There have been several species of birds at the feeders and on the plants in the garden today but the only photo we managed to catch was this cardinal. Earlier in the day there had been 2 males and a female until a large blue and black bird seemed to have chased them off. other than that we've had chickadees, a woodpecker and a few of other birds that I don't know the names of.
It's so nice to have the feeders outside the living room window and be able to watch them any time that I'd like to. I don't get out in the yard much this time of the year to watch them with the rose hips and the black raspberries that we leave on the bushes for them but I know they're enjoying them form the occasional splashes of color that decorate the wheelchair ramp.
Speaking of splashes of color, I plan to get some painting done today. I haven't even decided just what I'll start on. I guess I'll just wander around a bit and see what catches my eye.
I've been painting sunflowers for a number of years now but there's always something new. How can anything that seems so bright and simple be so amazingly complex?
Nothing I ever learned in art or science ever prepared me to be able to capture something that's structured and alive in so many ways.
I grew a lot of them outside my window this year and enjoyed watching the birds land on them and pull out the seeds, the squirrels and chipmunks diving at them and knocking a few down to tear at the flowers and seeds while the bees
simply landed there and enjoyed the flowers They were full of life and covered with life. How do you capture the essence of that in a single image?
Today I'm not even thinking about that, I'm just going back to basics with an inexpensive set of children's watercolors and a couple of photos from the summer.
I'm not expecting much in the results department, just trying to relax and see what comes of it.
The more I look at them, grow them, draw and paint them. The less I really know but it's an interesting journey few will really understand or have the patience for...and I'm OK with that.
Things turn out all sorts of ways depending on the mood you're in or the amount of pressure you use on your brush. I'm still working to get a daisy that I like.
I tried doing them in different sizes with different brushes and guess I'll just move on to other designs in different areas of the canvas for a while.
All of the time that I'm doing this I'm thinking about doing some serious painting again but with space at a premium over the winter it's important to finish things up before moving on.
This runs contrary to my nature but I feel that it stretches me as a person and an artist. By the time I get to my next painting I should have some firm ideas in mind of the direction that I want it to take. All of that should actually improve my work.
Well, here's the plan for this winter:
I set up a table easel on top of the pedestal from my old table. Soon I'll be reviewing this season's photos from the garden and doing a series of paintings based on them.
While I'm waiting to do that I'm trying to turn this old painting into the basis for a line of valentine merchandise in my zazzle stores.
The Merits of This Project:
1. It uses up an old canvas that hadn't turned out.
2. Each heart will be treated like a separate painting and
that will give me a chance to work on many brushstrokes
and designs I'd been wanting to teach myself.
2. the finished painting can be used on merchandise in
my zazzle and cafe' press stores
