Painting Nature

The cicadas only want to climb toward the sky on whatever vertical structure they happen across. My easel and my legs, branches and weeds, tree trunks, and the back of my house are their local vertical avenues. I tried to paint on location, but with hundreds underfoot, I decided it was wiser to carry a few bugs on branches into my studio. Today they are flying; they might be the females. I have spent many moments rescuing those who are stuck on their back and unable to right themselves. When I pick one up, I place it on the Sweet Gum tree facing down just to watch it turn and start up the tree. Yesterday, two cardinals, eyes fixed on their prey, crashed right into me and missed the cicada. Did you know that chipmunks eat cicadas?
These entertaining creatures don't bite, pinch, sting or have poisonous venom, and they will sit on a stick and pose for pictures if your studio has AC. They don't seem to be the brightest bugs, but they avoid the direct sun, a lesson I believe to be beneficial. In March, a massive flock of several hundred robins flew into my yard; now I know why but at the time, it was a mystery.

Do you remember the 50's Sci-fi's about giant bugs? Somehow this reminds me of "Them." The bugs are not giant in size but giant in number. I will miss them all when they begin their 17-year semi-slumber.

Like the cicadas vertical movement, I am off to the Sierra Nevada mountains. "The mountains are calling, and I must go" - John Muir.