DAY 16 - Painting 30 Paintings in 30 Days (Downy)

"Downy"

6" x 6"

oil on birch panel

This little guy lives in the hood, and visits quite a lot

either seed or suet, he is a big eater and

very sassy to the other locals

WIP and Working on Repairs

 While waiting in the Jeep on a hot day with the dogs in Frisco, Colorado for DH to return from the store  ~ I took a great couple of photos of a raven in a tree.  I loved the way the photos turned out.  Upon returning from our trip which was  last year, I got out a 16" x 20" canvas and sketched in the scene with acrylic.  I meant for it to BE an acrylic painting, but as it sometimes goes, it didn't get very far.  I didn't like it and in lieu of 'wiping' -because one really has to be fast to wipe an acrylic painting it dries so fast, I made it into a story.  Poor RAVEN - he was caught in a bad storm and was about to be blown out of the trees.  Nuff said, and I put it behind another BIG painting that has about the same dilemma.

What you see above is something that can be 

likened to 'scribbling it out'.

Today, I FINALLY got to the studio after being 'house bound' for a couple of days. We have had a MEGA ice storm in North Central Kansas..and this ankle STILL does not want to go across ANY ice right now.  However, upon arrival there today, I began to look through canvas and ideas and came across this one.

I think the truth of it was and still is, there was soooo much detail in the pine trees that he was sitting in...and without painting them - 

well, it just wouldn't work.   Also, the large surface area - needs some detail.

Today I felt like revisiting it IN OIL paint and tackling those trees - head on.

The raven would be fine, it was working, the trees?  Had to get that one going, and I think I did. Here is a photo on the progression today.  The 'wind' died down, of course.

I am liking it - it calls to me now - it will get finished.
I like the bold acrylic colors as an undercoat.

With that ICE and snow, we had MUCHO wind.  We have a great bird feeder

that was left on this farmstead when we bought it.  DH has mended it a few times..but the strong winds a few days ago took it right off it's mooring and it smashed apart pretty bad.   (There are more times than fingers of things the wind has ruined here - this IS Kansas, afterall.) 

My studio is adjacent to his shop..he worked on rebuilding the bird feeder today - using some of the old structure and adding to it with some new wood, staples and screws.

Below is the bird feeder one winter with a bird TOO BIG for it..

but you get the idea of where it has been and how it has been used.

Definitely  NOT YOUR SIZE sir...

And here it is in the shop today

getting a rejuvenation.

Lid open..

lid closed.

I think Winter is not coming back anymore...I am crossing my fingers.

The next moisture we get should be only 'rain'.  But Kansas

is alot like Colorado (lived in the 'Golden' area)...change of the seasons, you don't know what you will get.

In Colorado, it depends on what comes over the mountains..here it's about the 'highs' or 'lows' that come across the plains..usually from the north...and if storms creep up from the south, you have fair warning.

Tornado season is starting now, OH YAY!!

The Local Food Bank

Ok, I am posting twice in one day...but you just have to see what I just saw. All morning I have been working around the kitchen.  As I make a stew for Christmas Eve, I keep looking at the little Sparrows, Finches and occasional Cardinal who feed at the bird feeder outside the kitchen window. It's very cold and windy - birds really need help to keep that fat going for insulation.  Imagine my excitement when I glanced out again and saw the following.  We have three digital cameras.  An older Sony Cybershot 2.1 megapixels, a Nikon D50 with a Nikkor 18-55 mm lens and a Nikon D70 with a Nikkor 70-300 mm lens.  Hubster and I watched for a little as I snapped away...first with the Cybershot (it has the capability of a zoom):

(You can click on any of them to see more detail.)

Next, with the D50 (zoomed out as far as it would go)...

and finally with the telephoto lens and the D70.  Mind you this is through screening and ice and condensation on the outside of the window

Cool, huh?  I think he was waiting for someone to come and use the smorgasbord...as I didn't see him dip into the birdseed on the lower portion - at all! (These photos were Photo-shopped for 'levels' only. You can see the difference in cameras and lens, can't you?)

Morning Marauder

Here I am hurrying to get a post in today...yesterday AM, before leaving for work we watched this guy, jump into the neighbor's bird feeder, that he had just fixed and replenished with bird food. What is funny - is that in the yard, which you can't see - is a ferocious beast known as the Pomeranian. Now if my Herman (the coon hunter dachshund) was here, he would have been all over this guy as he hit the ground!