are so mamy varieties of these little brown mushrooms that they are almost impossible to distinguish, and a lot of them haven't actually been formally identified enough times to be recognized- and so the Blanket term "LBM's" is used, for unidentifiable little brown mushrooms.
'Beary Season' 2024
