—Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), an “open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives,” has for many years been making it easy for people to connect to nature through nature writing and illustration. Its “first stream,” currently at 122,281 images, has been carefully curated, and includes searchable galleries and albums divided by book title or subject, such as “Exotic botany illustrated,” “The Birds of Australia v.1,” and “Bats!” Its “second stream,” consisting of over 2 million images, is a massive grab-bag of photos, illlustrations from nature, advertisements, and imaginative renderings.

This digital library offers potential for chance discovery through “the aimless wandering that often leads to serendipitously sublime experiences.” The image archives “offer expansive views of humanity’s encounter with the natural world, not only through statistics and academic jargon, but through the artistic recording of wonder, scientific curiosity, and deep appreciation.” Many of the images allow “zooming in” to carefully observe details of the artists’ illustrative processes.

Enjoy! (source)

—Jan Parker (quoting “Taoist carpenter” Ken Parker)

Earlier this year I received the following message (a “friendly admonition” is how it landed on my shores), from a kind gentleman in Munich, Germany…

Hello Mr. Peters, I’m a long time fan of your site. I’ve missed your posts lately. Hope all is well & you share interesting things with the world again! Regards!
— David

For a number of reasons (that I won’t get into here and now) I have not found the energy to “post” to this long-running personal blog the way I used to, but it’s really not that I haven’t wanted to. This “News+” blog has been an effective way of sharing links, ideas, opinions, information, inspiration, and interesting viewpoints of others (“Weltanschauungen” I would say), for well over a decade. Though the blog’s “traffic” is down considerably from the 300+ daily visits it used to have (understandable, with no new posts), I know of many friends and contacts and relationships around the globe that have been seeded and nurtured through these keystrokes. So, yes, “Thank you, David!”… you have my word that I’ll try to pay a little more attention to “sharing interesting things with the world again.”

Cheers!

Mike Grandmaison and I are currently proofing our new book, Natural Reflections, now in pre-production at Rocky Mountain Books. It’s a project we started on together back in the late 1980s… finally coming to fruition. More info here…

An inspiring and highly original book of photography takes the reader on an unforgettable walk through the vast and wide beauty of “Natural Canada.”

Natural Reflections captures natural beauty from the exceptional viewpoint and unique perspective of Mike Grandmaison’s lens. A singular gallery of images is curated, amplified and informed by the observations of Robert L. Peters.

Filled with insightful musings, truisms and parallel quotations from some of the world’s greatest thinkers, this book is bound to inspire and truly engage both halves of the brain. Divided into five contemplative chapters – On Inspiration, On Seeing, On Intimacy, On Order, On Change – this lavishly produced volume comprises a rich and seamless interweaving of image and word.

This is a book not to be missed by anyone interested in the natural world (and its preservation), the art of outdoor photography, the creative process or this vast land called Canada.

The photographer and author, long-time friends and avid nature-lovers, share the humble view that, like a Mother, the Earth both bore us and sustains us, asking little in return but love and respect. This book is their reciprocal tribute and holistic offering.

“In order to capture some of the disappearing history in the graphic design industry in Manitoba, with the support of GDC Manitoba, we decided to create a podcast series where we could interview many of the designers who have shaped the design landscape in Winnipeg and beyond. It was decided to keep it simple – conduct interviews with individuals with a set list of questions to capture their thoughts and reflections that might inspire others, and then post the interviews as podcasts. The series is called Out of the Studio (Oots) and new interviews and designer profiles will be added every couple of weeks. Enjoy the podcast series, there is much to be celebrated with Canadian graphic design!”

Listen to the interview here.

Waxing, waning, howling…

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe  (GIF creator unknown)

(Art by Mobii…)

Winnipeg, Canada

Our latest stamp design launched in Canada today, on International Women’s Day. As a feminist, I found it particularly gratifying to be able to have a hand in this issue.

Read all about the stamp’s design here. Access information of interest to philatelists and collectors here. Watch news reportage of Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, unveiling the stamp in Ottawa earlier today here…