Soft Morning

 

Sunday morning birdwatching in a dense fog which formed a soft, muted landscape.

This gorgeous property (owned by Case Western Reserve University; a bio-field station of sorts) is about 15 minutes from my house and I've been interested in visiting it for quite a while, in hopes to find some new painting inspiration.When I was invited to bird there, I was quick to say yes.  We didn't see many birds because of the fog, but we heard many. The morning was spent being totally enthralled with the mists and fog (must be my celtic roots), enjoying the good company of fellow birdwatchers and when the sun broke through...well, then we did see birds, birds and more birds!

Oh, I'll go back to paint this summer.  Eight more days of school!!

For the love and mystery of Crows

About ten years ago I had a dream about a crow sitting on my left shoulder.  I sculpted this terracotta piece after having the dream. (it fell off a shelf a few years ago, excuse the cracks and glue!) I wrapped a Great Blue Heron around my back and shoulder.

I included a computer drawn image of the dream in the center of a collage, the image shown above is zoomed in.

After talking about crows in my last post and I found that there is a kindred feeling many of us share towards them.  I love their smart, canny ways. The crowish way they move and walk. That certain tilt to the head.

Crow lovers know what I mean and could add much more.

So I got to thinking about the crows I have at home in my own art or others.

My Picasso postcard from the Cleveland Museum of Art, of  Woman with Crow. (One of my most favorite paintings!)

My stuffed felt crow made by the woman who runs the fabric shop out in Amish country.

I have more crows in garden art, on ceramic pieces from other artists...I wasn't aware of my crow volume until I took stock!

Thinking about it even more, crows are used in art quite often.  Leafing through art magazines, you can find crow imagery frequently.  Ubiquitous.  Why?  Is this part of our Collective Unconscious?

Not a crow, but a raven from a larger painting of mine. Now there's a bird I love and I've never seen one!  But I will.

What's your crow story? Do you have crows in your art?

Sandhill Cranes

 Last night I dreamed of five Sandhill Cranes ascending from a field as I drove by with my family. The kids were little.

When I woke from the dream, I was reminded of the first time I saw Sandhill Cranes while birdwatching near Lake Erie in 1998.  Two cranes were riding the thermals and wheeling in circles with several Turkey Vultures.  In 1998, my children were small and the time I had for art was piecemeal.  Collaging and monoprinting were my media of choice at the time.  Collaging more so due to the ease with which I could start and stop working on a piece. 

 The collage featured above was inspired by my first Sandhill Crane sighting.  It is titled Grus Canadensis Dance.  (grus canadensis is the latin name for sandhill cranes)  Cranes have a courtship ritual which involves an elaborate dance which includes head bobbing, bowing and leaping. I'd love to see that!

Audubon Christmas Bird Count

8 am

 coffee

an angel

winged greeting

lone trees windblown drifted

amish country barns shocks of hay

some birds seen

Bald Eagle

Pileated Woodpecker

Belted Kingfisher

Red Tailed Hawk

Red Shouldered Hawk

Bluebirds

24 species total

Lots of laughs, oatmeal cookies, muffins, slippery roads, pork roast dinner when I got home!

A Legacy from my Father (Christmas Gifts)

My Dad wouldn't like it if I was "making a fuss" over his work. But, I have to! I love his drawings. As far back as I can remember, he was always sketching, especially comics. He created characters and played around with the punchlines. He taught us how to draw our own comic characters. There was a steady supply of scrap paper and pencils on hand. My sisters drew paper dolls and designed outfits for them.

. 

My Dad went to The Cleveland School of Art before it became The Cooper School of Art (now closed) for a year.  Then our family started growing, so he set aside art school but he continued with a lifelong interest in art and in bettering his skills.  About 15 years ago, he took a pen and ink class at BayCrafters (now BayArts) in Bay Village, Ohio. The works shown here were produced during and after he took the class.  He loved Pen and Ink!  After Dad died, I was given his sketchbooks.  This year for Christmas I framed 8 of his drawings and gave one to each of my siblings, keeping one for myself.  I loved how they turned out and I wanted to keep all of them!  The hard part was deciding who should have which piece.  Eventually I fugured it out; matching the drawings to personalities and interests.  It was so exciting to give everyone their drawings and see their reactions!  Which were wonderful!!

Birds. It always comes back to birds.

So, there isn't a title for this collage yet.

There is an Art show sponsored by our local park district using the theme "discARTed" as its basis for all entries.
The show was a motivation to finish what was started some time ago. I pulled out all of my collage stuff (lots and lots, eek...!)and was able to wrap this piece up.

It is about birds. The background uses part of a 1955 National Geographic article about a trip some ornithologists took to Papua, New Guinea, which turned out to be dangerous when they encountered the native people. Along with the danger, they were educated about a people who were a 'dying culture' The imagery features birds.
I'm seeking a parallel between dying cultures and species loss. But also, noting where we (the human race)have contributed to these losses.
I've got a couple of other collages/assemblages happening, with the same themes. It'll be tough to decide what to enter, since I can only enter two works.

Birdwatching on the river

a water lily
in my self


contentment
and a
Northern Harrier

Birds on a Snow Day

Carolina Wren



Snow days: a perk of being a teacher for a living.

Today is very snowy, last measurement at @ 10:30 was 7 inches of new snow. I'd guess 4 or so has fallen since then. It's a luxury to just hang out, there's no need to go anywhere. I made chicken dumpling soup, there's plenty of hot chocolate, I've got good music (the Dodos are playing right now), Lost to watch tonight and in the meantime paintings to work on, rather, I mean to play with.

Also there are lots of birds to watch at the feeders:

Female Red Bellied Woodpecker



Female Downy Woodpecker







Just for fun (my own I guess) and whoever might be interested; here is a list of birds seen in my yard for January

downy woodpecker
hairy woodpecker
red bellied woodpecker
pileated woodpecker
house sparrow
tree sparrow
starling
house finch
gold finch
junco
red breasted nuthatch
white breasted nuthatch
blue jay
cardinal
mourning dove
tufted titmouse
redshouldered hawk
great horned owl
carolina wren
chickadee
crow
brown creeper

Mentor Headlands

Sunday morning, October 12 at Mentor Headlands State Park. Birding with friends. (Birds of note: 500+ yellow rumped warblers...crazy, crazy there were so many! Winter wren, white throated sparrows, hermit thrush, juncos and more)
Along with the birding, soaking up the beauty of the day, taking many reference photos.
Working from the photo above, I developed this painting. I didn't print out a picture, just used the camera screen as reference. The goal being not to literally interpret what I saw, but to capture the essence of the light and color of the morning at the dunes. The softness of the dunes.

(contact me if interested in purchasing this painting, 8 x 10 unframed, 14 x 16 framed, oil on panel)