Daphne Prairie

My wife and I were thrilled to be able to visit Fort Worth, Texas, last week for the opening at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas of an exhibit of new paintings by Deborah Paris depicting Daphne Prairie. The show was beautiful and it brought together a large and enthusiastic crowd. A couple of days later, we had the pleasure of making a visit to Daphne Prairie with Deborah and exploring the places that inspired her paintings. Daphne Prairie is a real treasure - 1,000 acres of unique, protected tall grass prairie that showcases the rich diversity of grasses and wildflowers that once covered the area. We had the very good fortune of enjoying it on a beautiful day with spectacular clouds overhead and countless butterflies. Later that day, I did two small ink sketches from memory to capture my impressions of the place.

With Deborah Paris at Daphne Prairie (photo taken by my wife).

Two sketches in India ink on watercolor paper, approximately 4-1/2" x 3" each.

A monarch butterfly, one of the many beautiful butterflies of a number of different kinds we saw.