I Like Lichens

Pinnacles National Park Collagescape, 6”x6”, mixed media on board

The 2011 Project continues to inspire new work.  Three years ago I was with friends down at Pinnacles National Monument for a rainy Sunday afternoon hike.  It was a gray, drizzly fall day, but there was plenty of color, particularly from the variety of lichens.  Early on in the 2011 Project, I did a lichen piece based on that hike (see below).

The National Monument is now a National Park and I am still painting lichens.  This time incorporating them into a piece for my new Collagescape Series – this one is a fall palette.  Hopefully a wet winter will bring out a good spring bloom of wildflowers and an excuse to take another trip south. Next time will be to capture a different color palette at Pinnacles National Park.

January 25, 2011 – Lichens

It helps to be a painter to really appreciate lichens. Some of them come in garish, bright colors. Colors that, at times, only nature can really get away with. As far as the natural world goes, lichens don’t generate a lot of excitement. You won’t be seeing a National Geographic special on lichens.

Years ago Bay Nature ran a great piece on California lichens that gave me a far greater appreciation of them beyond just their pleasing color palette. When we think of biodiversity, a tropical rainforest is often the first thing that comes to mind. While we don’t have rainforests in California, we are the real hotbed of plant life biodiversity in North America. About a third of the endemic species in North America are only found in California. Lichens are no exception with over 1,200 species present. These intense oranges and chartreuse were everywhere on a trip down to Pinnacles National Monument last Fall. Pinnacles is a little visited treasure of the National Park System. It’s best in the Spring when the wildflowers are blooming, but November is good too, when the lichens have the stage to themselves.