This art was a bit of a struggle. A photo too dark to even see if the cub’s eye was open or closed inspired me to create this close up portrait.

I wanted the mom’s eye to the closed because my domestic cats close their eyes when being petted, so a mother nuzzling her beloved kitten would close her eyes in serenity.

I spent three of four days deciding how to draw the cub’s eye.

Weighing less than a pound, kittens are born deaf. In a week of two, their eyes open and are a beautiful blue color, but a kitten might close her eyes in bliss when nuzzled.

As soon as I made a decision, it was obvious that the open eye was essential to the art.

It’s a young mountain lion learning to recognize her mom. It’s Love at First Sight.

Cougars have a reputation for being protective, nurturing mothers. Recent studies reveal that cougars share food, share territory and interact every other week. They groom each other and travel together. They even adopt orphaned kittens.

Their social life is much more caring than previously understood. This kind of caring begins with the motherly love they receive as cubs.

I just submitted this art to Creature Conserve’s Wildlife Spotlight Series Open Call because mountain lions need us to care about them.

Animal cruelty laws have failed in Colorado, USA, where I moved to be close to wildlife like cougars.

There have only been 29 human fatalities from cougars recorded in a 100 years.

The real predators are killing three thousand mountain lions each year in the USA. More than 90% of trophy hunters chase mountain lions to exhaustion, running them down with packs of GPS-collared hounds.

Trophy hunters kill mothers, too, leaving their orphans little hope.

Love at First Sight, Mother-Cub Bond of Mountain Lions was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Twin Fawn Tenderness. New life from Queen Anne’s Lace blossoms to spotted deer fawns paints nature with wonder.

Treetop Playground. Little black bear cub meets golden striped chipmunks high in a pine tree.

Duchess’ Kitten. My gentle-hearted dog adopted a tiny kitten.

Tiger Tenderness. The most beautiful animals in the world.

Our Little One. Emperor penguins watch over their chick under the Midnight Sun.

Puppy Love. Grey wolf family in the Rocky Mountains.

Jewel of the Rocky Mountains. Male Rufous Hummingbird at Longs Peak, the highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Near and Dear. Mare watches over her foal.

Originals and prints of my art are available at https://www.artmajeur.com/deidra-smith?view=grid

I also accept commissions by emailing me at GoWildArt@proton.me.

Thank you,

Deidra Smith

For the Love of Nature was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Melakwa Lake, watercolor pencils on paper, 8.5" x 5.5"

This scene reminds me of the day hike I took eight years ago with a friend near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington. The Cascade mountains are at their most spectacular in early October. The sunlight was brilliant that day as we climbed to Melakwa Lake — bright enough to convince myself that an impromptu lake swim would be the perfect way to cool off after the uphill hike. It was a very brief swim.

For this rendition, I used a heavier than normal application of watercolor pencil on the foreground leaves of the huckleberry bushes, overlaying various shades of yellow over orange and browns. Flat horizontal blue & grey lines for the surface of the lake that I flattened with wet brush strokes.

I’ll send this post to my hiking friend.

Delfino

Autumn in the Cascades was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

watercolor pencil on paper, 22cm x 14cm

I worked on this piece from a small, rented studio in Valencia, far from the original inspiration in wintry Idaho.

I thought that the foreground subject would lend itself to pencil work — the points of needles; the texture of the cones — as parallel lines. Then a blurry, out-of-focus approach to the background, which I promoted with wet brush technique.

Delfino

Conifer in Winter was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

watercolor pencil on paper, 8.5”x5.5” Delfino Cornali 2025

Now that I’m on travels once again, it’s time for more experimentation with watercolor pencils. My “studio” recently is the rooftop terrace of the apartment, which has its own cactus collection and a great view of the Sierra Madre Mountains. The botanical gardens in the city of Oaxaca have a wide array of the region’s cactus. So it’s apropos that cactus blossoms feature in my first piece from Mexico.

Delfino

Cactus in Bloom was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This work is my first smalti mosaic project in many years. My partner and I have recently completed this part of our “Zen” garden — a tableau of spring, stream, and bridge composed of pottery and stone. We bordered the stream with three iron panels, with a metal sculpture affixed to one of the panels. This mosaic piece covers the exposed back of the sculpture.

The motif suggests the outline of ocean waves, where the moonlight from a full moon illuminates the crests of the waves. Randomly dispersed in the waves I’ve placed reflections of the moon.

I used a direct method for this mosaic — the tesserae I’ve glued directly onto a clear glass disk. My design pattern sat beneath the glass disk, which allowed me to remain faithful to the arc patterns.

Photos below of the garden setting.

Delfino

Waves in the Moonlight was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

At five months old, Gabi didn’t smile much. She observed — her blue eyes held wide open for seconds at a time — and watched her world unfold before her. I spent hours with camera in hand, trying to capture a smile, a chuckle, or even a grin. I finally realized that her intent gaze was her personality at this age. So I decided to paint a portrait of her gazing intently at me.

Now, she guffaws and laughs like “normal” babies her age. At good decibel levels too. She still observes her world, perhaps without the other-worldly intensity she had at five months of age.

Delfino

Gabriella was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Chiaramonte Gulfi is a quiet hilltop town in southern Sicily — a town that turns especially quiet in early afternoons. We wandered through this small piazza on a quiet weekday. We stood on the steps of the Palazzo Montesano, whose basement houses a fascinating olive oil museum. I know the color of the façade of the south-facing villa at number 26 — this is Naples Yellow, a classic color of southern Italian architecture.

The scene is quintessential Sicilian. The villa’s windows are shuttered against the strong afternoon sun. I’ve captured an image of a workman in coveralls having trudged up the hill. The sky is a cloudless blue, with clear vistas to the hills and the sea. As advertised.

Inspiration Point: via Maiorana A. 26, Chiaramonte Gulfi, Ragusa, Italy

Delfino

via Maiorana A. 26 was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

She awakens from bed and slowly walks — sleep drunk — to the balcony door. The sun floods in as it opens, mid-morning sunlight blindingly brilliant.

She steadies herself, one arm heavy against the wall, her other hand shades her eyes. The breeze flows into the room, over her shoulders, a breath of wind rich with the aroma of the sea. A clutch of waves in the distance capture the light of a thousand suns.

She lets the moment by the balcony linger, hypnotized, a vista of blue breaking waves far below captivates her imagination. To be floating at this moment atop those waves, gaze skyward, and surrender.

Awakening, watercolor and ink on rag 5”x8” by Delfino Cornali

Delfino

Awakening was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Blue Morpho, watercolor on paper, 8”x5” (c)2025 Delfino Cornali

I’m writing this blog entry from an environmental center in the heart of central Costa Rica’s rainforest, just outside of La Cangreja National Park. Every now and then, a blue morpho butterfly will pass me along the path. Their electric blue wings are startling. Since the undersides are a mottled brown, the blue wings disappear and then reappear much further down the trail. Fascinating to watch.

I’ve brought only a subset of my watercolor pencil set to Costa Rica, so I find myself relying more heavily on blending colors to find the right hues.

I’m using a technique where I use a highlight color (white, ivory, light blue) as I would a blending stump with pastels. I firmly press the edge of the pencil broadly across an area, and it fills the areas between the darker lines.

In the darker background areas, I do something similar, usually using a violet color to suggest shadow.

Delfino

Blue Morpho was originally published in ALFEW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.