The Calm Before the Storm

In spite of this winter dragging on and on and on with things like record setting snow or yesterday’s morning temperature of 9 degrees (windchill of minus 7), I am not talking about that type of storm.  Later this afternoon, the house will be full with 9 people to play cards and have dinner.  While I am looking forward to this and it should be a blast, I feel rusty with hosting social gatherings.  My spouse has a healthy accumulation of vacation at work, so he took some time off this week and really shouldered the burden of getting ready with doing a ton of errands and cleaning.  

There’s still a list of things to get done today, but it feels manageable.  

When I got up this morning, the house was quiet.  I brewed some tea, sat in a chair with two house cats close by, and looked at pictures on the IPad.  For painting, I want to work on landscapes or outdoor scenes and I want to work on 5” by 7” pieces, so I can give them to Art 4 Shelter if they turn out.  

What I’m finding is that when I am looking in my pictures, I am drawn to scenes that have too much detail.  I like detail.  I like complexity.  I like lots of fussy little bits. That leads to poor choices for what I want to currently explore, especially when working small. 

As a result, I spent time this morning slowing down to look at some of my photos in a new way to find both interest and less details. This meant cropping like crazy. 

I am not sure I was completely successful, but I have several pictures that I want to explore.  It was a good exercise and it was a good way to start out on a busy day.  It also has me thinking about being more aware of those simple scenes and settings around me at any time, so I can generate some new photos to explore. 

Also, here is a painting from earlier this week. I think this was a reasonable photo choice, but I don’t want to go with anything more complicated than this and less complex would probably be better.  

Slowly

Slowly, that’s how I paint these days. 

In my basement, working slowly, for a relatively short period of time, I’ve been able to focus and concentrate in a better way. That means it’s taking me 3-4 days to finish one small painting.

In past posts, I’ve mentioned how I tend to focus on paintings with only one object in them or when I’ve tried to branch out and do something slightly more complicated.  It’s taken me a long time to feel like I can try and tackle more complicated scenes, but I’ve been enjoying that lately.  

One thing I’m finding is that it helps to feel a connection to the photo.  I’ve been interested in this photo that I took at Crex Meadows in Wisconsin, but have not felt ready to try it.  That worked a lot better than another one I tried recently.  It was also a photo from the same trip.  For some reason, I thought that I should try to paint that one, since backgrounds are still a mystery and it had an interesting, but blurry background.  I thought it would be easier to tackle, but I was approaching it from the standpoint of something that I “should” do.  It did not go well. 

One other thing……When I’ve finished several recent paintings, I’ve felt that I’ve done the best work that I can currently do and that feels good.  Afterwards, of course, I can see things that I wish I had done differently and areas I’d like to improve.  I also know there are things I can’t even see yet, which also need to be worked on.  However in the moment with a paint brush in my hand, it just feels good to be reaching and stretching. 

I feel a special connection with those paints and that includes the first one that I ever painted of a cat.  It was during the first set of painting classes with Kat.  It was a painting of Ella and by any standards, it is not a good painting.  I was terrified to try and paint a cat, but I did it and when I was done I felt that I had done the best that I could based on what I could do at that point.  

Barred Owl

I worked on this for several days and took my time.  It is a 5” x 7” for Art for Shelter. Tonight, I added some finishing touches.  I am really pleased with this one.  First, it brings back wonderful memories of a weekend spent up at our friend’s cabin.  It’s the first owl that I had ever seen in the wild at this point in my life and my spouse is the one who spotted it.  Me and another bird-photo, crazy friend grabbed our cameras and took a lot of pictures of this barred owl in a tree.

The other reason I’m really pleased with this is yesterday, when I started to paint the owl, I finally dropped into that wonderful state of flow.  I can’t say that I’ve been fighting with myself since I’ve gotten back to my daily creative practice, but the state of flow has not dropped by to visit until yesterday.  

The colors, especially the greens, are actually a little brighter than this, but I don’t want to wait until I have natural light tomorrow to post this!

Huzzah, It’s the Weekend

I felt beyond tired all week, so much so that it was one of those times that I switched to Frnch in my head to describe it to myself.  I used to say “I am fatigued” to myself in French, coming from a less-than-basic knowledge of French.  When I mentioned this to a friend, who understands these types of quirks and who also is fluent, she taught me the word “epuise” (without the appropriate accent marks over the two “e’s” since I don’t know how to do that).  It’s a much better word.  It’s pronounced:

• “A” (say the letter “a”)
• “Pwe” (say the word “we”with a slight “p” sound like from the word “pop” at the beginning”.
• “Say” (just say the word “say”)

I gave myself a break and skipped painting on several days, but I also pushed myself on several days to paint, anyway.  On those days, I went back to doing negative space trees.  

On Thursday, I started something that I want to put into Art 4 Shelter and I finished it last night.

That also gives me an excuse to post the other painting I’ve done for Art 4 Shelter. 

From Trees To Landscapes

I finished out February with doing negative space trees.  This is one of the last ones.  The overall goal was just to paint. Check. The side goal was to explore different paint strokes. That one still needs a lot of work, since all of them turned out remarkably the same. 

I still want to keep things simple.  My follow up project is to work on outdoors scenes from photos.  Since I don’t want to rush, I’m shooting for finishing 10 paintings.

This was the first one and it’s a revisit of a painting I tried awhile ago using a photo that I liked. I like the photo and I also thought it would be a challenge with getting different shades of green for the different parts.

While I can’t say that I like the finished result, I am glad that I finished it. I also focused on getting a clear foreground, middle ground and background. Also from the time I stopped after day 2 to finishing it on day 3, the green part of the tree looks more like it belongs to one tree. Mid-way through, it had this bizarre abstract quality and didn’t read as a single object or as being part of a tree.

Some things to work on are figuring out a way to make the lighter areas of the tree look better and truer to their actual size and getting the peak through color of the sky more distinct from the light colors of the tree. 

Begin Again

One of the many good concepts I’ve picked up from my meditation practice is the concept of “begin again”. Yesterday, I began again.

I set up a fresh palette and did a quick, simple painting.  In the moment, it didn’t feel especially good.  It felt awkward and all of my bad habits are back.  After I was off doing other things last night and into today, when I am aware of any passing thoughts about yesterday’s painting, I feel a little whisper of happiness.  

Today, I came downstairs to gesso enough pages in one of my spiral notebooks to be able to start painting again.  I am going to shoot for getting paint on a brush on a daily basis. 

Here’s my fresh palette, used one time so far. 

Drama in the Pine Tree

Yesterday, I was grousing to my spouse that I haven't felt like I have had the time to just sit and notice, lately. I am a little irked that the hummingbird feeder is out. I’ve filled it 4 times (we don't fill it very full) and I have yet to see a hummingbird. Last year, there was time to slow down and notice. It was one of the few gifts of the pandemic. For various reasons, the pace of life is picking up and I don’t want to give up the noticing, but it takes time and I haven't found the right balance. 

This morning, I went out start watering the flower and garden beds, but before I started I decided to sit and notice. 

In our 70 year-old pine tree outside the back door, I’ve been hearing loud, slightly annoying chirps and since there is an active cardinal’s nest and a robin’s nest, it was time to stop and look. The chirps were especially loud and shrill this morning. While it was hard to zero in on the exact location of where they were originating from, it was on the side of the tree where the cardinal’s nest is located.  

I spotted one and later a second baby cardinal in the tree. I think they are called fledglings at this stage. They blend in amazingly well when they aren’t moving. It’s hard to get a good picture. The little ones are starting to hope around the tree and, occasionally sort of jump/fly from one branch to a slightly farther one, which made me tense up whenever they did this. Many years ago, we saw a male cardinal tending to a fledgling on the ground under the same tree and I know these youngins have a much better chance of survival if they don't fall out of the tree. 

What wasn’t hard to see was the pair tending to them. They seem to be everywhere all at once, so it was not surprising that they both look skinny and a tad ragged. 

There was a certain level of drama with the various activities of the adult and young cardinals, which spiked to 16 on a 10 point scale when a squirrel tried to navigate its way through the pine tree near the fledglings. Until I talked to my neighbor this morning, I wasn't aware that squirrels will eat young birds. 

If you have ever seen small birds run off a big raptor in the air it was a bit like that, but it happened in the confines of the pine tree. The male cardinal sounded and kept up a distress call which brought the female, who also started yelling at the offender, and they more or less attacked and herded the uncooperative squirrel away from the fledglings. It was quite a sight to see and was very loud. Not long afterwards, a robin and another bird tried to land near the fledglings, so there was a repeated and very loud enforcement of a "no go" zone.  Later, subsequent violations of the "no go" zone (no stopping or standing here, just move along) were much less violent and loud. 

When things settled down a bit, it was time for a little food for the babes.

I am so glad that I took the time this morning to experience this and also to write about it. It leaves me in a place where I feel more rested and ready to face a busy day than when I first woke up. 

Takeoffs and Landings

Given that I have a gazillion pictures from yesterday at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area, I just have to post more.

Here are some takeoffs. 

Here are a couple of landings.

My dad was a hobby pilot and I spent a lot of time with him in a 4 seat airplane. From that time, the words "XXXX, you have been cleared for take off or XXXX, you have been cleared for landing" are seared in my memory.

Three Long Necks

Yesterday, I spent the day with a friend at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area in Grantsburg WI and took a gazillion pictures. When this was happening, I took as many as I could, so I think of them as a series. I have better, clear individual pictures, but this set draws me in. 

Maybe it's because of the closeness after all of the social distancing of the last 14 months. 

Textures

It snowed last night.  I headed out with my good camera around 7:30 am and drove around taking pictures.  All and all, it was a good experience, except when I was at the park 2 1/2 blocks from my house taking several pictures of the plows clearing off the ice skating rink.  Even though I was only there for about 5 minutes, someone from the parks, not the park police, drove by, got out of her truck and demanded to know who I was and what I was doing.  Sheesh!

Here's my favorite shot of that, by the way.

I look pictures out in front of the house, in the alley, along the path at Nokomis Avenue where it crosses over the creek, and at Minnehaha Park.  There were a lot of ducks in the creek at Nokomis Avenue.  I took about 150 photos.  Yeah, digital!  I'm both trying to think about composition at times and also just shooting what captures my eye in the moment and figuring out later if it's a decent composition.

Today, the most magical thing was the falls in Minnehaha Park.  I haven't been down there this winter and it literally took my breath away when I first looked.  While I did take pictures of the falls and surrounding area, the photos I liked best were the ones where I zoomed in and took pictures of some of the textures.

I didn't crop any of these. 

I could just lose myself in these textures.  Why would anyone want to live where you don't get a real winter?

More Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain

Working through this book is a little like flossing your teeth, taking your vitamins each day, or eating a big salad without any ranch dressing.  I can't say that I am having fun.  I also have been encountering a lot of internal resistance prior to each exercise.  Some of this is the internal critic.  Some of it is the instructions are so long that sometimes I'm just tired by the time that I've read through them.  I'm also finding that there is a lot of good information in the book, but I don't find the way it's presented to be engaging.  I am using the version from 1999.  The concepts presented aren't dated.  They are really good and effective.  The way they are presented seems dated, but I want to learn and it's my January project so I am slogging along.  

Today, I did the negative space exercise with a chair. 

Here are some in process pictures.

This isn't quite the same angle as my viewpoint, but it did clarify some of the wonkiness.

I went a little rogue and  did not focus as much on the negative space and tried some quick fixes.  It's still wonky, but I learned a lot during the process and wanted to be done.  Chairs are hard and when I picked one with armrests I knew that it would be a harder one. 

Rather than moving on in the book, I think I'm going to work on some drawings like this in the next several days, while at the same time not being so fussy on any one drawing.  

On a different, and much more positive, note, yesterday morning was one of those magical winter mornings where everything was outlined in the light dusting of snow and the light was beautiful.  It was all the more special, since I didn't know it was supposed to snow so my first glance out the bedroom window was pure magic. 

I quickly got out of bed, got dressed, fed the cats, and headed out to walk around my neighborhood.  It was a welcome respite from all of the anxiety, angst, and so on over the current of the union.  

Here is the neighbor's magnolia. I could take pictures of tree branches like this one outlined in snow all day long.

Plants are so interesting when flocked with snow. 

I saved the best for last.  I love the structure of coneflowers when they are in full bloom or when it's just the seed head.  In a weird way, these and a lot of other structural looking plants make me thing of Louis Sullivan ornamentation. 

This was the coolest thing of all.  I have no idea what connected these flowers prior to the snow. It was just really cool to see the snow strands connected some of the flowers with each other. 

  

Paintings Done Up North

I've been fighting a pretty bad case of the internal critic regarding drawing and painting.  In spite of that, I did finish two paintings when I was up north last week.

#346 - Fall Splendor and Canoeist - 3.5" x 8" - hard board

#347 - Minneapolis Monarch - 8" x 10" - paper

Kawishiwi Falls

Water - 

flowing, caressing, pounding, ricocheting, journeying, foaming, singing, falling, mixing.

Water - 

dancing, misting, shining, working, splashing, spreading, jumping, dropping, shimmering.

Water - 

running, moving, turning, rushing, surrounding, dripping, trickling, reconnecting, 

And, finally, 

releasing down, down, down. 

An Incredible Week And Two Incredible Pictures

These are two of the best pictures I think have ever taken. It helps to have spent a week in a beautiful place in the world, outside of Ely, MN, at a beautiful time of the year, with the time to savor and enjoy the experience.

I like seeing what I can achieve with my camera without cropping or editing the pictures. 

Cabin Weekend

Not only have I been away from this blog, I have been away. This past weekend was the one where I spend time at a friend's family cabin. This year, there were 14 of us. It's always one of my favorite weekends of the entire year.

While I spent a lot of time with my spouse and friends, I also spent a significant amount of time with the hummingbirds. In fact, I went a little crazy photographing them.

I experimented with using a tripod and also just holding the camera. I took pictures from inside and outside. This one was without any zoom, so it shows the distance when I was shooting from the inside. The feeder is barely visible. I wasn't much closer when I was outside, since I didn't want to spook them.

I probably took 175 pictures of just the hummingbirds. Hurrah for digital cameras! Many of the pictures were blurry or were of an empty feeder. While I love my camera, it is not the best for taking sharp photos of fast-moving objects.

Cropping is the only change I did to any of the pictures in this post. This one is my absolute favorite. I'll call him Hamlet (to drink or not to drink - - that is the question).

Here are some other seated hummingbird pictures.

When I was outside, it became a game to try and see where the hummingbird(s) would perch before they approached the feeder. I tried to get a good picture of one of the perches, but it was too hard.

Still, I like the difference in the expression in these two pictures. There was a branch/stick that they perched on (until I figured this out and they started perching elsewhere). The background is a tent, since the cabin could not quite fit 14 people. I didn't crop these, so they are at full zoom.

After they stopped perching on the stick, I noticed that they would perch on the power line. While this is not a great photo, it shows just how small they are. The power line looks like some humongous cable, when it's just a power line.

I also saw some skirmishes where one hummingbird would chase off others.

Last, but certainly not least in the hummingbird department, I got some good in-flight pictures. Finally, since I was not successful the previous two years. It turns out all I needed to do was spend oodles and oodles of time obsessively devoted to picture-taking. This was the first decent one.

After that, my luck seemed to increase and I got some others.

I did get some other wildlife pictures. There was a nesting pair of osprey. This year's offspring either fell out of the nest or had recently fledged. On the second to last day we were there, the offspring were on the ground. There were three of them.  The next day, we only saw two of them and they still weren't flying. Plus, it had rained. There were also several dead fish, which the parents must have brought. The parents were either hanging out on the nearby telephone poles or they were flying around. When they were in flight, they were joined by other osprey, since we saw up to 5 adult-sized birds flying.

Here is one of the youth on the ground. I like the different greens and textures in the foreground and background.

Here is the best soaring picture - - another very hard picture to take with my camera (since I'm also not great at tracking over distance).

On the last day right before we left, my spouse and I went down to the dock to say "goodbye" to the lake. We were rewarded. It was windy so the lake had waves. Still, we saw mom and 6 babies straight out from the dock. They aren't loons, but I am not sure what they are. Our friend thought maybe red-necked grebes. I looked up a picture and I'm not sure.

Now that I'm home, I was thinking about hanging up a hummingbird feeder, here. I might. I might not. I'm a little afraid that if I do, I won't get anything done around the house or gardens ever, other than trying to take more hummingbird pictures.

By the way if any of my friends are interested in painting from any of these, please do! I am going to, after I do a few practice paintings of cats or something more familiar.