by Mindy Lighthipe | Mar 10, 2014 | Costa Rica, Uncategorized
The guaria morada became Costa Rica’s national flower on June 15, 1939. It is said to reflect its nation’s people in its beauty, fragility, and abundance. The gorgeous purple (You know how I love PURPLE!) flower is an epiphytic orchid, growing on trees, sustaining...
by Mindy Lighthipe | Mar 7, 2014 | Botanical Art
With the age of digital reproduction, why should you buy original art? Print on demand companies have popped up all over the internet and many with surprisingly high quality prints at affordable prices. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the reproduction from the...
by Mindy Lighthipe | Mar 4, 2014 | Bird Art, Colored Pencil, Costa Rica, Digital Photography, Reproduction, Uncategorized
I don’t consider myself much of a bird watcher. I don’t really have the patience to wander or deliberately walk around with a pair of binoculars around my neck waiting to see a glimpse of something in the distance. I don’t have a bird list that I...
by Mindy Lighthipe | Dec 24, 2013 | Animal Portraits, Art Destinations, Bird Art, Colored Pencil, Costa Rica, Digital Photography, Gallery, Photography Tips
The Aracari and Photographer Permission- I have loved the aracari ever since I saw it flying in the rainforest in Costa Rica. It is a small toucan and is not as easy to spot as a toucan because of its size. They love to eat palm nuts and this is usually where you can...
by Mindy Lighthipe | Feb 27, 2012 | 52/52 Challenge, Bird Art, Costa Rica, Uncategorized, Watercolor Tips
52/52 Painting Challenge – Painting #8 The Blue Crowned Mot-Mot For this painting challenge I combined watercolor with egg yolk. I took a class in egg tempera from American-born Suzanne Scherer and Russian-born Pavel Ouporov in 2004 at the New York Botanical...