Ballard's Drowned World Intrusion

Was rooting around in a fernbrake hunting peking plague flies and noticed an unusually large number of unusually corpulent snails. Reminded me of Ballard's novella "The Drowned World" I'd read years ago. 

I think in the story it was solar flares.

 

"Into Sheepskin Hollow" - illustration by Nate Dray

 "Into Sheepskin Hollow"

13 x 16 inches, acrylic on paper on cardboard

Sheepskin Hollow is along the Great Trail where it crosses Little Beaver Creek on the Pennsylvania-Ohio line. There used to be a tannery in the vicinity and there are little rapids and waterfalls along the way as the little creek flows down to join the North Fork. 

This from a bright windy day in Fall after some rain. The picture I did "North Fork by Pancake" is just up the way there...

I wanted to call this "Sheepskin Hollow Beck" but I thought it would be confusing... 

 

Nate Dray, the Best Artist from Ohio :)

 

Hello! And welcome! Allow me to tell you a little about myself in this unsettling self-aggrandizing illeist fashion. Thanks!

"Nate Dray is an artist from Ohio and founder of the publishing house Diluvian Enterprises.

 

Known primarily for his watercolors and comics, Nate's paintings hang in museums, galleries, and private collections across Northeast Ohio. 

 

With a background in Biology and Chemistry, Nate's diverse credits include author, game designer, translator and musician. When he's not at work in the studio, Nate is an avid outdoorsman and gardener."

 

 Oder...

 

"Nate Dray ist ein Künstler aus Ohio und Gründer des Verlags Diluvian Enterprises. 

 

Bekannt vor allem für seine Aquarelle und Comics, hängen Nates Werke in Museen, Galerien und Privatsammlungen im Nordosten Ohios. 

 

Mit einem Hintergrund in Biologie und Chemie ist Nate auch als Autor, Spieledesigner, Übersetzer und Musiker tätig. Wenn er nicht gerade in seinem Atelier arbeitet, ist er ein begeisterter Naturliebhaber und Gärtner."

 

 Danke schön!

 

Nate Dray Paints, Illustration and description of an Ohio canal pond, "An Old Frozen Level"

"An Old Frozen Level"

Colored drawing on paper on cardboard.

Also called a canal pond or in Great Britain, a reach.

 

Nate Dray Travels and Illustrates; "Beyond the Cretan Citrus Grove"

 "Beyond the Cretan Citrus Grove"

colored drawing on paper on cardboard

Feel like I should provide context for my pics sometimes but it also feels weird to do that. The whole point of a picture is that it's information-dense direct and absolutely clear communication. Adding a verbal element probably just muddles the message.

more watercolors from Nate Dray...

 "Up Unity to the Rabbit & Poultry"

 

"Up Unity to the Rabbit & Poultry" by Nate Dray

watercolor on paper, 16 x 22 inches

 

Appalachian Woods & Trails, small ink and watercolor illustrations by artist Nate Dray

 Some playing card size ink & watercolor drawings of nearby woods and trails. 

Nate Dray watercolor painting "North Fork by Pancake"

 

North Fork by Pancake

by Nate Dray

watercolor on paper, 17 x 22 inches

A view of the North Fork of the Little Beaver Creek below the crossroads at Pancake.  

"Single Pink Earlys" - a watercolor painting of tulips by Nate Dray

"Single Pink Earlys"

18" x 24"

watercolor on paper

by Nate Dray

"One of the Watcherwoman's Clock-Trees" ink illustration by Nate Dray

"One of the Watcherwoman's Clock-Trees"

ink on paper

Illustration of a type of tree found in Lev Grossman's book series "The Magicians."

"Bad House" watercolor by Nate Dray

"Bad House"

16" x 12"

watercolor on paper

"An Old Red Barn" - a watercolor painting by Nate Dray

An Old Red Barn
by Nate Dray
12" x 18" watercolor on paper

"Under Hellbender Bluff" - a watercolor by Nate Dray

"Under Hellbender Bluff"
12 x 16 inches, Watercolor

Hellbender Bluff is a rocky outcropping along the Little Beaver Creek in Columbiana County Ohio known for hosting one of the largest extant breeding populations of the endangered Hellbender Salamander. They are really big, up to 2 feet, and need clean fast-flowing oxygenated water with lots of rocks to hide under. Considered a reliable indicator species, Hellbenders can't survive in polluted waters.

“Green Wave Break over Mike Lusk’s Lock (no, his kid isn’t buried in it)”

“Green Wave Break over Mike Lusk’s Lock (no, his kid isn’t buried in it)”

Lusk was an English engineer who built beautiful locks. Contracted for a couple in the 1830s for the Sandy and Beaver Canal. There are sad stories about how this work in the howling Ohio wilderness adversely affected his life and family.

Watercolors by Nate Dray

Some watercolors by Nate Dray (me)...

"In the Master Bedroom" and "Stone by Tressel" (below)

"Belladonna" by illustration by Nate Dray

Deadly Nightshade. Saving and taking lives for a very very long time.

"Into the Weird Wood" - ink & watercolor by Nate Dray

"Into the Weird Wood"
- ink & watercolor by Nate Dray

"Ichthyostegoid - Eye of the Devonian Tiger" by Nate Dray

"Ichthyostegoid - Eye of the Devonian Tiger" by Nate Dray

"Cold, calculating... cutting edge of the predatory arms race..."

"The bushes are filled with strange things." - Juan Matus

"The bushes are filled with strange things." - Juan Matus