VIOLET TROWBRIDGE'S RHODODENDRON PAINTING

One of my favorite of all of Mrs. Trowbridge's floral paintings that are contained in her journal is this lovely rhododendron painting. She was undeniably the Grand Dame of watercolor in the Quinault Rain Forest. The notes in her Trowbridge Chronicles journal revealed that she spent 93 hours on the above painting.

My Trowbridge shrew research expedition to Polynesia several years ago was most fascinating. We found tiny petroglyphic evidence among the boulders in the forest and along the shoreline of the Trowbridge Shrew's presence on the tiny island of Motu Taakoka in the Cook Island Group (above). We even found bone fragments, including an intact skull. Look for more of Mrs. T's floral paintings in upcoming posts.

Have you seen my other blog, Bron Smith's Flights of Fantasy? 

PLUMERA FLOWER, by VIOLET TROWBRIDGE

This is the second in a series of lovely paintings by Mrs. Trowbridge in honor of her ancestors in the Polynesian islands. This is a frangipani, or plumera flower. It is a common species in Polynesia. I have encountered this beautiful tropical flower on my trips to the South Pacific for my research in tracking the migration path of the Trowbridge shrew from Mongolia, across Polynesia to South America, to their current home in the Northwest United States.

Have you seen my other blog, Bron Smith's Flights of Fantasy?

THE LEGEND OF SHREW KAHN

Mrs. Trowbridge paid homage to her fore-bearers by writing and illustrating stories of those great Trowbridge shrews from which she descended. Among the greatest was the mighty warrior, Shrew Khan. Shews of the Trowbridge line have been traced to the Mongolian Steppes, the jungles of Polynesia and elsewhere before they found their way to the temperate rain forests of the Pacific Northwest region of North America. 

This is one of my favorite of Mrs. T's stories: The Legend of Shrew Khan.

Have you seen my other blog? There you'll see the development of my Sky Fishing painting. Bron Smith's Flights of Fantasy