Loggerhead Shrike WIP

Before I finish the Loggerhead Shrike I had to show you the gift I received from my oldest son. My youngest son and his wife went to Delaware to visit my oldest son and his wife for their annual racing weekend at Dover and brought back a box of home canned goods. He loves to cook, garden and now cans and freezes what he grows. I am looking forward to opening the goodies in the next month. Relish, pickles, salsa and tomato sauce. I have two wonderful boys who treat me well.

In the last two posts I have been showing you the Loggerhead Shrike in progress. I'm working on canvas which was prepped with clear gesso. I'm using watercolors and just the white and black are gouache. Once I get half way or more done with a painting I lay mat corners on the piece to check for areas that need more work in contrast and perspective.

When I am satisfied it is complete I spray the canvas with Krylon UV resistant spray.

I will then crease the canvas to give me guides for the stretcher bars.

I try to leave enough canvas so I can staple on the back rather than the sides.

Once it is stretched I give the paintings a final coat of acrylic varnish. When dry they are ready to be framed just like an oil or acrylic painting on canvas. No glass is used.

Finished Loggerhead Shrike.

Say hello to Bonnie! Plus WIP

Life changes when you bring a new pet into your life and make a commitment to take care of this precious pet. Most of my readers know that Bonnie flew into my life about a week ago. She stayed close to my yard and it took four days to capture her. I say 'she' because after doing some research and talking with a breeder I have concluded my little Budgie is a four year old female. My friend Julie gave me her cage she was no longer using so all I had to do was fill it with feeder cups, toys, and perches. Hours were spent at the pet stores making decisions on what to buy and not buy. Not having a clue what this Budgie might be used to eating or playing with has made this whole experience a guessing game. So far we are doing fine and Bonnie seems to be adapting along with Lily my cat. Now we are all in training and setting boundaries. Once I feel confident and Bonnie feels confident with me I'll close off the upstairs where she stays with me in the studio and let her fly. Lily will stay downstairs on these occasions. Life is always changing and you never know who or what will appear when you least expect it.

My graphic work has really slowed up and I am trying to remain confident we will make it till Don graduates this August and finds a job. On a good note we made the final payment on our car in May. On a bad note someone hit my parked car at the grocery store and did not leave a note. Just one more thing to deal with.
I keep telling myself to paint, sketch, and get busy finishing my web site but somehow I find distractions. Having this sketch and layout of the Loggerhead Shrike on my studio desk has helped so you get to see a work in progress. My first sketch can be seen here. Next step was transferring to canvas coated with clear gesso and masking out some of the branches below the Shrike.

The first layers of watercolor laying in the background.

Starting to paint the Shrike.

Adding more detail with more photos and the finale project in the next post.

Unexpected Visitor

Out of nowhere he flew in and landed on my back briefly as I bent over to tie my shoe. As I moved to see what was there he jumped down to the table top. Before me was a beautiful white and blue with touches of black accents bird. As my husband, myself and my neighbor stood stunned at our unexpected visitor I thought "Little one you sure are a long way from home". He looked tired and a bit stressed out so I gathered some seed and brought out some water in a bowl along with my camera and took photos while he ate and drank. Now I had to start thinking how I can capture this little Budgie. I missed my opportunity when he first flew in and was still tired. I should have made a move then to grab him but could not think fast enough and kept wondering what do I put him in.

As the day wore on it became more difficult as he flew easily now from tree to tree in the back yard. I posted his picture on facebook and received lots of great advice like buy some parakeet food and put it in a cage to lure him in. I remembered my cat carrier and came real close several times to capturing it but every time I made it to close the door he flew out just in time. He was getting wiser. Another day passed and still no luck. He is now making friends with the other birds and eats with the Morning Doves. My friend Julie then let me barrow her unused bird cage but still he is leery of going near the cage even though the food is there. He began observing the other birds and where they were feeding and figured out to go beneath the feeders to find fallen seeds. We are going on the forth day now and he still comes back knowing he will find food and water. I am comforted in knowing he still comes and hopeful I will be able to capture him and give him a good home.

The garden needed a lot of tending to and the garden chairs need a face lift. This ladder back chair was rescued from my sons house in Delaware and I have used it for potted plants for a couple of years now. Last year it gave way and fell apart so last fall I brought it into my basement to dry out over winter. After gluing it back together it got a coat of primer and then some color. I have been attacked to yellow lately and find it to be a good color to go with everything.

Now my yellow ladder back is waiting for me to pot some flowers and adorn it.

Since I was on a roll I looked at my tired worn garden bench in the back garden and knew it needed some tender attention also.

Again for me yellow seemed to be the right color. It just makes me smile. Now to make time to work on all my pots.

Namaste

Getting back to normal

Beginning sketch of a Loggerhead Shrike. Photo by Michele

I keep telling myself when things get back to normal I'll paint, sketch, garden, blog, visit, but normal never comes at least what I dream of as normal. What is normal? Lets face it normal is what you make of it. I was the one who decided to get involved with the organizations I belong to. So busy is the new norm. That is ok because what I need to learn is to pick my priorities, feel comfortable in what I am suppose to be doing, keep track of my goals and have faith that in the end this is where I am suppose to be.

Loving these little jewels that fly around the yard.

I found myself involved with the Presque Isle Audubon Bird Festival, which was the weekend of the 8th, 9th, and 10th. The festival was wonderful and I had the opportunity to get to know fellow birders and create new friendships. I also took a birding class on Saturday Mornings with Michele and Julie. Saturday was our last class which ended at the height of the migration for our area. I am so glad I took this class because I got to see birds I never saw before and in their natural environment. My attempts to photograph these birds was ok, at least I now have some reference photos to sketch and paint.
You can read more about the festival and our birding class on the Presque Isle, Naturally blog.

I was never a fan of orange till I started to attract the Orioles to my back yard. Their color is so striking and they look great against my Dogwood.

The garden is calling out to me and I want to spend every waking moment tending to it's every need. Slowly I am getting it tidy spending about a half hour to an hour in the evening weeding, arranging and watching things grow. Taking in the scent as I mentally picture where I want new plantings. Gardens are forever changing, growing, with a few surprises as new seedlings pop up you didn't expect that were carried in by the wind or deposited by the birds. Gardens give me the feeling like I am being creative with God.

This little Common Yellow Throat flew in to my yard one morning after a strong wind. I was surprised to find him standing on my driveway in front of the garage. He rested for a bit and then flew off.

Don has three months left of school. It seems like it has been forever with moments that have gotten on both our nerves. We keep telling ourselves it is not forever and soon our life will change again. It will be hard for him to attend class this summer wanting to be outside biking and fishing. We still try and get out to walk at the park to keep mobile and relieve stress.

I get joyful when I hear the Goldfinches calling each other. The male comes to feed and calls out to his mate. It sounds so sweet.

This is the new normal, keeping busy and doing what I love to do. My lists everyday help me stay on track most of the time. At least they are reminders of what needs to get done. I do get side tracked like this morning when I wanted a brief look at last nights Idol that I missed and ended up watching almost all of Danny Gookey's video's. He is still my favorite.
Re-prioritize and start painting and creating with faith and conviction.

Namaste