Thursday, November 6, 2014

Living in the suburbs, where there is a lot of development going on, it is rare to see orioles. One spring afternoon I was excited to see a pair visit my neighbours large maple tree that was full of maple seeds. I hoped they would keep coming back, and I put orange halves and a dish of grape jelly out to entice them, but I never saw them again.




Oriole Pair and Maple
Acrylic on panel

Thursday, October 30, 2014

This little downy woodpecker was busily harvesting seeds from this mullein weed. He stayed quite a while, which gave me plenty of time to snap a few photos. This is the painting of him.




Downy Woodpecker and Mullein Weed
Acrylic on panel
                                                                                 
As hard as I have tried, I have never been fortunate enough to have hummingbirds nest in my yard. Goodness knows, I have planted enough flowers and hung numerous nectar feeders, but none have ever decided to take up residence. I am delighted when I do have one or two stop by, however briefly.


         
                                                         Hummingbird and Delphiniums
                                                                 Acrylic on Panel
The sounds of summer. The sunlight and warmth. I watched this pretty robin forage for berries on this currant bush.

Robin and Currants
Acrylic on panel.
I love birds. I always have, since I was a little girl. We keep year round bird feeders, and have spent many hours out with binoculars and birding scope and cameras chasing these elusive and mysterious creatures.

My very first paintings were of birds. From tiny Chickadees to magnificent eagles, they have found their way onto my canvas.

This sharp shinned hawk landed in my neighbours' tree, sitting silently and watching for prey.



Silent Hunter- Sharp Shinned Hawk
Acrylic on panel.
It has been a very long time since my last update! In the years since my last post... (Yes, years!), so much has happened. My son, mentioned previously, has come back to live in Canada, bringing with him an Australian wife and new baby son! He was gone for four long years. It wasn't easy, but I did survive through that time!
He and his new family moved home and lived with us for a year, and are now on their own in Montreal.
Soon afterwards, our youngest son and daughter in law and two grandsons moved in with us for a year, and they too are now in their own place. Talk about a very full couple of years!

During that time, I had packed away my art room to make room for extra people in the house, and I didn't do any art during that two years. I did, however, do a couple of quick demonstrations of some art techniques to both my daughters in law, and discovered that both of them have amazing talent! One produced wonderful graphite portraits and gorgeous abstract paintings, the other produced very beautiful scratch board art, coloured pencil and graphite drawings, and fell in love with soft pastels.

Having family live with you does require some adjustments, but it was worth every minute for the time I was able to spend with my 3 delightful grandsons!

Now that I have my studio back and much more free time, I am painting again. (Ok, time will tell just how much free time, seeing my dear hubby just recently retired!)
It has been a bit of a struggle after such a long hiatus from painting to get my bearings again, not to mention trying to take my art in a whole new direction! I am learning more now than I ever have and am hopefully growing with each new painting.

It was a joy to set up my studio once again. The pictures below show my new space, although since the photos were taken, it has become considerably messier!