Melinda Fawver
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epantha.bsky.social
Melinda Fawver
@epantha.bsky.social
880 followers 1.4K following 66 posts
Artist, naturalist, birder, macro photographer, registered volunteer for Great Smoky Mountains National Park documenting insects for the ATBI.

IG: @melindafawver
INat: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=mfawver&verifiable=any
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epantha.bsky.social
Week six pastel, painting clouds in pretty colors. May have finally figured out how to do them

#pastels #pastelpainting #landscapes #sketches #drawing
May 12, 2025 at 10:53 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Week five pastel landscape drawing with a spring wildflower theme, loosening up more for an impressionistic look.

#pastel #pasteldrawing #landscapes #art #natureart #drawing #drawingandpainting
A hilly landscape has a treelike along a curved hill. Bright colors are energetically layered on grassy slopes in bright pink, gold, orange, and green.
May 1, 2025 at 11:18 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Cool-looking Keeled Treehopper (Entylia carinata) photographed today on Verbena.

#hoppers #treehoppers #leafhoppers #hemiptera #insects #insectphotography #macro #macrophotos #entomology
Side view of a tan insect with a tall double keel on its back with a black front and underside and one vertical white stripe at the back, sitting on a green hairy stem.
April 22, 2025 at 11:19 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Flowers in glass vase assignment for our third week in the pastel class. I’m working hard to loosen up from my illustration and graphic design background.

#drawing #pastel #pasteldrawing #stilllife
Vibrant pink flowers sit in a round glass vase on an energetic darker background.
April 17, 2025 at 9:27 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Week 2 of pastel painting class. From my photo of Fontana Lake from the ferry heading to the Proctor section of Great Smoky Mountains NP.

#pasteldrawing #painting #landscapepainting #landscapes #art
A beautiful mountain landscape with a reflection of blue sky and clouds on the water and framed by trees on both sides
April 12, 2025 at 1:28 PM
epantha.bsky.social
First sketch from my pastel drawing class at the local art center. It was fun, but I need to buy some Pastelmat and softer pastels.

#pastel #pasteldrawing #drawing #art #stilllife
A colorful solitary pear with orange, gold and green scribbles sits on a flat surface with a neutral background
April 3, 2025 at 7:18 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Love the iridescent rainbow colors in the wing of this beautiful decorated first-of-the-season Eastern Calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus), a common hover fly in East TN.

#flies #hoverflies #Toxomerus #diptera #macro #macrophotography #insects
From above, a tiny black and gold fly sits on a green leaf, with decorative black stripes and symbols on its abdomen, iridescent clear wings and rusty red eyes, with a metallic gold thorax.
March 27, 2025 at 5:42 PM
epantha.bsky.social
The lowly brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) is a pest in homes, but if you look closely, it is quite beautiful. I especially like the ruby-red ocelli behind the eyes and subtle patterns in the hemelytra (wing covers).

#bugs #insects #hemiptera #stinkbugs #macro #macrophotography
From above, a brown shield-shaped bug with a textured pattern on its wing covers sits on a green leaf.
March 26, 2025 at 7:39 PM
epantha.bsky.social
This is not an ant! It is a Slender Ant-mimic Jumping Spider (Synemosyna formica). The two front legs are darkened like ant antennae. Size is 4-5mm, photographed today behind our house, 3-23-2025.

#spiders #hymenoptera #jumpingspiders #synemosyna #macro #macrophotography #wildlifephotography
A long-bodied reddish brown jumping spider rests on a green leaf. This is an ant mimic.
March 23, 2025 at 7:34 PM
epantha.bsky.social
On the peaceful side, acrylic and collage on a 12x12 canvas panel.

#acrylic #acrylicpainting #painting #collage #abstract #abstractpainting #art
A square panel is covered with torn burgundy paper, floral prints and streaming white flowing patterns with a pleasant feeling
March 12, 2025 at 11:52 PM
epantha.bsky.social
A delicate beauty, Hymetta anthisma, a member of Microleafhoppers Subfamily Typhlocybinae, photographed in the Great Smoky Mountains NP recently.

#hoppers #microleafhoppers #hemiptera #macro #macrophotography #insects #inaturalist #leafhoppers #entomology #typhlocybinae
From above, a small white leafhopper with subtle orange and white mottling sits diagonally on a rotting log.
March 9, 2025 at 6:41 PM
epantha.bsky.social
A painting from my mixed-media class, in progress but getting closer to being done. I'm not sure how to classify this one. Any suggestions?

#painting #art #abstractart #expressionism #mixedmedia #acrylicpainting #surrealism
A square colorful abstract painting with reds, teals, and whites in a flowing design with a large eye on the left and a white stream down through the middle. Somewhat realistic elements emerge in different parts of the painting.
February 26, 2025 at 10:00 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Three tiny gouache paintings of insects on 2x2 art tiles: top, a drain fly, middle, hymetta balteata, bottom, a lichen moth; representing Diptera, Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera.

#diptera #hemiptera #lepidoptera #flies #hoppers #moths #gouache #wildlifepaintings #paintings #art #leafhoppers #wildlife
Three 2x2 inch gouache paintings are stacked in a column. The top one is a fuzzy moth-like brown fly, Psychodidae on a black background, the middle one is a light-colored flat leafhopper on a green background, Hymetta Balteata, and the bottom one is a vibrant red moth with black longitudinal stripes on a dark background, Hypoprepia.
February 19, 2025 at 7:48 PM
epantha.bsky.social
"Carolina Wren" latest work combining acrylic and collage on a 5x7 canvas panel. Getting ready for a local show in Knoxville, "No Bigger Than a Breadbox" coming up in April.

#painting #acrylic #collage #birds #birdpaintings #acrylicpainting #mixedmedia #art #artists
A singing Carolina Wren perches on a branch and sings. The background has a flower collage border with a darker burgundy collage block behind the wren.
February 17, 2025 at 8:26 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Such a cute! A Magnolia Green Jumping Spider (Lyssomanes viridis) with one black eye and one green eye photographed behind the house recently.

#spiders #jumpingspiders #insects #wildlifephotography #macro
A cute green spider with long legs sits diagonally on a brown and green leaf. The two large round eyes in the front are different colors-- black on the left and green on the right. The background is darker and blurred.
February 16, 2025 at 12:34 AM
epantha.bsky.social
Cute little globular springtail, Katiannina, less than 1mm, photographed behind our house on common ivy, Dec. 25, 2024.

#insects #springtails #macro #macrophotography #macrophotos #bugs #symphypleona
A tiny orange rounded cute little globular springtail sits on top of a green leaf
February 2, 2025 at 2:45 AM
epantha.bsky.social
Lateral-lined Sharpshooter (Cuerna costalis) photographed in the Wears Valley section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, October, 2024.

#insects #hoppers #leafhoppers #hemiptera #macro #macrophotography #macrophotos #photography #wildlife
A beautiful sharpshooter leafhopper with red, orange, yellow and black stripes on its wings and speckles on its head and thorax, grasps a green vertical stem with a yellow green background.
January 26, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by Melinda Fawver
naturenerdstudio.bsky.social
Staying busy. #lepidoptera #butterflies #butterflyillustration #art #natureillustration
January 22, 2025 at 4:32 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Such a beauty! A Lichen Moth photographed in Cataloochee Valley, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, July, 2024.

#moths #lepidoptera #macro #macrophotos #macrophotographers #wildlifephotography #insects
Stunning red fading into orange large moth with three thick black vertical stripes on both wings. The thorax and head are red orange.
January 17, 2025 at 11:33 PM
epantha.bsky.social
“Amanita muscaria,” gouache and watercolor on 3.5x3.5 art tile. Finished this little painting today, and it’s the first for 2025.

#painting #art #gouache #artists #mushrooms #amanita #botanicalart #botany
A bright red mushroom with a white spots and a white stalk floats on a dark blue background with swirly patterns.
January 8, 2025 at 7:43 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) painting based on a photo from a birding trip. It's an acrylic painting on a tissue paper collage background. They're called Kingbirds because they will go after much larger birds.

#birds #birding #birdwatching #acrylic #painting #art #collage #ornithology
Painting of a striking black and white bird (an Eastern Kingbird) perched on a branch. Its head tilts slightly toward the viewer. The background is a collage of bright pink, orange, mint, and red torn paper shapes.
December 30, 2024 at 1:19 AM
epantha.bsky.social
Cute little Sunflower Spittlebug (Clastoptera xanthocephala) photographed on Christmas Day behind our house. I like the orange and red streaks.

#hemiptera #spittlebugs #insects #bugs #insectphotography #macro #macrophotos #macrophotography #hoppers
Side view of a brown bug with big eyes, long legs, and streaked with red and orange on its tan see-through wing covers
December 28, 2024 at 10:20 PM
epantha.bsky.social
A beautiful ground beetle (Lebia vittata) on Solidago, photographed Oct. 5, 2024. It's a new species for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park!
www.inaturalist.org/observations...

#beetles #coleoptera #groundbeetles #macro #macrophotography #macrophotos #insects #bugs #iNaturalist #carabidae
A beautiful red beetle has black antennae and legs with black and white longitudinal stripes painted on its wing covers. It collects pollen from the yellow flowers of goldenrod.
December 24, 2024 at 6:40 PM
epantha.bsky.social
Less than 3mm Oak Gall Wasp (Tribe Cynipini) photographed on June 25, 2024 behind our house with woods behind us.

#wasps #hymenoptera #insects #gallwasps #bugs #macro #macrophotography #macrophotos
Side view of a tiny reddish brown wasp with an oversized abdomen and long antennae with lighter colored legs.
December 20, 2024 at 5:36 PM
epantha.bsky.social
“Solar Fissure”, collage and acrylic paint on canvas, 9x12, painted today in my last acrylic class.

#painting #art #abstract #acrylic #collage #artist #acrylicpaint
This vertical painting has a big gold sun in the upper left corner with a a thin black spiral drawn on it. The bottom right is darker with a red fissure running across diagonally. The background is collage.
December 18, 2024 at 9:48 PM