Painting Inspired by John Muir

Nutcracker and Chickadee watercolor on paper

Our Allied Artist’s West group is planning two shows this fall based on the writings of John Muir, the American naturalist.  In 1898 John Muir wrote an article for the Atlantic Monthly titled “Among the Birds of Yosemite” in which he describes the Clarke Crow, now known as the Clark’s Nutcracker:

“…of all the birds of the high Sierra, the strangest, noisiest and most notable is the Clarke Crow (Nucifraga columbiana)….He is quick, boisterous, jerky, and irregular in his movements and speech and makes a tremendously loud and showy advertisement of himself…… Everybody notices him and nobody at first knows what to make of him.”

I choose this John Muir quote as my inspiration for this watercolor painting because you can still commonly see these nutcrackers in the Sierra’s, and over 100 years later Muir’s quote still captures them perfectly.