Posts tagged ‘Wildlife’
Spring Migration Is Here!
Living in northern Ontario means enjoying each season to the full – there is rarely any blurring of the lines between them.
As winter relaxes its hold, longer days and the sun’s warming rays mean the return of many more subjects for painting! From our observation, first to arrive were Crows, then Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes. Then, the sky turned dark as over the horizon came flocks and flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds, Grackles and Juncos, meaning only one thing at the feeders: Move over chickadees and nuthatches, you’ve got company! Robins puffed out their feathers as a late April snowstorm left a chill in the air and the ‘exotic’ call of the Northern Flickers announce their presence. Northern Harriers and Goshawks routinely peruse the still brown hayfields.
As every artist agrees, firsthand field observation is best for capturing the essence of your subject matter – and there’s no better place than at the bird’s buffet: the feeder. All it takes is some wild bird seed and a sketchpad. It’s been an avian extravaganza as we observe each species mingling with each other and with other species before breaking off into pairs for mating season.
Can’t wait for the warblers to arrive!
Paint What You Know
John Burroughs once said, “To learn something new, take the path that you took yesterday.”
His words reinforce the notion that there is always something fresh and inspiring in our everyday surroundings. What is more, if we presently do not know everything there is to know about our native flora and fauna, how can we ever hope to accurately portray in a work of art exotic specimens from which we find ourselves worlds apart?
Painting the world of Northern Ontario means, for me, painting a piece of my life’s experiences. Perhaps viewed as commonplace to some, the wildlife and landscapes of the place I call ‘home’ flow more naturally on paper than do wildebeests sweeping across majestic plains.
Expanding our horizons is always a good thing and the world has an endless array of natural subject matter to study and marvel at. But if we look past our own backyards to a distant, seemingly greener land beyond, that path we took yesterday may soon grow over with brambles – becoming hidden from view and, without our knowledge, burying within it its natural treasures.
