In addition to drawings and works reserved for consideration for inclusion in my core archive, or archival subset collections, I am offering original drawings and watercolors for purchase as individual objects. All share having been published in one of my natural histories, the beginning of their post-creation provenance.
Ninety nine percent of my renderings are from direct experience, something I have observed over the course of more than seven decades, sometimes but once, the vast majority countless times over. A small number have been created from readings in the literature, accounts from colleagues, photos, and imagination.
Observation, remembrance and imagination play a key role in all of my natural history art.
A sense of place and moment, the broader background for each drawing or watercolor displayed here, can be gained by referring to the page, and or surrounding pages, in the book in which it appears.
Each piece has its place in my long history, an element of celebrating and remembering what I have seen, where I have been.
Carroll can be precise and scientific in depicting
the coloration of a brook trout, the sense of a
small rocky plunge pool or a wood frog. He can
be impressionistic as in his drawing of a flooded
brook on an overcast day, of sticks and (natural)
litter along a streambed. In all his sketches, he
captures the essential wildness of his subjects.
— John Rowen, in “The Conservationist.”
Wood Turtle in Submerged branches
Watercolor. 8 1/2” x 10”. 1989. YEAR OF THE TURTLE, page 33.
This watercolor was exhibited in my show at the Currier Museum of Art, June – September, 2018. $5,000.00
Young Painted Turtle Basking on a Lily Pad
Turtles have very keen eyesight, and perhaps painted turtles the have the sharpest eyes of all. Or possibly they are the most alert of the alert, as is this young one – looking over his shoulder, so to speak. In strong contrast to the extraordinarily cryptic spotted, wood, and Blandings’s turtles I follow, painted turtles bask quite openly, almost always in plain sight. This might well call for their great caution, and quick-to-take-to-water behavior when they detect the slightest movement, even from a considerable distance, that signals danger.
I often see the young ones on lily pads, as shown here. This provides an opportunity for me to add a waterlily to the composition. It is as familiar as painted turtles and a splendid component of the rich and bio-diverse botany of the wetlands.
Young Painted Turtle Basking on a Lily Pad. Watercolor. 1989. 10 1/2” x 8 1/4”. YEAR OF THE TURTLE. Page 113. This watercolor was exhibited in my show at the Currier Museum of Art, June-September 2018. $5,000.00
Watercolor. 1989. 10 1/2” x 8 1/4”. YEAR OF THE TURTLE. Page 113.
This watercolor was exhibited in my show at the Currier Museum of Art, June-September 2018. $5,000.00
Bog Turtle
This small – carapace length 4” or less – supremely attractive turtle, with bright orange blazes at the sides of is head, is listed as threatened or endangered throughout its range. It is Federally listed as threatened. Much of its widely scattered specialized fen habitat has been eliminated by way of development, agriculture, and plant succession. It continues to suffer losses due to incidental collecting (an individual coming upon one and deciding to keep it as a pet; or purposefully going out to find and keep one) and illegal collecting for the black market pet trade, where it commands high prices.
Only the strictest preservation strategies, including exclusion of public access, will prevent it from becoming extinct. Every effort is made by researchers not to disclose sites in which it still occurs, but too many are well enough known.
I have only had one day with this remarkable little turtle, accompanying great friend and colleague Brian Butler (he of the “Swamp Dialogs”, discussed in my archive page of that title), who works with the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. This state has protective regulations for at-risk species that are of an order I do not believe is found in any other state – certainly not New Hampshire.
We were invited by researchers working with these turtles to visit a preserved habitat and observe several individuals in the shallow narrow channels among sedge and emergent shrubs of one of their unique calcareous fen habitats. It was most interesting to discuss their ecology, which has similarities with spotted turtles.
Bog Turtle. 1990. 8” x 11 1/2”. Pen and archival black Ink. YEAR OF THE TURTLE. Page 11. This drawing was exhibited in my show at the Currier Museum of Art, June- September, 2018. $3,500.00
Spotted Turtle Hiding in Tussock Sedge – Starry Night
One evening as it was growing dark I noticed the slightest jostling of tussock sedge strands, at the surface of the water. Then all became still. But the thought came immediately to mind that it could have been a spotted turtle settling into cover for the night. I waded slowly the the site in the Swale, an unusually large (3-4 acres) vernal pool essential to the spotted turtle colony I have observed for over forty years.
This remarkable seasonal habitat has been the subject and setting of a great deal of my writing and art (The Year of the Turtle; Swampwalker’s Journal, etc.). It has also been the source of countless records for my Digs (field) Notebooks.
I gently fingered into the dense submerged sedge blades and touched the carapace of a turtle. I moved the strands slightly aside and saw a couple of bright yellow spots. With this I had a very tangible record of where a spotted turtle might spend the night. And I had an experience – empirical observation – from which I could envision this pen and ink drawing (one of my all-time favorites).
Pen and archival black ink. 1988. 10” x 8”. YEAR OF THE TURTLE. Page 40. This drawing has been sold.
Wood Turtle Cryptic Basking
This drawing is a terrestrial analog of the watercolor I did for YEAR OF THE TURTLE, depicting a wood turtle sequestered in branches sunken in a stream. This use of branches, fallen ferns, grasses, sedges, goldenrod stems, brambles and the like as a form of camouflage, or concealment, is a ubiquitous behavioral pattern for wood turtles.
Even shadows play a role in this critical crypsis. I have had countless findings of these turtles, from hatchlings to the oldest and largest adults, in settings exactly like the one shown in this drawing.
As noted in my watercolor, such natural debris is critical for these turtles – all the more so when they are in their terrestrial mode, where they are especially vulnerable to predation.
It is worth repeating that mowing and any other form of removing cover from stream and riverbanks, or edges of old-field or hayfield growth, is extremely harmful to these turtles, as well as many other species. Wood turtles are unable to live where their requisite cover has been removed, as so often happens as humans continue expand housing and enterprise.
The umbery, grayish brown sculpted carapace with its very fine yellow striations are well-matched to such cover, as well as dry leaves and other fallen vegetation. Their first defense against predators is to go unseen. They are masters of the art of keeping still, and will “freeze”, even in mid-step, at the slightest awareness of the approach of a predator or human.
Wood Turtle Cryptic Basking. 1998. pen and ink. 9 3/4” x 12 5/8”. page 211. SWAMPWALKER’S JOURNAL. This drawing was shown in my gallery of the “Beyond Words…” exhibition at the Currier Museum of Art. June-September, 2018. $3,500.00
Spotted Turtle Beneath Reflections: Moon and Clouds
Turtles are not nocturnal (v. drawing above: “Spotted Turtle Hiding, Starry Night”), except for females who are out to nest. I have observed nest-seeking spotted turtles set out to make initial explorations for a nest site from 3:30 or so in the afternoon, often in light rain.
They wander until it is nearly dark before committing to a nest site. They may make these trial expeditions over several days before selecting the place in which to deposit their generally three eggs; sometimes laying four or five. I once documented a clutch of six eggs.
They may nest all through the night, completing the covering and camouflaging of the nest at dawn, or even as late as 10:30 AM. They spend a great deal of time concealing their nests. I describe this in the “Nesting” chapter of YEAR OF THE TURTLE, and the last chapter of SELF-PORTRAIT WITH TURTLES, “Ariadne Nesting”.
In this drawing I envision a female returning to one of the aquatic habitats in her native wetland mosaic – a vernal pool, fen, marsh, or shrub swamp – after having nested.
Spotted Turtle Beneath Reflections: Moon and Clouds. 1988. Pen and archival black ink. YEAR OF THE TURTLE, page 96
$2,700.00
Brown Trout Rising
I have never caught a brown trout. I was able to observe, sketch, and photograph them in a very large aquarium in the learning center at the New Hampshire Fish and Game’s headquarters in Concord. This provided me an opportunity to see their extremely fluid underwater movements, as well as the striking patterns of these and brook and rainbow trout.
Brown trout are not native to the United States. They were imported from Germany in the 1800’s, and stocked in many parts of the country.
They are a prized quarry for anglers, fly fishermen in particular. But, as non-natives, they do pose problems for native strains of trout, as predators and out-sized competitors for food and space in trout waters. I treat considerations of stocking trout in my book.
Brown Trout Rising. 1992. Watercolor. 12” x 9 1/2”. TROUT REFLECTIONS. Page 112. $5,000.00
Paul’s Wallet
Paul Bofinger, who passed away in 2020, was a great friend and a trout fisherman in every best sense of the term. He was also president of the Society for the Protection of NH Forests for 35 years, and an exemplary conservationist. When I was debating about whether to go ahead with my trout book, or move on to what became SWAMPWALKER’S JOURNAL, he kept encouraging me to not abandon the trout idea. He flat out said I had to write the book.
That persuasion, more fierce than gentle, along with unrelenting enthusiasm, had a major influence on my taking up TROUT REFLECTIONS. Once I committed, he gave me one of his precious fly fishing wallets to use as an illustration. It is a treasure and a remembrance, though I have never employed one of the wonderful tied flies.
One evening he came to my door with an aquarium that contained a classically patterned brook trout, very much alive in water that was kept aerated and well-chilled. He wanted me to have a live specimen that I could study closely. The acknowledgments in my book rightfully begin with him.
Paul’s Wallet. 1992. Watercolor. 12” x 9 1/2”. TROUT REFLECTIONS, page 13. $5,000.00
Rainbow Trout and Red-Maple leaves
This watercolor was chosen by the book’s designer for use as the cover design for TROUT REFLECTIONS. Its eye-catching quality made sense from a marketing department point of view, even though the book is some ninety-five percent focused on the brook trout. I was happy enough to go along with the decision.
Fish had rarely appeared as subjects for my natural history drawing and painting, and a major gain I took from this book project, as artist, writer, and naturalist, was treating their forms and patterns, and of course their stream habitats.
I was quite familiar with brook trout and their streams and rivers via my seasons with wood turtles, but never so intimately in touch as when looking from the specific perspective as an artist. This added a great deal to the writing, and certainly enhanced my naturalist’s understanding of them and their ecology, their place in the ecosystem they shared with wood turtles. I came to know flowing water even more intimately.
Rainbow Trout and Red-Maple leaves. Watercolor. 1992. 12” x 10”. Used as cover design. $5,000.00
Brook Trout in Willow Branches
At spring thaw the flood plain borders of lowland brooks are inundated, and for a time the riparian shrubs become emergents. I have observed black ducks and hooded mergansers swimming among sallows. [Thoreau used this word, which my computer does not believe is a real word, for slender willow sprouts].
Pickerel in particular are quick to invade new territory in search of prey, pushing into the shallowest edgewaters. But I have observed brook trout move up seeps and springs barely deep enough to cover their backs, in order to access vernal pools, cut-off stream meanders, and other flood-season waters.
Wading among flooded willows, silky dogwood, and alders in my earliest searches for wood turtles, I envisioned a trout returning from deeper overwintering pools being able to cruise among small forests of woody growth in quest of mayfly larvae making their own migrations. Spring is the season of many returnings, and I make my own.
Brook Trout in Willow Branches. 1991. Pen and ink. 14 3/4” x 6 5/8”. Page 23, TROUT REFLECTIONS. $3,500.00
Spawning Brook Trout
Among the trout people I talked with over the course of my writing this book were two biologists at a hatchery in New Hampshire. They told me that there was a native brook trout stream behind the buildings that was not open to public access, and that it would be possible for me to observe their spawning ritual there. I had observed this in stretches of my two primary wood turtle streams.
I spent time at the brook on the hatchery property on several deeply chill November days. From a little distance I was able to see numbers of them swirling in the shallow, turbulent water of the riffles.
They were so engaged in their breeding that they returned to the rushing shallows a short time after dispersing at my approach, and resumed the swift and ceaseless interactions of their courtship and spawning.
I found a place where I could wedge myself in among hemlocks that leaned out over the stream. I managed to keep motionless in the biting cold as I looked down on the full range of their spawning activity… jousting males, and even females making their shallow redds, or nests.
I was close enough to see the brilliant red flashes of the males’ fins, which are heightened dramatically at spawning time, and the patterns on their and the females’ backs. This experience figured heavily in writing my account of their spawning in TROUT REFLECTIONS.
Spawning Brook Trout. 1992. pen and ink. 8 1/4” x 9”. TROUT REFLECTIONS. This drawing appears on the title page. $2,700.00
Nesting Painted Turtle
In earlier years I conducted studies of turtle nesting, primarily with painted turtles, as they were the most numerous species in the “Digs”, my central turtle area. I went out in the late afternoon – painted turtles ordinarily begin and complete their nesting before dark, in contrast with spotted, wood, and Blanding’s turtles, who commonly nest well into the night and on to the daylight of early morning hours.
I watched and waited until turtles completed their nests, then covered them with protective screens to ward off predation by skunks, raccoons – sometimes foxes and coyotes. I then monitored the nests from late summer until frost.
I had to take up monitoring for emerging hatchlings in the spring, as the hatchlings of this species, in a remarkable exception to other turtles, nearly always overwinter in the nest.
I did observe some autumn emergence, and several instances of some hatchlings leaving the nest before winter, and their siblings staying in place, to dig out in April, May, or even early June.
Nesting Painted Turtle. 1995. Pen and ink on vellum. 7 1/4” x 8 3/4”. SWAMPWALKER’S JOURNAL. Page 161 (title page for “The Pond”). This drawing was exhibited at the Currier Museum of Art, 2018. $3,500.00
Red-Spotted Newts: Courtship
Red-spotted newts are the mature stage of the red efts commonly seen roaming the forest floor, especially on warm, rainy days in autumn.
After a terrestrial life of three to four years the efts migrate to a variety of wetlands, where they develop into adult newts. They undergo a transformation of their glowing orange to a dark olive green coloration, while retaining the bright red spots along their sides.
They also develop broad, thin, fin-like tails that serve to propel them through the water. These banner-like tails are a distinctive feature of their courtship ballets, as they entwine, separate, and join again, assuming arabesque poses. I encounter them in nearly every aquatic habitat in which I search for turtles.
Eggs are deposited singly in dense vegetation in the water. The larvae hatch to go through an aquatic stage like that of frogs and toads, but transform into the forest-dwelling efts, only to make that final migration after a number of years, finding the waters they require and entering the entirely different world in which they will fill out their lives.
Red-Spotted Newts: Courtship. 1995. pen and ink. 11 1/2” x 7 1/4”. SWAMPWALKER’S JOURNAL. Page 167. $5,000.00
Swamp Sparrow
Swamp Sparrows are a constant accompanying presence as I wade the Swale in my spotted turtle searches. They are as supremely adapted to the habitat from the water surface up into the alder, winterberry holly, and northern arrowwood shrubs as the spotted turtles are from the surface down into the underwater regime.
And these agile sparrows move through the emergent tussock sedges, and dense reed canary and blue-stemmed grasses with consummate ease.
It is almost impossible to catch sight of them as they do so. I hear their calls and brief songs all about me all the time, but seldom see them, even when they are right at my waist or shoulders.
Of course my eyes are constantly searching into the sunken reeds and grasses, or scanning for any movement at the surface, as I look for turtles.
They patrol the water line in seeking insect prey and seeds, picking some from just beneath the water as well as all compartments of the vegetation. Their primary diet is invertebrates, but I have witnessed them “fishing” for very tiny wood frog tadpoles as they hatch from egg masses just beneath the surface, as shown in this drawing.
As the water level drops below the comfort (escape) range for the turtles, they depart. When the vernal pools dry up, as is the defining characteristic of these seasonal wetlands, the swamp sparrows and their broods of the season remain. The pool basin becomes heavily populated by grasshoppers and myriad other non-aquatic insects.
Swamp Sparrow. 1998. pen and ink. 8 1/2” x 5 1/4”. SWAMPWALKER’S JOURNAL. Page 5. $3,500.00
Woodcock
Another bird (like the swamp sparrow) that has a strong habitat association with one of the turtles I focus on: the wood turtle. I frequently come upon woodcocks as I search alder thickets and stands of quaking aspen. Their remarkable camouflage and stealth allow them all but invariably to see me before I see them.
This is so with wood turtles as well. But the wood turtles hold completely still until I actually touch them in order to record them in my notebooks. They present endless photo-ops.
On the other hand, woodcocks explode into the air, with a deeply startling jolt to the turtle-searcher when he comes too close for comfort, and vanish in what seems a fraction of a second.
There are times when a female will remain on her nest, as in this drawing, even when I come directly upon her. She uses her camouflage to conceal her eggs and nest, which are themselves masterfully colored and patterned to go unseen.
As depicted in my drawing, the nest is very shallow, and made of dried leaves and other fallen plant material exactly of the same mixture as their immediate surroundings.
I once had a woodcock burst into the air practically from under my feet as I made my way through alders and silky dogwood along a spotted turtle migration stream. I thought that there might be a nest extremely close to where I was standing. I scanned the earth close by, but saw no sign of a nest.
Then I heard brief, subdued calls from the woodcock. She had not gone very far before setting back down on the earth. I knew she had fledglings nearby. They were being instructed not to make a move. Holding still myself, I looked for some time, and finally saw a tiny woodcock at my very feet.
I extracted my camera from my swamp vest and took a picture, the minute bird playing wood turtle all the while. I did not shift my feet. Rightfully so, as I made out a second and then a third barely a foot from where I stood. Not certain of the size of her brood, I most carefully watched where I stepped as I moved away, and passed on downstream.
Woodcock. 1998. Pen and ink. 10” x 6”. SWAMPWALKER’S JOURNAL. Page 210. $3,500.00
Bullfrog in Reedgrass
During its flood period, bullfrogs are another constant in the ecology of the Swale. It is mostly the young ones who come here, but there is chorusing from adults from time to time by day. These frogs cannot breed in vernal pools, as their tadpoles require up to two years to transform into frogs.
In seasons of heavy rain there may be deeper pockets in the pool basin to allow survival by the tadpoles until late summer and early autumn rains begin to fill the pool sufficiently to allow successful overwintering. The recharge that comes from hurricanes and tropical storms often play an important role in the ecology of vernal pools.
As with spotted and other turtles, when the vernal pools dry up the bull and green frogs migrate to more permanent, deeper water. And as the time for hibernation comes near, adult and young bullfrogs move on to even deeper waters, including lakes.
These migrations take place on warm rainy nights, sometimes surprisingly late in fall. All of these landscape-broad movements and timings, while remarkable to observe in themselves, serve to underscore the critical need for extensive habitat, connected mosaics of wetlands and uplands, and travel corridors among them.
The road mortality of frogs, toads, and salamanders during these periods of great movement is especially destructive to populations.
Bullfrog in Reedgrass. 2005. pen and ink. 9” x 11”. FOLLOWING THE WATER Page 147. $3,500.00
American Bittern
Among the too-many bird species that have gone missing from the Digs is the American bittern. I often make a mental list of the ones I no longer see, or even hear. I note them as they come to mind, sometimes write them in the day’s notebook, as I wade and walk the long-familiar mosaic of wetlands, riparian and upland habitats.
I hardly need mention habitat loss in connection with these disappearances. But even in this comparatively vast (by the standards of the day – several hundred acres) ecosystem, where that has not yet become an alarming operative, it reflects the enormous global diminishing of all manner of habitats.
Bitterns are resolutely committed to not being seen, and their camouflage, stealth, and deeply secretive ways serve their cause extremely well. But they have that distinctive and far-reaching call that announces their return at spring’s opening. It was a central signal and affirmation for me as I set out for another long season in my earlier decades. It is one of the things I miss the most.
I write of this in Year of the Turtle, and in Swampwalker’s Journal describe an unforgettable observation (page 31): “… I watched a bittern suddenly emerge at channel-edge opening, seize a green frog, lift his head, and neck for a gulping swallow, then vanish in a screen of green and straw gold. It was as if the reed canary grass had transformed itself into a silent, stalking heron and then back into whispering grass.”
I was keeping one of my bittern-like vigils, still and hidden, with an eye out for any spotted turtle movement, or a head to come forth from the sargasso-sea-like mats of fallen sedge on the water surface, when this blink of eye event took place. It is while I am keeping such vigils that I see almost all of what I am able to witness.
American Bittern. 1993. pen and ink. 7” x 9 1/2”. FOLLOWING THE WATER Page 73. $3,500.00
Ribbon Snake
Ribbon snakes, a markedly more slender and brightly yellow-striped species that at first glance might pass for a garter snake, are also more dedicated to wetland habitats. They never seem to achieve the numbers that garter snakes do, but I come upon them in the marshy wetlands in which I look for spotted turtles. They are grace and beauty in serpentine form – the form and markings perfectly adapted to go unrecognized in fallen sedge strands.
Not being detected, and being able to vanish in a flash at the least signal of a predatory approach, is the key to survival for nearly all amphibian and reptile species. I have mentioned the “freeze-frame” absolute stillness that comes into play for wood turtles when they see danger near, or approaching. In contrast to them, ribbon snakes are not easy subjects for the camera.
My drawing here is not entirely finished on the righthand side. This is evidence of a critical deadline for my book illustrations, and a decision to go with cropping a composition that left off that section in the reproduction process. The scales and sedge strands want some genuine time with the pen.
When the original came back to me, I decided that I wanted it to remain in this state. So, a special collector’s item, or…
Ribbon Snake. 1993. pen and ink. 4 1/2” x 7 1/2’. Following the Water. Page 73. $3,500.00
David Carroll’s illustrations are absolutely wonderful.
— Robert Bateman
Prints from selected book art can be purchased from our gallery store.
All works are signed and dated.
Each acquisition will be accompanied by a statement that it was purchased directly from the artist, the inception of its provenance. Any work that does not satisfy the expectations of the collector may be returned, in its original condition, for a full refund.
Appointments can be arranged for a viewing of an original work, or works, under consideration for a purchase. Click here to contact us.
My Five Published Books
Trout Reflections
Following the Water
Year of the Turtle
Self-Portrait With Turtles, A Memoir
Swampwalker’s Journal
Hand Bound Books
A Book of a Number of Hours
A Book of Winter Buds
A Book of Winter Branches
Borradores
Landscapes – January 20, 1978 – April 1978
Variations: February 1, 1967 – August 1, 1968
Visions: Drawings and Paintings: 1976 – 1988
Exhibitions
“Seldom Seen” Exhibition at the Davidow Center
“Beyond Words” Exhibition at the Currier Museum
Galleries
“Seldom Seen” Gallery
David’s Wildlife Studies Sketchbook
Virtual Gallery of Art Produced for My Five Books
“Regarding Women Regarding…” Introduction
Sketchbook Gallery: 4/1/1985 – 10/14/1987
Swamp Sketchbook
The Swamp Dialogs
Drawings and Watercolors Produced to Illustrate my Published Books
CODIT – Compartmentalization of Decay in Trees