Katherine Hocker

Unalakleet visit, part 2

Second page from Unalakleet sketches. I hadn't expected to see small birds at all–just ravens. But the town was fluttering with what the locals called "snowbirds." After some observation and research, I concluded that most of them were McKay's buntings (Plectrophenax hyperboreus), with a few possible snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis).

One of my sources said that they rely pretty heavily on the beach rye grass (Elymus) for winter food. I scouted around and discovered lots of small-bird tracks around the clumps of grass seed stalks, and very few seeds to be had.

Unalakleet visit, part 1

I just returned from a two-week artist-in-residence visit to Unalakleet, in western Alaska on the shore of Norton Sound. It was a wonderful experience–and in addition to getting to work with wonderful students and teachers, I had the opportunity to observe and sketch a fascinating corner of the world. I'll be posting sketch pages from the visit over the next few days.

The first page was done from memory on my first day, when I was whisked off to visit some ice fishers on the river.

Smitten by a caddisfly

A walk along the road yesterday–partly cloudy day, sun and shadow alternating, temps in the 40s. Although things are melting fast, the ground is still frozen in many spots, and there's some snow left. Ice remains in many of the ditches. Still, a few caddisflies were drifting dreamily across the highway, their pale hindwings flickering.

I followed one until it touched down beside a puddle, then crept up on it, thinking I might be able to capture it gently and take it home to draw. Stealth, as it turned out, was unnecessary. I was able to reach out and scoop up the immobile insect from the puddle edge; it didn't move a bit. I carried it back to the car in my hand, my fingers cramping as I tried simultaneously to avoid crushing it and keep from providing it with escape opportunities.

Once at the car, I couldn't find a container, of course, so I transferred the obliging insect into a blown-up and tied-off plastic bag for the drive home and a drawing session.

What a lovely little beastie! By the lavish maxillary palps, she's female. Based on her early emergence and the pattern of her wings, I'm figuring she's a limnephilid, genus Psychoglypha ("carved mind?" "mind writing?"), known to flyfishers as a "snow sedge." I wound up quite smitten by her, and was pleased to be able to release her unharmed.

Shoreline spruce afternoon

Unexpected weekend sunshine sent us on a road trip north of Juneau to a little beach near Sunshine Cove. We sat several hours on a rocky outcrop, watching and listening to the abundance of the wakening northern world. I took the opportunity to practice drawing the textures of foliage on the little salt-battered shoreline spruce.

See-um, part 2

Here's the illustration that resulted from yesterday's sketch. Caveat: this is an artwork, not a technical illustration! Although it's based on real references, many of the features are exaggerated or approximated.

See-um

They're not out yet, but the snow is starting to erode, and underneath, in the moist soil, in the creeks and ponds and sloughs, they're waiting, dreaming of blood… They're no-see-ums or biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae).

A friend called me to ask if I wanted to offer a scientific view of a no-see-um to an art show in which he's featuring his own, rather more fanciful, version of the bug. Sounded fun to me. The challenge was figuring out what genus the insect in my reference photo is… I think I have it narrowed down to Culicoides, but not sure.

Small World

My eye got caught by lichens today, so I brought a few samples home to draw. I got my little digital microscope fired up, and had a great time looking closer and closer…

Sitka Sketch

Spent a very pleasant last weekend in Sitka, participating in the annual Arti-Gras festival. I taught a couple of workshops. I didn’t do much sketching on my own (mostly just demos for class) but I did spend one lunch hour watching birds at Thompson Harbor, resulting in this little memory page. As always, Sitka was lovely and lively. It was a special pleasure to spend time with two wonderful Southeast Alaska naturalists and bloggers, see their blogs:here and here.

Milo tree

This is milo (Thespesia populnea), a small tree we saw fairly frequently, especially near beaches. It may be native to Hawaii, but may also have been brought to the islands by the Polynesians–in either case, it's a very important tree in Hawaiian culture.

Milo is widespread in coastal areas of the East Indies and Polynesia. The wood is rich reddish-brown at the heart, with some white "marbling" that is quite lovely; we saw many beautiful things made from milo wood.

We also appreciated the cool, deep shade it provides along the beaches–especially important to this pale, easily-burned Alaskan…

Pu’uhonua o Honaunau

Just got back from a vacation on the island of Hawaii (Big Island). Being ocean people, we spent most of it in the water or directly adjacent. One of the loveliest places we visited was Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, south of Kealakekua Bay on the west coast. Spent the morning alternately snorkeling and sketching, looking across the lava shelf to the serene palms of the park.