Birds birds birds

Since my partner and I moved out to the country, we’re having a blast birdwatching. Birds of prey like Eagles, Cooper Hawks, Red Shouldered Hawks, Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures hover overhead while Kestrels sit on telephone wires. A plethora of woodpecker species frequent our dead trees. Homemade suet brought a Pileated Woodpecker to the feeder. Screech Owls Barred Owls, Great Horned all live nearby. I hear them but as of yet have not seen them. Wild Turkey, Blue birds, House Finches, Carolina Wrens, Chickadees, Tit Mouse (or is it mice?) Cardinals, Blue Jays, Cow Birds, Nut Hatches, Junkos, Crows, Grackles, Sparrows galore, Mocking Birds and on and on. Recently, a KingFisher landed on a tree overlooking our neighbor’s pond. Killdeer and a Great Blue Herons frequent the wetand nearby. I started a journal to keep track of migration. This is my Heaven.

A Kestrel also know as a Sparrow Hawk ruffles his feathers as he settles on a favorite perch. I often see one on the telephone wire surveying my neighbors soy bean fields where bugs and small rodents are abundant. Sadly this bird is in decline. Stop treating your lawns people! “Look Out” is an original colored pencil painted on linen mat board.

Something New

Every once in a while you need to mix it up. A different support, different medium, different approach, all of it , whether the outcome is successful or not, is how an artist grows.

This piece is from a reference photo I shot in Pensacola Florida one morning. The sun was barely up and I was walking in my Mom’s neighborhood along the Bay. I saw Osprey, Pelicans, an Egret and this beautiful Great Blue Heron- well worth putting my sneakers on before my eyes were completely open. Turns out, it was my last time walking on this stretch along the Bay. My Mom has passed and her house sold.

I may have a terrible memory for many things, but I know my reference material. So, when a Raven piece that had been slated for an exhibit this fall unexpectedly sold and needed to be replaced, I thought of the heron photos. I was out of my go-to support, Crescent 100% rag 4 ply mat board, but had a drawer full of watercolor paper. Why not mix it up? I had always wanted to use watercolor with colored pencil. Here is the result: Night Fishing, 10 x20” watercolor and oil colored pencils on watercolor paper.