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| Artists and guests at the Exhibit Opening, September 15, 2013. |
My local chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, "
The Greater New York Chapter - GNSI" has opened yet another beautiful exhibit. Again, the
Highstead Arboretum hosted - and I learned today that this is the fifteenth anniversary of this GNSI - Highstead collaboration. With a theme like "Nature's Camouflage", the range of subjects was bound to be diverse, and it is. In watercolor, pencil, pen-and-ink and other media, the twenty or so exhibitors have depicted varied interpretations of the theme.
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| Most of the artists were on hand to talk - it's my turn. |
There were cryptically colored moths, a mantid and a katydid, frogs, birds, mammals small and large, an octopus and one plant - of the genus
Lithops, a type of succulent called Living Stones because they look just like little pebbles on the ground. Some subjects were depicted in full camouflage against a detailed background such as a host plant, leaf litter, or in snow - while others were simply studies of the subject with a description of the camouflage mechanism.
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| Common Potoo, Nyctibeus griseus, watercolor. |
For this show I painted the Common Potoo,
Nyctibeus griseus, in watercolor. Here's the text I prepared for the exhibition:
In the family Nyctibiidae and order Caprimulgiformes, the potoo is
a South and Central American bird, closely related to Whippoorwills. Many
members of this large group camouflage on the ground, in leaf litter, or by
aligning the body parallel to a tree limb. The Common Potoo, however,
seems to hide in plain sight, often perching on the exposed end of a broken
branch. A nocturnal flier, the potoo will remain motionless during the
day, keeping watch on the observer through specially notched eyelids. The
chick learns to "freeze" at a very young age, but here has been
caught peeking. As they rest together, the silky breast feathers of the
parent bird drape over the youngster, blending the two into one.
