033020: Staying Home

It’s hard to be enthusiastic these days about most things, at least that is what I’m often  finding. Fortunately, though, a rare glimpse of sunlight broke through the dreariness the other day, enough to get me out the door with my camera. Doing was what was important, not so much results.

So, today a mix of things out my studio door – fossils (of course), rocks, etc. Just some things I decided to focus on, to find some solace in such a strange time. Best wishes and stay well!

Mollusc With Brachiopod Tiara

Brachiopods with Lichen

Cephalopod

Rock Flame

Brachiopods

Another Brachiopod

Yet Another Brachiopod

Brachiopod Potpourri

( A note regarding brachiopods. There are over 12,000 fossil species recognized. These marine invertebrates have existed on this planet for roughly 550 million years. The ones seen here are 385-387 million years old)

Shale

Gnarled Wood

 Rough Skin

Grate

Industry

Thanks for the visit. Be well.

020620: Gastropods Part 3

A few weeks back I posted some images of  Devonian gastropods – all local, all approximately 387 million years old. Today’s images of gastropods are from a different place and a different time.

These go back a bit further to roughly 460 million years ago, during the Ordovician Period, and are found in the earliest reef system known today. The Chazy Fossil Reef is located on Isle La Motte, one of several  islands just below the Canadian border in Lake Champlain.

*****

*****

*****

*****

_______________

 

Gastropods weren’t the only creatures inhabiting that reef. Crinoids, trilobites, cephalopods and other marine invertebrates rounded out the scene.

Since 1998 the Isle La Motte Preservation Trust  has worked to conserve significant sites of the Chazy Fossil Reef.

There are two preserves on the reef, Goodsell Ridge and Fisk Quarry. Specific information on visiting can be found here.

It’s a great place to visit any time of year.

Fisk Quarry during Autumn. Reach down for a fallen apple and find more gastropods. They do show up everywhere.

*****

Best wishes to all my ILM friends. I look forward to our next visit!

121219: More Devonian Fossils

Another selection for you today – all local 385 million year old invertebrate fossils. I’m too busy today with the hearings to add any more to this post. I hope you enjoy today’s images.

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

_______________

I’ll leave you with this pic of my latest painting. Not sure if it will stay this way. It seems like they never do!

Thanks for the visit.

110719: A Small Variety

Some new images today along with a mix of other recent work. The opener, taken upon my return from a trip out of town, seemed to capture that mid Autumn feeling – leaves are down, colors are fading, and a fog suggesting increasing grays.The images that follow have no main focus – just a variety of things I’ve been playing with lately.

Fossil Mix

Mixed Media

Two details from a recent project on Galileo

Jupiter Moon

Gastropod

Brachiopod

Brachiopod drawing

Autumn

Flowers

*****

These two are the result of mirroring:  flowers…

…and part of a large conch. It almost looks like a polished wood sculpture.

Double Yams, entwined

Double Buddha

Thanks for the visit.

091919: Looking Down

Seems I’m always looking down when I’m out walking through the woods or climbing through the local quarry. Much to view down there – lichen, moss, fossils, rocks, etc. Kind of mundane sort of stuff!

But a closer look can often dispel that notion.

The images above triggered the next few – moss creeping over and around some Devonian fossils (a brachiopod followed by a couple of cephalopods).

*****

*****

_______________

A visit to the quarry gave me further good reason to keep looking down.

*****

*****

Along with finding all kinds of shapes and colors, I was able to find a very nice gastropod.

_______________

I’ll end today with these recent attempts at exploring more of this whole “fossil” thing..

*****

*****

Thanks for the visit.

091318: Nature!

A few years ago, our neighbors, Dorian and Jim, gave to me two rather large hornet nests. They had been hanging in their barn for years and thought they might be good subjects for me – a very kind gesture that I much appreciated.

Over time I photographed them enough (on the outside) and finally decided to take a look inside. These first five images were taken as I slowly broke the nests down to the honeycomb.

*****

*****

Fascinating structures they are! The hexagonal pattern that defines the honeycomb is a pattern found throughout nature (See “Why Nature Prefers Hexagons.”). And it has been around for a long time.

The image above is not an old or even fossilized honeycomb. It is, rather, a favosite, more commonly known as honeycomb coral. This fossil coral is approximately 387 million years old (during the Devonian Period) and was something I dug up locally.

Brachiopod and Mollusc

“Geometry in nature” seems to be a good segue into more of nature’s designs – an image sampler of fossils, all locally founded and all as old as the honeycomb coral.

Brachiopod

Cephalopods and Brachiopods

Gastropod

Brachiopods

Tabulate Coral

I’m closing today with three mixed media drawings. I had trilobites on my mind so I created some generic versions  – each one app. 36″ x 48″.

*****

Thanks for the visit.

062818: Afternoon Light

Like everything else outside my studio, my deck (where I often photograph) and its railing is always covered with fossil rocks. I try to keep new finds and old favorites close and in view. Different times of day, different weather conditions, even different seasons seem to imbue each fossil with “different personalities!”

Late afternoon sun was the trigger for this week’s images. A hard, warm light catches the deck and rakes across the rocks, providing definition and a little drama.

Once again, these are all Devonian Period marine invertebrates (app. 387 million years old), all found within a few miles from my studio! As if just living here in the upper Hudson Valley isn’t enough!

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

_______________

I’ve been busy in several directions lately. So I thought I’d include a couple of mixed media pieces from the week past.

Thanks for the visit.

051018: #300

I just discovered the other day that today’s post is my 300th. I hadn’t been counting so it caught me somewhat by surprise. It seems obvious that I like creating this (mostly) weekly exercise. And I do. It has served me well – helping to keep a creative flow through all of the seemingly endless distractions we all experience. Let me take a moment to thank you for your many kind responses over years.

New images and reconfigured images are mixed together in this post. I hope you enjoy them.

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

_______________

Just recently, LeScienze, the Italian edition of Scientific American, ran an article on their website that was taken from a recent post of mine. Six images of museum crinoids, some of my favorites. All done with fully proper request and reply – not something that always happens in the “free” world of the internet! So, my great thanks to Ms Priscilla Di Thiene for the interest. It is always an honor to have my work displayed on your site.

http://www.lescienze.it/news/2018/04/27/foto/crinoidi_art_murphy-3932586/1/#1

Thanks for the visit.

111617: Moss

This little sprig of moss snaking its way across a fossil cephalopod gave me the idea for this week’s post. I’ve been leaf blowing lately here in the woods, hoping to keep my fossils from disappearing from view. And, in doing so, I noticed how so much moss has already covered the surfaces of many rocks. The vibrant greens draw the eye.

The more I looked the more I appreciated the juxtaposition between the moss and the fossils themselves. Exploring that became my focus this week.

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

Thanks for the visit.

110217: A Good Autumn Day

I managed to spend some time this week back at my favorite quarry. I hadn’t been there in quite a while, so it was fun to dig around on familiar ground. Even though it might be familiar ground, that’s not to say that there are no surprises to be had. No new earth-shattering specimens perhaps but always a few that reach out of the rocks to create a little story of their own.

These two images of cephalopods were enough to already call it a good day. But there was more.

*****

The other reason for calling it a good day – the view from up top looking across at the eastern escarpment of the Catskills on a beautiful autumn day.

The remaining images are fossils from this quarry trip mixed in with the many piled up outside my studio (many of which came out of that same quarry).

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

Thanks for the visit.