UCI IMCA Indefinitely Wild: Preserving California’s Natural Resources

***Indefinitely Wild explores how the early history of environmental conservation in California might have influenced the state's Impressionist painters.***

I had planned to check out the UCI IMCA exhibit for months, and I finally made it on the exhibit's last day! The gallery displayed works on California's diverse ecosystems and the ongoing efforts to conserve its natural resources. It really compelled visitors to reflect on their role in preserving the delicate balance between human progress and the beauty of nature.
This month I started reading of Composition of Outdoor Paintings by Edgar Payne and I was delighted to stumble upon one of his masterpieces, "Payne Lake," along with some quotes on display! It was the perfect little field trip for my exploration on bettering my composition and environmental artwork.

Can we being back these vintage-style certificates? I just love the design!

Bioluminescent Waves at Newport Beach

While scrolling through social media one day, I came across interesting posts featuring beautiful bioluminescent waves. Every year I see posts about the waves after they are long gone, so I hoped that this one was recent and included a location tag. And it did! Right at Newport Beach, which was a short drive away! Although it was too late to visit that night, the page assured followers of timely updates and the exact location the next night.

As soon as the exact coordinates for the bioluminescent activity were posted on Saturday night, and I figured out my parking strategy, I jumped into my car and hit the road. For those unfamiliar with Newport Beach, it's a bustling city, particularly on Saturday nights. Although the highways were relatively clear, I found myself stuck in traffic the moment I exited and the slow crawl continued until I reached the Seaside Donuts plaza parking lot. After waiting patiently through one-way traffic, I found a spot, albeit next to a poorly parked car that was encroaching on my space. While I stayed in my car to prepare my camera, I was then sandwiched by a giant truck on the other side. The driver crawled out from his passenger side (since he parked too close to me), and now both of my doors were blocked. I had to resort to climbing out of my trunk!! One person even stopped and turned on his turn signal to say he would take my spot if I was leaving. I waved him along and shook my head to let him know I wasn’t. I wouldn’t think anyone crawling out of their trunk would mean that they’re planning on leaving… but that’s how desperate people are to find a parking spot around here.

The hard part was done! The Newport Beach pier area is normally a well lit and busy area, but as I walked towards the coordinates, the lights and people started to slowly disappear into the darkness. I stayed along a paved path under the dim lighting for as long as I could before I had to start walking towards the beach. I looked out and saw nothing but pitch black out there on the sand, and I started to doubt if this was worth it. It just felt really eerie. Fortunately, much to my relief, silhouettes materialized near the waves, and I saw a gathering of a couple hundred people. I joined the crowd and patiently waited.

The bioluminescent sea lights up when stirred by a breaking wave or a splash in the night water. Not every wave had that magical glow, but when it happened, it was truly mesmerizing! The synchronized "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd added an adorable touch to the experience. Despite my phone's subpar video quality, I did my best to capture the magic. I did have to increase the luminosity on my videos to help the glow show up more, but you could definitely see it if you were there in person!

Glass Gem Corn Harvest

Earlier this year, I sowed some of the Glass Gem corn kernels I had saved from last year's harvest, and just look at how stunning they've become! It's always a thrill to discover the colors they take on—each one resembling a miniature painting. After drying them for a couple of weeks, I can pop them into freshly popped popcorn (although, unfortunately, they still end up looking like regular white popcorn). Among them, the pink one stands out as my absolute favorite, but to my disappointment, there was only one this year, and it happened to be the smallest. I'll keep those pink kernels and plant them next year to see if I can cultivate more of that cute pink variety.

Huntington Library

Pottery Supplies

I took a ceramics course in college and I really missed creating things with clay, so Aardvark Clay’s annual sale came just in time! The line was super long and wrapped around the entire the store and it took an hour to get to the cashier. I ended getting some clay and glazes here and impulsively bought a pottery wheel online. We’ll see if I can create anything, it’s been a while! I have some ideas for orchid pots…

IRWD San Joaquin Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary

Birdwatching Notes:

Came to find the Clark’s Grebe family and found them!! Look at the cute babies!!
Saw an American Kestrel fly by with a dragonfly(?) in its grasp, landed in a tree to eat it

Art Talk

Thank you for staying and reading the entirety of this long newsletter! I wanted to find a way to write down my monthly adventures and share them, so let's see if this format works for me. I promise I don’t usually have this much activity going on each month!

Most of you are here for my bird art, and I bet you're curious about the progress of the AvianAugust 2023 Collectible Bird Art Cards. Normally, I'd have artwork posted by now, but the reality is, I haven't really started. My full-time job has been very time consuming and I am left with very little time for my passion project. After a day's work, dinner, and preparation for the next day, there's barely an hour left in the day to get into my art mindset and create. When I began these cards, it was just me experimenting with designs and stylization, posting even if it wasn't my best work, as a means to improve my skills. Now, with a community eagerly anticipating each card, I feel the responsibility to give you all my best work. I absolutely love the support!! I just don't want to let anyone down.

There's still much I want to improve on in my art—composition, backgrounds, color theory, and, most importantly, storytelling. It's not just about creating bird pictures; I want my cards to tell stories and truly come to life. Working on endangered species will be particularly challenging, given the limited references and studies compared to more common ones.

I do have a list of ten birds to work on, thank you to everyone who participated in the poll! The 2023 bird cards will happen, I promise, just a bit later than usual. Your patience and support means a lot to me!

September Newsletter

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