Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Posted on August 1, 2015 by foresterartist

If you’ve never eaten black bear, let me tell you, it’s delicious!

Two carnivores hunting in the woods. There’s something to be said about harvesting an animal that is perfectly capable of harvesting you. We encountered this beautiful beast while hunting Spring turkeys. With Autumn comes a different season.

Orange Glazed Bear

bear meat cut into thin strips
soy sauce
fresh ginger
fresh garlic
ground mustard
flour of your choice for dredging (wheat, cornstarch, rice, etc.)
avocado oil
coconut oil
orange zest
barbecue sauce (homemade or one you like)
sesame seed
green onion

Marinade thin bear strips in a splash of soy sauce, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, with a pinch of ground mustard. Marinade over night or vacuum marinade for 30 minutes. The longer the better.

Place enough flour to coat the meat in a repurposed produce bag. Drain and save marinade juice from meat. Place meat in bag of flour, toss to coat.

Heat a splash almond oil with a dollop of coconut…

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Wild Wednesday … The Lookout!

Posted on July 15, 2015 by foresterartist

A California chipmunk, Neotamias obscurus, kept a sharp eye on me from the safety of a tall snag.

Wild Wednesday … My Stalker!

Posted on June 17, 2015 by foresterartist

My wild-eyed stalker!!!

I have a stalker. I don’t know what it wants. It just stares through my office window with that wild look in it’s eyes.

Wild Wednesday … The Killdeer

Posted on June 10, 2015 by foresterartist

Killdeer in colored pen and ink, and in person.

Wild Wednesday … Curious Young Bear

Posted on May 13, 2015 by foresterartist

Black Bear, bear, pen and ink, pen & ink, ink drawing, drawing

Curious Young Bear in pen and ink.

As we rounded the corner, we spooked this young bear. He ran up the hill a short distance and hid behind a large Douglas-fir tree. His curiosity got the best of him as he peeked around one side of the tree and his behind stuck out the other. I stopped the rig so we could watch him. He didn’t run away. We got out and started taking pictures.

His curiosity got the best of him. He had to get a better look at us.

He watched us for a while and we watched him. An older bear would never have stayed for a look. Soon his curiosity was satisfied and we went our separate ways.

California Black Bear, Ursus americanus

Monica was our pole plant/log clerk for many years and is a dear friend. She lives near Shasta Lake and has told me countless stories of her encounters with bears around her home. Of course she had to listen to my countless bear stories too. She just retired, so I gave her a signed and mounted print of this pen and ink. I think of her every time I look at it.

Shasta Wildlife Rescue Open House 2015

Posted on April 4, 2015 by foresterartist

This should be fun!

Sneaking Bliss

Oh No! Baby-O
When a dog frightens mama opossum, Baby-O flings from her mama’s back and begins an exciting adventure.

Our local wildlife rescue organization, Shasta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation (SWRR), holds an Annual Open House and Baby Shower event at Anderson River Park, in Anderson, CA. Educational animals will be on hand and there’ll be activities for children. Tim and I will be there as well.

My first introduction to SWRR was over 20 years ago when a turkey vulture fledgling took up residence in our henhouse. A few years later I discovered a mama opossum roadkill with live babies still in her pouch along our little country road. In each instance, SWRR volunteers gathered the young and cared for them until they were able to make it on their own in the wild.

Shasta Wildlife Rescue volunteer feeds an orphaned baby opossum.

A few years back, Karlene Stoker (SWRR volunteer)…

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Get Your Strut On, It’s Spring!!

Posted on March 20, 2015 by foresterartist

Spring, wild turkey, turkey, wildlife, photography, nature

I chance upon these handsome fellas on the way home the other night. I stopped and chatted them up a bit with my call. They obliged by talking back and showing me a strut that would make a runway model proud.

Road Work Art Work

Posted on March 11, 2015 by foresterartist

I’m an opportunistic artist. Time for making art is precious, so I find it where I can.

Click on the gallery if you want to get stuck at the road construction with me. Who wouldn’t, right?

Morning finds me stopped at a road widening project on Buckhorn Summit. Sometimes the traffic waits thirty minutes. Once I finish making business calls and checking email, I pull out my drawing pad. I just started inking a chipmunk. It makes time fly.

Finally, the traffic is moving. They’re using a skidder to move logs off the road cut.

They even have logs stacked up on the bank ready to go to the mill.

yarder, yarding, loader, logging, loggers

They brought in a yarder to pull logs off the road cut to a loader waiting below. This looks more like a logging job then a road project. They’re yarding downhill, which is a much more dangerous than yarding uphill.

It’s afternoon and I’m headed back to town. Once again I’m waiting at the traffic control. Time to put a little more ink to paper. It’s amazing how much you can do while waiting in traffic control.

Rolling past the yarder again. I’m on my way home.

Forestry Friday … Continuing Education

Posted on March 6, 2015 by foresterartist

I’m in Sacramento today listening to a talk on amphibians and reptiles. It’s part of the program at the 2015 CLFA Spring Conference. CLFA is the California Licensed Foresters Association.

Continuing education is important to keeping up on new developments, rules and news involving California forestry. Personally, the most valuable part of the meeting is a chance to visit with friends and fellow professionals to catch up on what’s been going on.

The theme for today is all about wildlife, very interesting stuff. Foresters deal with wildlife issues every day. Often, we are the eyes and ears for the biologist. The forest management decisions we make affect wildlife and this information is vital in our process.

It’s the last presentation before lunch. I’m looking forward to that!

The Art Challenge, Day 4 … Fur, Fins and Feathers

Posted on February 25, 2015 by foresterartist

wolverine, gulo gulo, wildlife, watercolor, wildlife art, nature

The Lazy Wolverine

Largemouth Bass Study

kingfisher, belted kingfisher, pen and ink, pen, drawing, pen & ink

The belted kingfisher

It’s day four! I was tagged to do the 3 pieces of art a day for 5 days, Art Challenge, by Mark Mitchell. Hey Mark, this is starting to feel like homework. The theme for today is “Fur, Fins and Feathers.” I put up something old and something new.

I would love to see Ruth of Ruth’s Artwork do the Art Challenge. I picked Ruth because of her amazing pen and ink/watercolor, mixed media, architectural illustrations. She also does wonderful animals. She does lots of fantastic commissions. I recommend you check out her site.

Prints are available at Fine Art America.