Marisa
LightNews LightNews
banner
marisamorby.com
Marisa
@marisamorby.com
2.7K followers 450 following 980 posts
Research, design, art

Connecting people with nature.

Newsletter: marisamorby.kit.com
Ceramics shop: mm.gifts
Posts Replies Media Videos
marisamorby.com
Birbfest challenge day 14 is the silver-eared mesia
This is a watercolor painting of the silver eared mesia. They have black feathers on their face and a white-grey band of feathers right behind their eye that look like little oblong “ears”. They’re yellow-green with grey feathers on the shoulder that turn into a band of red and then an orange-yellow.
January 15, 2026 at 6:48 AM
marisamorby.com
Day 13 is the White-Eared Pheasant!
This is a sketch of a white-eared pheasant which is a large white bird with black plumes for tail feathers. They have a black and red head with a light peach beak.
January 14, 2026 at 4:54 AM
marisamorby.com
Day 12 for the birbfest challenge is the Common Redpoll.
A minimal sketch of the common redpoll in pencil and colored pencil. The red and brown head and chest have been emphasized in this sketch.
January 13, 2026 at 6:02 AM
marisamorby.com
Day 11 for the birbfest challenge is the Mountain Bluebird!
Sketch of a Mountain Bluebird. These cute little birds are light blue fading into white and are about the size of a sparrow.
January 12, 2026 at 4:15 AM
marisamorby.com
Birbfest challenge day 9 is the American Purple Gallinule.
A colored pencil sketch of the American Purple Gallinule. They have a bright orange-red, slightly hooked beak with a bright yellow tip. The feathers are a mix of purple, blue, and green with a hint of gray-brown. The top of their head has a small light blue patch of feathers. They have huge taloned feet and extremely long legs in comparison to their body.
January 11, 2026 at 12:55 AM
marisamorby.com
Birbfest challenge today is the Indian Paradise Flycatcher.
A watercolor of an Indian Paradise Flycatcher. The background is gree and the flycatcher sits on a bamboo stalk. These birds have black, iridescent heads with a plume on the top. They have small white-ish grey bodies and two long tail feathers that cascade down and are about twice the length of their bodies.
January 10, 2026 at 2:14 AM
marisamorby.com
Today's birbfest challenge choice is the Andean cock-of-the-rock. They are hilarious looking birds from all angles and I love them.
A close up, cartoonish sketch of the Andean cock-of-the-rock. This is a pigeon-ish sized bird with bright orange feathers and a huge half disc-shaped plume on the top of it's head. Imagine a bright orange mohawk make of feathers that runs straight from the tip of the beak to the back of the head in a straight line, and that's what the plumage looks like. They have pitch black shoulder feathers and their middle feathers on their wings are a blue-ish gray. Their mohawk is SO pronounced that you almost can't see the top beak. This illustration is of the bird with it's mouth open, tongue out like it's screaming at the top of its lungs. The text reads "He screeches at the heavens. They do not respond."
January 9, 2026 at 12:24 AM
marisamorby.com
Day 7 of Birbfest Challenge is the Steeler’s Sea Eagle. Or as I like to call it, the Terror Muppet.
A watercolor illustration of a Steller’s Sea Eagle eating a fish. Every picture I see of this bird is simultaneously goofy and scary. They have a huge orange, curved beak for ripping open fish and sharp, long talons. They are pretty fluffy because they live in very cold weather and are a brownish-black with white on the wings of their shoulders.
January 8, 2026 at 2:52 AM
marisamorby.com
My birbfest challenge for day 6! The Northern Emerald Toucanet!
A colored pencil sketch of a Northern Emerald Toucanet. They are bright green with turquoise and purple at the tips of their feathers, except for the tail, which has red tips. They have a bright yellow and black toucan shaped beak. They have a similar and dimensions to a toucan but are smaller.
January 7, 2026 at 5:35 AM
marisamorby.com
Day 6 of #blogvent is a poem. The inspiration came from one of my favorite books "Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds, and shape our futures." It's a love letter to the world and a beautiful book.

See the #blogvent calendar: marisamorby.notion.site/blogvent-202...
Stardust I read once that some scientists think life started because a single rock or many rocks careened through space and crashed into the earth and on the rocks were tiny specks of life that found our waters and felt the warmth of our sun and the waters fed them and the sun helped them grow I like to think this I want this to be evolution I want to be part of the stars I want to look at you and know that we are made of stardust - Marisa Morby
December 7, 2025 at 6:23 AM
marisamorby.com
Today I planted roses, moved a few plants to areas that better suit them, and planted some mystery bulbs that might be snowdrops or possibly tulips; I’m not really sure, but it will be a surprise. And now my reward is a cozy hot chocolate.
A white mug with hot chocolate, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings sits on a live edge wooden table. In the background is a lit Christmas tree with crystal ornaments and a red and white tree skirt.
December 1, 2025 at 4:48 AM
marisamorby.com
What a curious little borb
A black ink sketch of a chubby little bird with his head cocked to the side inquisitively.
November 14, 2025 at 4:52 AM
marisamorby.com
If you see this, post your bird art 🐦

A recent sketch practicing pencil.

#birds
A black and white close up pencil sketch of an Eurasian tit.
November 10, 2025 at 6:37 PM
marisamorby.com
@bell.bz talking about how we can work better across design and development teams. The two biggest principles being communication and feedback. If you get that right, the rest will follow. @beyondtellerrand.com
And standing in front of a yellow slide that says Async communication. Andy standing in front of a slide that says Feedback.
November 7, 2025 at 9:55 AM
marisamorby.com
Great talk by @nerdy.dev playing with midi and CSS. Such a fun and joyful way to create. (Turn the sound on) @beyondtellerrand.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
marisamorby.com
@sachajudd.com teaching us the history of the through the lens of transformative fandom. A fascinating way to learn about how the internet got documented and scaled with the help of a dedicated, creative community. And some hope that we can still create the good internet. @beyondtellerrand.com
Sacha in front of a slide of an XFiles fandom page.
November 6, 2025 at 3:51 PM
marisamorby.com
We need to shape our future with the narratives we create and the stories we tell.
Who controls the fantasy controls the future.
November 6, 2025 at 10:53 AM
marisamorby.com
Loved Thorsten’s talk at @beyondtellerrand.com about sustainable design. How do we design for digital sustainability and understand the consequences of our design choices? How do we think about the future of design and creativity? And how do narratives impact the future that we build?
Thorsten Jonas talking about how humans are needed for creativity. Progress, creatively and societal, comes from doing things differently.
November 6, 2025 at 10:53 AM
marisamorby.com
Actual representation of me waiting in line for the bathroom in the airport.
Drawing of a person waiting in line for the bathroom and possibly screaming with their eyes wide and scared. Definitely someone in deep distress.
October 15, 2025 at 1:32 PM
marisamorby.com
It's been a long time but I finally put up some new ceramic work in my shop. This time it's noodle bowls, complete with a chopstick rest in the rim of the bowl.
Black bowl full of ramen with a poached egg cut in half and mushrooms and scallions. Chopsticks are resting on top of the rim in the bowl in divets on the rim.
October 15, 2025 at 3:45 AM
marisamorby.com
Practicing another bird sketch. This is a Eurasian blue tit (I don’t make the names, people).
August 12, 2025 at 12:14 AM
marisamorby.com
My neighbor brought over a bunch (bushel?) of apples so I guess I’m going to be baking most of the weekend.
A wicker basket full of red and green apples. The basket is on a white counter top in the kitchen.
August 9, 2025 at 1:12 AM
marisamorby.com
Summer in the garden! I’m not done yet but it’s slowly coming together.
A hammock with a pillow and book on it in front of large, drooping fuschia. Small, pink, open roses tucked against blue hydrangeas. Bunches of coral and white open faced roses with more buds getting ready to bloom.
June 20, 2025 at 7:54 PM
marisamorby.com
As usual I found some time for a tiny nature walk and stumbled upon this absolutely magnificent magnolia tree. It was a great week and I’m also happy to be back home!
A huge white magnolia blossom surrounded by dark green leaves. A branch of a magnola tree with spent blossoms and buds. A picture of the Cascade mountains from the plane.
June 15, 2025 at 5:59 PM
marisamorby.com
Had a great time @renderatl.com again! I was so proud of @jason.energy for his @codetv.dev box and even helped run it! I was proud of my talk about data visualization, too.

Saw old friends and made a couple new ones, and saw great talks by @ashley.dev, @sstew.art, and @angiejones.tech
A picture of Jason’s Code TV box where you could do some small conference tasks and win prizes! The Box has a panel with big silver buttons to punch in a code, and red, blue, and green status lights above the numbers. To the left is a monitor that shows what prizes you can win. On the far right is a door that pops open when you win so you get a prize. The box says Powered by Temporal in the bottom right. Photo of a slide from Ashley Willis’s talk Shipping Joy: What Developers Can Learn From Toys. It’s a slide with a pink and white grid background and a cartoon rubber duck, robot, squiggly lines, and stickers. A photo of Scott Stewart smiling at the Render ATL lectern as he gives his talk. A photo of Angie Jones leading a panel with Tobin South from Work OS and Dana Lawson from Netlify.
June 15, 2025 at 5:58 PM