New paintings and regular art updates.
Digital drawings of birds, using ArtRage oils and then my sketcher app.
Birds sing
Rain falls
Washes the air
Bird song
Crystal sounds
Twinkle like stars
On the breeze.
I tried to make a bird feeder out of a plastic milk carton rather than just throwing it away. I usually have my milk delivered in glass bottles but occasionally when I run out I resort to getting a plastic carton.
I cut three holes in the side, and because seed would just fall out if it was vertical, I turned it horizontal. Also I made the holes big enough so a bird would not get its head stuck, made a little platform by bending the bottom edge down, and cut off any sharp edges.
Partly filled with Niger seed. Hopefully this will work, the handle was pushed over a vertical branch. Will check and make sure birds are OK…..
A duck and a coot. If this was a race, the coot is winning. The twig looks like the finishing line for a rowing race. The duck is a Mallard drake, I don’t know if he’s preening or asleep? I love the ripples on the water. My phone camera has reacted to the bright light and has reduced the exposure time so it appears darker. You can move the position of your camera to affect this. If you look at an area with less bright light then the exposure would open up again. But I like the strong contrast in this image and the depth of colour. It’s difficult to see the details on the birds because they are in deep shadow.
On Westport lake yesterday. The water was as still as a millpond one minute, then blustery gusts of wind rippled the surface and blurred the reflections.
Seeing a row of geese standing on one leg was an amusing picture. The water was very shallow at the edge, but these are old pit workings I think and there are deep sections. People have drowned in them two lakes, caught up in the weeds that spread inwards from the sides. This is more of a nature reserve than a leasure area and now it is being run by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust you can see how much it has improved. The one fly in the ointment is that the local council is thinking of introducing parking charges. There is a petition against this. A lot of people using the site don’t have the means to pay high prices, and it would probably impact on the cafe when it reopens.. I signed the petition against it…
Sorry not to have a photo of a goldfish! Having a chat with hubby this morning, and he’d read an article that goldfish can count. It makes me realise how much we don’t know about the animal kingdom. How intelligent animals are. I’ve been watching a TV programme by Chris Packham about animal genius. Birds such as the Corvid family using tools, also otters and primates. So many animals that we are not aware of. We must continue to pay attention to these things. Learning how intelligent life is not just the domain of humans. For too long we have regarded ourselves as top of a pyramid of animals, as superior. We need to be more caring and take on the responsibility to look after them, not persecute them. But not because goldfish can count, but because whether they can or not, we need to look after our home, our planet.
Pylons
Marching across the land
Birds rest on your open arms
Static but moving
Cables sagging
Great metal sculptures
Varied and angular
Electrical conductors
Humming your tune
Across the land
Striding over moors and valleys
Your importance holding
Your power.
Sweet and cheeky
She sits atop her post
Paws and claws
Sitting watching
The birds outside
Feed on the feeders
On the fence.
She stays inside
And is the queen
Of all she
Surveys.
A line of gulls on posts, all pointing south. They say birds have a way of using the Earth’s magnetism as a way to navigate. But these were acting like a compass needle! Next time I’m trying to find my way I might watch which way the gulls are facing!
I went a bit psychedelic when I created this. The bare branches and twigs of the bushes in this photo created cells that I used a flood fill on. There are about three birds on the twigs, you might be able to see them.. The buildings are a line of terraced houses over the road from the hedge. It’s a combination of analogue and digital. It reminds me of stained glass.
Owls, painted on a tiny canvas (which is why the canvas surface is so obvious). The beaks and the eyes had tiny pieces of gold leaf to add highlights. Looking at it I might do a few more owl paintings. This is a small picture about 3×4 inches I think I remember? Maybe smaller, it did sell. Again courtesy Facebook memories…
