And now watercolor
#watercolor #europeanrobin #birds

Some yellow and purple violets blooming above dead leaves.

Purple blossoms on the nettles.

Brunnera or Jack Frost sprouts little blue flowers above variegated leaves. Red sprouts of peony in the background.

White clouds drifting through blue skies. Leafless trees in silhouette.

🌱#Montana in the spring

These are all great. I look forward to each day.

Be a tourist in your own town. Share a photo (if you feel like it).

Big greenish river running from lower right to middle left. Large hills with dark gullies in middle background. Rocky shore along near bank below dirt path and bare trees.

#watercolor Riverfront Park, Yellowstone River, Billings, MT

Hazy blue clouds over bluish mountains in the distance. Ski runs visible on mountainside. Indistinct brown scrub land in middle distance. Evergreens to left and bare trees to right in foreground. Blues and sepia tones for late winter.

#watercolor of the Beartooth Mountains in Montana, from my backyard in Laurel

Sunlight travels 93 million miles to reach the earth None of them through the Strait of Hormuz

Sunlight travels 93 million miles to reach the earth

None of them through the Strait of Hormuz

billmckibben.substack.com/p/sunlight-t...

Still shady.

Both gifted songwriters with deep catalogs. Dylan has about 45 year head start on Swift, but her switch from country to pop is similar to Dylan’s leap from folk to rock.

SHAKESPEARE (Palindrome)

Burst elm.
A hymnist.

Call a Romeo play
or a royal poem —

or all acts
in my Hamlet's rub.

Leafless trees border the small river on the left. Rocky shore to the right. River runs to right around a bend.

#watercolor sketch

Today, it’s And Your Bird Can Sing

Watercolor painting depicting a stand of trees to right and a path skirting them in shadows to the left. Beneath the trees, red rushes flush with early spring color.

Reference photo for the painting. Taken a week ago at Sundance Recreation Area near the confluence of the Clark’s Fork and Yellowstone Rivers.

#watercolor for today, along with my reference photo

A watercolor of a gray lake under a canopy of dramatic clouds hanging low over distant mountains in the center. Closer mountains taper in from left and right.

#watercolor dabbling

Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social

Am 3/4 finished with this book and it is really amazing at revealing #Dylan ‘s songwriting process, while also illuminating the significance of his artistic achievement over the last 30 yrs of his career.

#naturewriting 🌱
Timeline cleanse from yesterday’s visit to the Yellowstone River.

A dark blue river runs away to the right around a bend full of bare cottonwoods to left. The far bank contains another fainter tangle of trees. The sky is clear, pale blue. A cloud hangs low on the horizon in center, obscured by the trees on either bank.

#watercolor sketch of a bend in the Yellowstone River, at Buffalo Mirage, Sportsman’s Park from a visit this warm afternoon in Montana. I struggle with putting the river in motion. Need more practice.

A narrow channel of water flows through the center of the frozen river. A stand of bare cottonwoods in center background. Sandstone bluffs rise in the distance under blue cloudy skies.

#watercolor sketch of the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone, frozen despite the mild weather.

Window of Vincent's Studio at the Asylum - 1889
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/14721

Winter scene of farmland in foreground, bluffs in late day shadow in background, unsettled skies. A few trees in between in a row as a windbreak.

#watercolor sketch
Shadows on the Bluffs

Pietà, after Delacroix - September 1889
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/3109375

I loved this book though it was a challenge. Wallace’s “A Supposedly Fun Thing …” was so brilliant, I knew it’d be worth a deep dive. Tennis, addiction, killer entertainments, and a Hamlet connection.

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio) YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

man defiantly holding US flag while wearing protective gear, surrounded by tear gas & flares. the image is the same as above but wider to show more of the crowd plus a street sign.

photographer is Jeff Wheeler at the Star Tribune. guy with the flag is Curtis Evans, a Marine veteran.

Jeff Wheeler, The Minnesota Star Tribune

Minnesotans are showing the soul of the United States to the world.

The valley of the Oise

The valley of the Oise, 1880
https://botfrens.com/collections/43/contents/12287

Montana State beats Illinois State in OT for 1st national title since 1984 Myles Sansted kicked the extra point in overtime as Montana State won its first national championship since 1984, beating Illinois State 35-34 Monday night in the Football Championship Subdivision title game.

Montana State beats Illinois State 35-34 in overtime for its first FCS title since 1984.

Edge of a Wheatfield with Poppies - 1887
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/14069