Prehistoric Spiders Discovered in a Myrtle Beach Art Gallery

 

                                                                                                             BINDING NUPTIALS

Of the over 45,000 species of spiders, even if you're not a fan of arachnids, this one will blow your mind

This week, I had the good fortune to be invited to exhibit my paintings and photographs in coastal South Carolina again.  Seacoast artists gallery is an impressive gallery located at 3032 Nevers Street in The Market Common, and where they will hang.  The Gallery is made up of over 70 talented artists who are juried and showcase their works there, which are in a wide variety of mediums. Market Common is a growing and up-and-coming area with a diverse composite of waterfront, unique homes, restaurants, and boutiques in the Myrtle Beach area, definitely worthy of a visit. While you’re there, I'd recommend a leisurely stroll to visit the remnants of the surrounding old Air Force base and military planes on display there as well.

At first, choosing which photos to exhibit was overwhelming, but then quickly evolved into happy memories.  As I remembered the back stories surrounding them, I was reminded of all Mother Nature lays before us every morning and I was both humbled and impressed.  I wanted to share those stories here, one for the people who purchase my work, and two, for people who have not yet been able to make that journey of discovery, wherever they are greeting mother nature every day.

Here is a snippet of the back stories behind my pictures, some published both nationally and internationally on CNN, HGTV, the BBC, and various other print media including Travel+Leisure Magazine and others. Some of these back stories are informative for parents, educators, and nature aficionados and some are just plain humorous and uplifting to brighten your day.

I framed this colorful spider in a montage with different views of the glamorous gal and her wanna-be suitor. It shows a unique strategy for mating with a very fussy, very cranky diva of a spider, named a Golden Orb Weaver and was a real challenge for me to photograph.  She’s a species that warrants attention however, even if you're not an insect or spider fan, so I was excited and nervous at the same time.  This particular species has survived over 177 million years according to a recent fossil discovery in China and has also remained virtually the same anatomically as the scientists who found her discovered when they necropsied her.  We should all be so lucky.

While I respect this lady for her struggles, survival, and tenacity to continue her species, admittedly I had to get used to seeing her in all her beautiful coloration, but with enormous mandibles, and those large and long hairy legs so prominent in my lens. I patiently set up my tripod everyday – rain or shine, for over 3 weeks.  And while it was initially off putting to see this curiously beautiful and colorful spider, it was even more off putting when I didn’t see her because with every wisp of wind, I imagined I could feel her crawling up my leg.  

Golden Orbs are one of the most fascinating spiders I've photographed and are so named for their strong webs. I should mention that their webs capture a host of mosquitoes and other flying pests if you're lucky enough to have one choose your yard.  These 6 foot plus webs have been likened to having the strength of Kevlar, but also their shimmering deep to light gold colored silk – depending on who is weaving it, is unique in that it's also been used to weave impressive clothing for discerning humans. 

I watched many tiny male Golden Orb suitors less than the size of one of her leg segments, camp out safely on the far sides of her web.  They also dutifully repaired her web and you can see patches of different colors, depending on the weaver of that particular spot. But the males must earn their right to win her favor as the chosen patriarch of her family.  A family that would hatch out of the egg case she would meticulously weave and attach to a bush to safely survive the Winter.  At the rate she was going, given her crankiness and impatience, this Diva wouldn’t find anyone acceptable in time to get her egg case ready before Fall set in I worried as I watched her reject then eat one suitor after another and another for almost a month.

One tiny male golden, who I watched being rejected over and over and ultimately given the boot – literally by one of her giant legs to the far side of the web, didn’t give up.  The challenge for these Golden Orb males is to get close enough to the female to mate with her before being eaten.  That’s accomplished by slowly but tenaciously making his way close enough, over her giant legs to be able to soothe her by rubbing her abdomen, which the tiny male in the photo kept trying time after time. 

I hadn’t seen this recorded in journals or on the Internet until I released it after viewing it in the series of photographs I took.  This particular male approached her powerful, intimidating back legs over and over.  Then he – either from past experience or sheer wit carefully approached her back legs once more, on this one fateful day when she had stuffed her mouth and was oblivious as she enjoyed another bit of prey.  Except this time, he began binding those large powerful back legs with his silk to avoid the defensive kicking and presumably the eating.  Ever so slowly, carefully, and gently he wound silk threads around and around, so softly she didn’t even notice apparently, in her distracted state of eating one not so lucky. Having accomplished that, he then slowly made his way to her abdomen and stroked it until she was apparently in total digestion-oblivion and allowed him to mate, assuring one more hatching of about 100-200 tiny little Orb Weavers in 5-6 months.  Thus, the name “Binding Nuptials."

This is a photo of her egg case purely for interest, and not displayed at the gallery.  She securely attached it to stems and tucked it in a bundle of leaves in a Rose of Sharon bush only about 4 1/2 feet off the ground.  This would be her last act on earth, but I was able to witness the safe hatching of about 160 of her tiny little goldens which you see here, as soon as the weather warmed enough for them to emerge.  Then they shimmied up a tall Crepe Myrtle where they remained until they scampered and floated away to make their own webs and assure the survival of their species.

                                                                       ICE  FISHING

One of the challenges I like best about nature photography is working with ole' Mother Nature to provide a little beauty, excitement and surprise to the limitations of what a camera can do.  For this shot, when I heard about unseasonably cold overnight temperatures predicted in Virginia in the opportune time when beautiful Great Egrets are adorned especially well in their breeding plumage, I knew I had to get up early.  Usually they're donning this special attire later than when the temps are low enough to provide ice.  Before dawn, I headed out to a relatively deserted area I'd discovered where I'd observed egrets comfortably fishing in the relative peace of unusually secluded areas.  Ice melts early in the day here and I had to drive a good distance then search quickly if I was going to capture the ice before it melted.  The fact that he's fluffing his feathers to stay warm emphasizes his beauty, which only happens once a year, and I hoped would exemplify the challenges wildlife face to simply find food, and would philosophically lift my photo to a higher level. The glitz and pattern of these particular crystals in this spot and the natural swirls in the water added the texture I wanted for an intriguing and beautiful background.  Waiting for the right position of the sun, I was able to capture reflections and being able to capture the falling water droplets and the bit of food in his beak was the bonus I desired, so I chose this photo and I named it simply, "Ice Fishing."

ETHEREAL

Photographing wildlife is the best way I know to preserve and document species that are here today but may not be here in the distant, or even the near future. Myrtle Beach has become a melting pot of migraters.  People and wildlife alike are attracted to the area, in part for the warm climate. Many species that have migrated here for centuries, like this Oriole are now permanently escaping their former homes where they've been driven out primarily by over development, and a loss of their habitats and food sources. Instead of moving on to their normal routes of migration, several species have decided to stay year round here, especially in the last decade. South Carolinians welcome and celebrate these new species.  On this particular day, it was slightly overcast with just enough drizzle to give me the color and texture I wanted for this Oriole who's only visited me for a few days every year.  So far.  Whenever I get the chance to photograph a newbie who could evolve into a native I am happy.  When I can present him for others to enjoy in a setting that can only be described as ethereal, where the weather and my flowers are both cooperating, I am ecstatic. 

                                                     

                                                             MONETS  HERON

We see quite a few Great Blue Herons in the area, so I decided to take a little artistic license with this photo, where I emphasized its details.  I wanted to preserve its authenticity and characteristics as a species, but emphasize the interesting textures Mother Nature helped me with. Its surroundings are authentic as well,but enhanced for a beautiful and colorful addition to someone's home decor. This heron hopped into an area I was walking beside. It was merely a mundane patch of turf on a golf course that had flooded but with enough algae and organic material in the water that I could maintain its authenticity and create a work of art. It reminded me of Monet's water lilies he suddenly discovered one day while on his routine walk across a favorite pond. He was so inspired by the surprise and sudden emergence of the flowers, lore has it that he saw them as a natural bridge between water, garden and sky.  The experience propelled him into painting a series for which he became very well known, not to mention one sold for over $84 million at auction in 2018. 

                                                                   

                                                                     YOU ROCK

Pottery, jewelry and greeting cards are among the other interesting purchase options at the gallery, so I considered this photo for my first card to introduce there.  It's also the perfect example of how to work with nature to turn a drab patch of western landscape into something beautiful. The mountains in the East are blanketed with green, flowers and colorful leaves in the Fall. This one however is in the west and is actually a towering grey, and rather mundane looking mountain near an old gold mine. The only flora was cactus, but including them added texture, dimension and interest so required for a good shot. It was important too, to position yourself in such a way they will be present in the shot.  Again, I waited until Mother Nature was at her best, and snapped this when the Arizona sun was at just the right angle-and so was I, to breathe life into what would otherwise be a monotonous slab of grey above a brown base.  

The west is full of wonderful textures but the drought raging in our western states made it a challenge to get colorful, provocative photos when I was there. Nature however constantly reminds us that if we wait long enough and find just the right spot, she can change everything in the blink of an eye.

THEY PAVED PARADISE

This would be the last time we would see these and about 100 other herons all nesting together in this particular and popular nesting spot in Charleston.  It's another favorite photo I painted to display at the gallery. When a developer built luxury condos near this nursery it was just too noisy for the humans vacationing there so the developer had the nests destroyed. Three species of Egrets and 3 other heron species came early every year to raise their young. It had become a favorite place for me to take photos of the beautiful birds and their fuzzy headed babies in their chosen natural environment. To add to the curiosity of my annual photo jaunt, an alligator swam in the stream directly under the nests, keeping the water free of the snakes and racoons that would have loved to scale the trees for the eggs and young chicks.  As soon as the herons fledged, Ibis and Spoonbills moved in to sublet the very same nests their heron cousins had just occupied. At the time Joni Mitchell wrote, "They Paved Paradise (to put up a parking lot") she wanted to inspire people to help protect the environment so it seemed the perfect name. 

Stay tuned for more, and I hope we'll see you at the Gallery, where you're guaranteed to be soothed, inspired, and surprised by the best of the best artists around the area.