Dune Daisy, Lady Beetles and the Bee

 Dune daisy (Helianthus debilis), Native Lady Beetles and a honey bee.

Nature Art. Dune Daisy, Lady Beetles and the Bee by Kevon Songer, #NFTs

Nature Neorealism, Big Eyed Gulf Fritillary Larvae Lunching on Dune Daisy

 Helianthus debilis (Dune daisy) is a great native wildflower for landscaping, soil stabilization, pollinator attraction and for larval host purposes.

Nature Art NFTs, Gulf Frit Larvae Lunching on Dune Daisy

Here is my 24" x 24" neorealistic Gulf Fritillary larvae art featuring a lunching on Dune Daisy's cucumber leaf shaped greenery.

Nature Art Fun with Ecosystems

 No title for this NFT piece, just Ecosystematic & native plant fun. 24" x 24".

Ecosystematic Nature Art

Midnight Frog Calls, Sawgrass Fringe in Wax Myrtle Thicket

Following up on my previous pre-midnight frog call recording adjacent a brackish sawgrass dominated shoreline with saltbush and wax myrtle thickets up from the water's edge, here is an hour audio clip from shortly after midnight to just after 1 AM.  

I found a couple of observations to be of interest, including;

• the frogs seemed to be consistently louder and more vocal this night just after midnight,
• their vocalizations occurred in regular two to three minute interval rising and falling crescendos,
• and a number of different species were participating in the chorus.

The wax myrtle thicket provided a unique platform to record ambiance from within.  Sony recorder, LOM MikroUsi microphones, windbubbles and waterproof drop bag.

Frogs and Cypress Knees

 A little fun with tree and bull frogs debating over Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) knee territory....20" x 24"

Tree and Bull Frog debating over cypress knee territory. Nature Art by Kevin Songer

Bioacoustics, Lagoon Winds Blow Through Shorelilne Wax Myrtle, Morella cerifera

 I posted an audio/video of lagoon night frog calls yesterday. This clip is actually the first part (late afternoon) of the frog calls clip.

I set up the recorder to capture the sound of shoreline winds blowing through the wax myrtle thicket. Wax myrtle, Morella cerifera, is one of my all time favorite native plants, providing food, fiber, habitat and medicine to animals and humans alike. On this audio you will hear the late afternoon steady coastal breeze rustling through the fragrant wax myrtle leaves.

Twenty three minutes into the recording the winds become more varied and frogs begin to call as do doves. For a varied listening experience move the video/audio indicator to half way through the timeline.

Here is the link if the YouTube video/audio does not function: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awez30KTDy0

Bioacoustics, Frog Pond Night Calls, Brackish Lagoon, Florida Gulf Coast

 I was recently fortunate to have recorded a marvelous night of early spring frog calls along the edge of a sawgrass (Cladium spp.), saltbush (Baccharis halimifolia) and wax myrtle (Morella cerifera) lined brackish tidal ecosystem.

I'd originally set the recorder and microphones up to capture the experience of a brisk breeze blowing through a beautiful thicket of evergreen wax myrtle leaves.  

If for some reason the above YouTube link does not work, here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQDpqWlSimA

 The salty gusts played the wax myrtle leaves with orchestral precision, making fine nature's melody around my ears.  The ebb and flow of wind whoosh caught my attention enough to make me think an overnight recording would prove worth the effort.

What I did not expect was what happened soon after sunset when the winds quickly settled down and the night air came alive with a night-long concert of frog calls.

I'll discuss in another post the variety of calls heard over the progressing hours of the new moon dark night into the wee hours of the morning.  This night there were calls of the Southern Leopard Frog, Green Tree Frog, Bronze Frog, Pig Frog and many more.

Honestly,  there are many times when I'd rather listen to nature's music than any human music band.

My small recording combo included a camo water resistant bag, an older Sony PCM M10 recorder, LOM mikroUsi PIP microphones, and wind bubbles.  The drop bag unit was hung over a wax myrtle branch about four feet off the ground with the microphones positioned in a quasi diurnal placement.

Flatwoods, Passiflora and the Monarch

 20" x 24", Passiflora incarnata and Monarch butterfly

Passiflora and the Monarch, Nature Art Kevin Songer

Bioacoustics, Plant and Human Perspectives of Bee Audio and Vibrations

 Two different bioacoustic perspectives are shared in this post.  The first is a short audio clip of bees buzzing around springtime Ilex opaca holly flowers captured with omni stereo microphones, or what us humans might hear if we stood close enough and still enough.  

The second video is made using a set of piezo microphones attached directly to the American holly flowers so as to capture the vibrations experienced by the native plant when bees fly into their open blooms, roughly foraging for nectar and pollen.

The piezo microphones in the second video are constructed with alligator clips fastened directly to the piezo disk.  This contact microphone arrangement allows for us to experience the vibrations flowing through the flowers into the plant stems.  These vibrations are more consistent with what the holly is experiencing than the first video shared above where soundwaves travelling through the are are captured by the recorder.  I always find it interesting to put myself in the place of the native plants with respect to life experiences.

Learning to examine nature from perspectives other than those normal avenues I am used to has helped me see a much more encompassing and larger picture of the world we live in.  This in turn keeps my mind 'flexible' and open to learning.

Field recording too helps heal my constant health challenges including PTSD and stress.  Field recording gets me out in nature where I breath in fresh air, get exercise and absorb vitamin D.

Both of these recordings were made with a Sony PCM.  The microphones were a pair of DIY piezo disks and then a set of Clippy 272s.  Windshields were not used on the piezos but were used on the Clippys.

It is always good to examine even the most routine of life events from other's perspectives.  Finally, nature art is amazing.

Nature NFTs, Banded Water Snake, Sundew, Blue Eyed Grass and Xyris

 Bogs and wetlands are wonderful artistic works by Gaia, full of colors, textures, scents and life.

Nature Art and NFT, Banded Water Snake, Sundew, Xyris, Blue Eyed Grass & Sabatia

Our Geese Love to Vocalize! Florida Permaculture

 Our permaculture geese love to vocalize!!!

Alligator Springs Afternoon

 40" x 10" glicée on aluminum, neo-realistic vector, Alligator Springs lazy afternoon.

Alligator Springs Afternoon by Kevin Songer, #NFT #natureart

Bioacoustics, Rainy Morning Blue Jay Squabble

 Two minute clip of Blue Jays, Cyanocitta cristata, fussing over foraging territory with other birds and squirrels.

Sony recorder, Lom Mikro Usi, Windbubbles & a dry bag. 

Life and the Mangrove Estuary, Nature Art by Kevin Songer

 Although I started this work five years ago I refine and add to it most times when I return to the art.  This is because of my ever evolving world view and because each day I learn more and more of the ways of nature.

Life  Beginnings in the Mangrove Swamps

The work features the bed of sea water and mangrove leaves which themselves represent an ecosystem unmatched in life biodiversity, one even home to the snapping shrimp.  The snapping shrimp though such a small creature, is one of the loudest life forms found in the ocean.

This art piece also features symbols of human thoughts about life, those from different cultures throughout the world and time. Nature Art therapy has provide an invaluable benefit to my healing from aortic dissection and kidney cancer.

This image is also one of my first few NFTs I am uploading to Rarible.

So much to see and think about in nature.

Dune Gopher Tortoise, Railroad Vines and Beach Wildflowers

 Sketch of one of my favorite dune reptiles, the Gopher Tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus.

Dune Gopher Tortoise and Railroad Vine

Working with nature, native plants and wildlife has healed many of my aortic dissection problems.  Nature art and art therapy focused on native plants and wildlife is such a great healing modality.

Native Plant Art, Nature Art Therapy & Red Mulberry, Morus rubra

Mulberry is an outstanding native landscape plant, contributing benefit to birds, wildlife and humans alike.

Nature Art, Kevin Songer

Here is part of a torch and black gum pallet work I did featuring red mulberry along with the Eyes of Providence and more.  I see the Eyes of Providence representing all the songbirds waiting for Morus to fruit their so sweet and delicious berries.

Art therapy has become such a powerful healing tool in my health management repertoire.

Bioacoustics, Under Southern Magnolia During a Rainstorm

 Under the Southern Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora rain drops quietly to the brown carpet of large leaves.

Above, as towering cathedral arches, branches reach out then bow downward forming a magnificent shelter from the weather.

I find the rain audio is much gentler, more soft under the magnolia than below the Yaupon holly, Ilex vomitoria I recorded beneath the other day.

Enjoy 45 minutes of a soft rain while imagining you are resting under the evergreen giant.

Sony PCM M10, Clippy 272 stereo mics & wind bubbles.

Wildflower Diversity, Gaillardia pulchella lbgqt

 Gaillardia pulchella lbgqt Gaillardia is of the most diverse of native wildflowers and I've seen so many colors, forms, shapes and sizes.

Diversity in Wildflowers, Gaillardia pulchella

Diversity in Wildflowers, Gaillardia pulchella

Here is an original Gaillardia linocut press with rainbow colors added. Will be framing soon as acrylic pigment dries. 4" x 4" Cranfield black ink press on archival paper with acrylic pigment added. Yellow & Green background represent blended totality of sun and earth.

Bioacoustics, A Brisk Wind and Spanish Moss, Tillandsia usneoides

Tillandsia usneoides is also known as Spanish Moss and is found frequently here across Florida and the South.

I placed a stereo set of Piezo microphones inside the moss during a brisk (4 or 5 m/s) wind to record vibrations of the moss rustling in the wind.

The friction or rubbing noises may be from vibrations created by the Spanish moss rubbing against the tree branches in the wind.

Seemingly, the wind audio also creates a doppler effect that the piezo mic picks up.

Native Plant Art, Block Print Archival Ink Behavior

Interesting note about Cranfield block print / linocut ink.

Native Plant Art, Gold Monotype and Black Linocut Combination

An archival quality linocut ink dries upon interaction with paper but does not dry very quickly, if at all when applied to another pigment surface. Here I did a two part artwork of the Florida native plant, saw palmetto, Serenoa repens, where the first ink layer (gold) was applied directly to the paper.

Archival Block Print Ink Dries Best When Applied to Paper

The gold ink was absorbed into the fibers and did set. The black ink however was applied over the gold, monotype layer and did not interact with the fibers. Nine months later I went to frame the piece and the black ink smudged the mat. None of this info is very dramatic, just random info on ink and drying. However, one can add a drying fluid or, as I usually do, just apply a fixative spray after a month or so of air drying.