ForestWander - Nature Photography News

A free animated screensaver has been released by a popular West Virginia nature photographer.

ForestWander has released a free Snowy Winter Waterfall Screensaver to the public with full screensaver interface features.

This beautiful waterfall is from the Wine Cellar Park area near Charleston West Virginia.

The Screensaver is unique in the fact that it is fully animated with a continuous loop for a constant scene providing relaxation and serenity.

The Screensaver may be downloaded from the popular file sharing website Download.com

TOPEKA, Kan., /PRNewswire/
Springtime in Kansas means April showers are bringing not only May flowers, but sunflowers and wildflowers too. It also means the blooming of new art galleries in time for spring flower festivals around the state! Here is glimpse of the events that are occurring in Kansas this spring:

Studio Lindsborg Now Open, Lindsborg: Already known as the home to some of the state’s most famous artisans and photographers, Lindsborg is proud to announce the opening of its newest gallery, Studio Lindsborg. Working artists will be in residence to assist gallery visitors. Small World Gallery, just up the block on Main Street, will now be devoted to Jim Richardson’s photography and Kathy Richardson’s jewelry. http://web.mac.com/jrichardson4754/Site/Inside_Studio_Lindsborg.html

22nd Annual and Last Tulip Time at Binkley Gardens: through April 16, 2008, Topeka: April brings over 25,000 tulips and 12,000 daffodils to greet visitors of this 3.5-acre garden with a diverse landscape, including formal flowerbeds, informal gardens and mature woods. Call 785-478-4624 for more information.

Tulip Time in Belle Plaine: April 19, 2008, Belle Plaine: Tulips paint Belle Plaine for this spring spree! Belle Plaine’s downtown is blocked off to make room for 75 crafts booths, a car show, state entertainment and art show. Trot past the tulips in the one-mile or 5K runs or simply stand by and enjoy the parade. Visit http://www.belleplainechamber.com for more information.

Wamego Tulip Festival: April 19-20, 2008, Wamego: 10,000 tulips will be in bloom in Wamego’s City Park for this annual event. This festival also includes vendors, entertainment, rides and kids’ activities. Visit http://www.visitwamego.com for more information.

39th Annual Smoky Hill Art Exhibition Opening Reception and Spring Gallery Walk: April 25, 2008, Hays: The Hays Arts Center Gallery sponsors this annual spring gallery walk and opening reception featuring local and regional talent displaying art interpretations. Visit http://www.haysusa.com for more information.

Hutchinson Annual Outdoor Art Fair: May 3, 2008, Hutchinson: This annual art fair features some of the region’s most respected artists. This fair is a Hutchinson art tradition! Visit http://www.visithutch.com for more information.

Mother’s Day Wildflower Sale at Milford Nature Center: May 3-5, 2008, Milford: Spend some time at the Milford Nature Center and learn about the wildflowers of Kansas, and purchase the perfect gift at the Wildflower Sale in time for Mother’s Day. Call 785-238-5323 for more information.

Annual Art in the Park: May 4, 2008, Lawrence: This annual outdoor art show features artist displays and original artwork in a beautiful outdoor setting. Musical entertainment and children’s activities provided. Visit http://www.visitlawrence.com for more information.

Follow the Dotte Artwalk: May 9 and June 13, 2008, Kansas City: This Kansas City artwalk features live comedy and musical entertainment along various downtown Kansas City art galleries locations. Visit http://www.downtownkck.org for more information.

Abilene Cottage & Garden Tour: May 31, 2008, Abilene: The Heritage Homes Associations presents Abilene’s finest cottages and their quaint blooming gardens. Call 785-263-2231 for more information.

Third Annual Art in the Garden: June 7-8, 2008, Emporia: A city of white tents in a country garden is the setting for Emporia’s third annual Art in the Garden show featuring over 25 Kansas artists! Come for the beautiful visuals, wonderful music, fragrant flowers, friendly atmosphere, good food and great original art gifts. Call 620-342-6959 for more information.

For a complete view of activities occurring in the Kansas this spring, visit http://www.TravelKS.com.

For more information on traveling in Kansas, visit http://www.TravelKS.com or http://www.kruzic.com.

Through May 2, the Gallery in the recently renovated Busiel Mill in downtown Laconia will feature an exhibit of the photography of Mary Villaume, who has exhibited there before.

Villaume’s art is both film and digital in black and white and color. In this presentation she focuses on the “bits and pieces” of life and nature that sometime escape our vision. It is one of her favorite photographic choices.

Villaume has been capturing images for many years in many venues. A self trained artist, she was encouraged by friends to develop her private collection of photos and to sell her work. She first began producing a card line then went on to matt her prints. Later she began to frame her photography and has placed it in a number of area businesses and locales. She feels that personal and artistic growth come with each opportunity. She would tell you that her strengths are her “eye” to see what so often passes us by and her ability to compose or “frame” a shot. She would also tell you that her weakness is electronics. In this age of the digital camera she is quite young. Less than two years ago she purchased her first digital and is still learning about data and image management. While she enjoys the advantages of digital imaging, she is not ready to rid herself of her 35mm cameras. She still prefers to take her black and whites with film.

A resident of Gilford since 1980, she loves New Hampshire and the rural way of life in the Lakes Region. She has benefited from the permanence it has given her. She considered herself a sojourner until she and her husband purchased their home on Morrill Street in the fall of that year. After 17 moves in life, she never wants to pack up her belongings again. Packing a suitcase, however, is a different matter. She lives to travel anywhere she can and does so as often as opportunity arises. Her shows reflect the variety she sees.

The Busiel Community Room and Gallery is open to visitors from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Artists interested in displaying their work in this gallery should contact Joe Adrignola at 527-9176.

The Citizen of Laconia

By Marianne Sullivan
This is Warner Lord’s story. “In early April, 2004, Merritt Cleaver and I were hiking the Orange Trail in Rockland Preserve. We were walking up the slope from the charcoal site. As we walked along the old wall beside the trail, I saw a single blue bloom of hepatica. I stopped and photographed it and we moved on. “The small blue flower lingered in my consciousness but I did not return to the Orange Trail again until May 2005, thinking I might see the Hepatica again. I passed the glacial erratic and crossed the stream looking for signs of spring, As I turned onto the Orange trail from Crooked Hill Road a flash of brilliant pink caught my eye and I knelt down to find a colony of fringed polygala, or gay wings, clustered around an old stump… “I wondered…what else might there be? With a heightened sensitivity to wildflowers, I continued my walk. Yellow violets, several varieties of blue violets, early saxifrage, trillium, bloodroot, solomon’s seal, perfoliate bellwort, and the list kept growing. I found the Orange Trail encompassed at least five distinct ecological niches from swamp to sunny hillside. Each niche had its own unique collection of wildflowers. “The more I walked, the more excited I became by the treasure being revealed to me.

Right there in Rockland Preserve was a unique area containing a wide variety of New England wildflowers.” Lord continued to walk, investigate, photograph, and record his small flora treasures, and now, through the cooperation of the Rockland Preserve Committee, he is prepared to share his experience and excitement on two Spring Wildflowers Walks scheduled for Sunday, April 27 and Saturday, May 17. Lord explains, “There is an amazing array of wildflowers right here in our own backyard at Rockland Preserve.

Through these walks I am hoping to interest more people in this pursuit. Who knows what we can find and identify?” On one walk, he says, he spied a rattlesnake fern, a fern he had known only from pictures. After all that, new discoveries were made on a wildflower hike last April. On that trip walkers discovered a lone pink trillium, a less common variant of the red trillium, Lord explains. Lord and the Rockland Preserve Committee began discussing establishment of a wildflower preserve.

The idea has now taken shape and the committee has been able to produce a helpful, colorful, informative guide, Wildflowers of Rockland Preserve, containing Lord’s photographs. The self-guide provides a walking map and wildflowers environments divided into five separate sections as well as a list of the more than four dozen wildflowers walkers may find along the way. For those planning accompany Lord on the walks April 27 and May 17, both walks will begin at 1 p.m. at the parking lot on Renee’s Way. Each walk will last about two hours and will cover approximately 2.5 miles. Hikers should be prepared for some steep, rocky terrain.

For directions, visit www.madisonct.org/rockland.

Own a digital camera? Get “Behind the Lens” in a daylong workshop with the Camera Naturalist Photography Club.

The workshop runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 20 at the Environmental Education Center, 190 Lord Stirling Rd., Basking Ridge.

Photographers of all abilities are welcome. Bring a digital camera to learn techniques for capturing nature close-ups, proper use of flash and how to use Photoshop. The program includes a morning field workshop and afternoon computer workshop.

Cost is $45. A card reader and computer will be provided. Registration is required; visit www.somersetcountyparks.org or call (908) 766-2489.