Lichens on Stone

A friend of mine has a farm in the northwestern corner of Illinois. If you are not familiar with this part of Illinois, it's beautiful and very different from the rest of the state (save the southern portion down by the great Shawnee National Forest). It's part of the Driftless Zone that continues up in to the southwestern portion of Wisconsin. This is an un-glaciated area, in other words, not flat. The landscape is full of rolling hills, with craggy stone peeking out from the ground, hinting at the caves below, and ancient, twisted oak trees sprinkled across the landscape. The last time I was there, I took some photos, some of which were pictures of lichen covered stones. There are at least 3 different lichens on the stone in the photo above. I love the colors, and did a little watercolor study of a section of it. Have a lovely weekend!