"Okay, so we're in the duck blind.... now where are the ducks, Mom? I've been watchin' real close and all I've seen are a few tweety birds. Can I fetch some of those??? Oh please, oh please, oh puleezze????"
Our duck hunting season ended this weekend and poor Maggie spent another season without retrieving any ducks. This is the typical look I get from her when no birds are flying and she's bored. It's also the look I get when some have just flown in and I've entirely missed my shots and they were the only birds we saw that day. It's like "Geesh! Where did you learn to shoot and why am I out here sittin' on the cold ground with you!" But the day isn't entirely lost as long as I share my lunch with her. That usually makes up for it.
I have always enjoyed sitting in a duck blind even when there are no ducks anywhere around. It's just nice sometimes to blend in with your surroundings and go unnoticed by all the wildlife around you. There have been many times while sitting there quietly that small birds have flown in and darn near collided with me or perched very close to my head and never knew I was there unless I moved. It's a great way to observe nature! As you can see I blend in pretty well in my camo and all tucked into the grass.
So another hunting season comes to a close, but for me it's never completely done. I may not be hunting with my shotgun, but I will be using all the same skills to "hunt" with my camera. The camo gear, the blinds, the sitting quietly and observing, all come into play as I collect reference photos for my paintings. If you're out and about just be careful where you step. I may be sitting there quietly watching you!!!
Many of us are still in the grips of winter, though here in the valley where I live we are experiencing some very nice, springlike days. The sun was shining and I think it got close to fifty degrees today which made me start to think about the season ahead. So for my posting today I thought I'd share this wonderful little black chinned hummingbird all dressed up in his spring attire.
I photographed this little fellow in my lilac bush last spring while he was taking a rest from defending the sugar water feeder. He really had his work cut out for him as I had more hummingbirds than usual last year and they all wanted an extra sip of energy as they were making their way to their breeding grounds. I amused myself by standing tucked up against the lilac bush right next to the feeder and could feel their tiny wings zipping past my head as they dove in for a quick drink. It was great fun!! My husband thought I was a lunatic until they zipped in for a closer look at him in his red shirt. He never tried standing in the bush (I really can't imagine my 6'2" husband hiding in a lilac bush...hee! hee!), but he did take more interest in them after that.
This painting is a miniature just 4" x 6" and is painted in gouache. If you have an interest in bringing a little spring to your house a few months early you can contact me at kindredspirits@clearwire.net and I'll have him zip right over. I have also created ACEO art cards, and note cards with his image on them. They are currently available through my Etsy store along with other images of my work.
Thanks for looking and wherever you are today..... Think Spring!!!!
I just finished my first commission of the new year. This is a Labradoodle named Bailey. He's a fun loving fellow who lives in the Pacific Northwest and enjoys duck hunting, boating and spending lots of time at the beach with his favorite humans.
This painting is done in gouache and it's quickly becoming my medium of choice. I love the way it flows off the brush and it's opacity. Because it is such an opaque medium you can paint light over dark and dark over light. This really helps me when I have complex fur like the curly coat on Bailey. I can keep working back and forth over an area to achieve the texture, values and colors I need to bring his coat to life.
You may be noticing that I have more background in this painting. Usually most of my portraits have a very minimal background because I like to focus more on the animal. The folks who commissioned this wanted this scene because it's special to them, but I have also decided to start challenging myself to paint more landscapes and this portrait gave me a great opportunity to try that.
Hope you enjoyed seeing Bailey. Perhaps you'd like a pet portrait of your own or for someone special. They make awesome gifts! Just give me a holler and I'll be happy to paint something special up for you!
Happy New Year!!
I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays as much as I enjoyed mine! I ate way too much food, laughed with friends and family and have just spent some time relaxing and reflecting on this season.
Of course, like everyone else, I am starting to make plans for 2010. One of my goals for this year is to start painting more wildlife. It has long been a dream of mine to be a wildlife artist. Wild and domestic creatures have always been a part of my life. I grew up surrounded by them and my first drawings were of animals... first my pets, then the wild birds and other critters that visited our property. Over the years I had gotten away from painting wild creatures and started concentrating on domestic ones, especially dogs. I have enjoyed that tremendously and will continue to paint them and offer my pet portraits. But now I'm feeling a strong urge to return to my first love and add that to what I'm already doing.
So....here is my first one for the New Year. I thought it appropriate to start with this newborn fawn as he represents new beginnings. This is a miniature painting, just 4" x 6" and done in gouache. I am particularly happy with the way this one turned out. The grass was quite a challenge to do as I struggled to get the depth it needed, but I think in the end it came together well.
Thanks for looking and wishing everyone the very best in 2010!!
Merry Christmas!!!!!
I finally have the image complete for my Christmas cards and here it is! I considered many ideas....geese on a frozen pond, a wintry landscape, a pheasant strutting in the snow, but I kept coming back to this bright, red Northern Cardinal all puffed up to stay warm on a cold, gray winters day.
I know that this is an often seen image on a holiday card, but I had lots of reasons for choosing it. The extremely cold weather in our valley, the gray skies and softly falling snow that followed it, the way the birds at my feeders all puffed themselves up to stay warm all contributed to this image. But I think mostly I chose it because we don't have cardinals here and I miss seeing their bold colors accenting the subtle shades of winter. I grew up seeing them in Illinois, loved to watch them at my feeders and listen to their beautiful calls. I guess I may have chosen him because he reminds me of my childhood home and lots of folks think about that this time of year. I hope this little bird brings as much cheer to you as he does to me!
Christmas is just a short time away now. Hopefully, you all are getting your shopping done and starting to enjoy the holiday festivities. Don't forget to take time to remember why we have this season in the first place. It's not about Santa, reindeer and gifts. It 's about the birth of a Savior, the hope of nations, Jesus Christ. And considering the condition of our world these days we need this hope more than ever.
Many, many blessings to everyone this Christmas season and prayers for a better New Year!
"Not a creature was stirring.....". I just completed this Christmas card for a client and thought I would share. This originally started out as a normal pet portrait order and my client wanted it in time to have holiday cards made. However, when she sent me her photos most of them were of her two Goldens sleeping! At first, I thought ...."how am I ever going to make this work in time for her to get cards made?" (She had only contacted me the week of Thanksgiving and we didn't have time to get more photos.) Then the light bulb went off and this idea came. Since she wants to use them as her Christmas card why not make them sleeping under the tree? And this is the result!
I have to say I'm pretty delighted with the final drawing. It was a good challenge for me to think beyond the "normal" portrait and take what at first looked like something I couldn't work with and make it into something special and unique. Now, where are all those photos of Maggie sleeping........? Hmmm! More ideas are starting to roll around in my head!
Well, I'm off to work on some other commissions and maybe I'd better think about a design for my OWN Christmas card!
Well! Time certainly does fly by when one isn't paying attention! I'm not really sure where two months just went to, but it was just September a few days ago.....right? Amazing how life just seems to continue on without us!
In the past few months I have taken some time to play with some new ideas, new subject matter and different paint. I haven't had a particular agenda other than to let myself really "play" without feeling pressured to create a finished painting or one that is even marketable. It has been both a frustrating and a freeing process, but I'm glad to be doing it. We will never grow if we don't try new things. Even if they don't work out....and I had quite a few that didn't work out....what I learned was worth the effort. I plan to continue down this path for awhile so even if I'm not posting here be assured that I'm still painting. I am just in an experimental mode right now and not every experiment is worth revealing. Some of them are just very personal. And some of them are, well, shall we just say.....butt ugly!!
This post, however, is to show a few of the experiments that didn't turn out too bad. Now, you may think that these look a lot like my other work and you'd be right except my other work has been mostly dogs. I decided to start my experiments with studies of birds. I'm kind of a closet bird watcher anyway, so this just seemed a natural step.
These two paintings are peregrine falcons that belong to a falconer friend of mine. Peregrines are amazing hunters to watch and can reach speeds of well over 100 miles per hour when they start in to their stoop on their prey. They hunt by circling high into the air. When they spot their prey they fold their wings and become a teardrop shape hurtling through the sky. In the last seconds they unfold their wings and hit their prey with closed feet, knocking the bird unconscious. After that, it's lunch!
I found the whole falconry process quite fascinating and have ideas for several paintings, but decided to start with simple head studies first and work my way out from there. I started with the pencil study just trying to figure out how to draw feathers. I decided not to confuse myself with color just yet as feathers are not fur! Feathers lay a lot like shingles, but they are not evenly arranged. Then if you add patterns like spots or bars to the mix, well, you've got quite a challenge!!
After I was satisfied with the pencil study I started with the color. This one is done in acrylic. Wow! This much detail takes a lot of work! Both of these studies are only 5" x 7" and I'm glad I didn't try any larger for my first attempt. I was, however, pretty pleased with how they both turned out, though I really think I'm more partial to the black and white version than the color.
So these are representing some of the new directions I'm looking at heading in. Both of these are available for purchase. Inquiries can come to me at kindredspirits@clearwire.net.
I am fascinated by all the living creatures around us. It amazes me just how well adapted each creature is to it's environment. God's creativity astounds me!!! And I would really like to draw attention to Him by showcasing some of the awesome creatures he's created through my art. That's my hope anyway! Hope you enjoy these!
"Okay, so we're in the duck blind.... now where are the ducks, Mom? I've been watchin' real close and all I've seen are a few tweety birds. Can I fetch some of those??? Oh please, oh please, oh puleezze????"
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