Black & White.....or Gray

Sometimes a painting does not need any colour at all, just shades of gray to create
not only an image but a good impression of that animal.

Great horned owls are impressive and intimidating. I believe that the gray helps to portray that
 ...what do you think?

Despite the Snow...Spring is coming!

We were happily adapting to the warmer weather and the receding snow banks.  On Sunday all but the most subborn piles of snow were gone from our yard. Then without warning we went from raking the lawn to waking up yesterday to 4 inches of the white stuff blanketing everything and still falling. All morning snow...still falling.... still falling..... till we had 8 inches of the white fuffly stuff. Funny how in November I feel it is so beautiful, almost magical to see the world covered in white. But in March it just makes me grit my teeth and growl.

Today while most of Salmon Arm has lost its snowy covering, we are still holding on to ours but at least the roads are now clear and dry. So we are off for a walk.....I am stubbornly looking for any sign of our great horned owls.....Spring (if it is really here) is almost nesting time for them.

Every spring we watch and wait for any sign of the owls....first you see the adults and then suddenly the little ones are out also. They are big owlets by the time they leave the nest....as you can see in my painting they are almost the same size as the adults. They are lighter coloured and fuffy. In fact as they age they shrink in size as their fuffy white feathers are replaced by sleek smooth adult feathers.

Otters, I love Otters

Otters are clever, gregarious and curious. Their bodies dart through the waves with tremendous speed or simply float on the top . I  have to say they are one the cutest creatures on the sea. Every trip we take to the ocean is punctuated by searches for otters....most often...there they are. Here are several paintings from the last year or so that celebrate otters. One otter, two otters and then lots of otters. When you go to the sea...what are you looking forward to seeing?

Winter Visitor

In the winter I just don't see as much wildlife. The hiking sightings of bear, deer, elk and moose just do not happen like the rest of the year. Partly that is because my hiking is less frequent but I do get out on the snowy trails as often as possible. But the best to be seen at this time of year is tracks. Often there will be mice, rabbit, deer tracks and sometimes moose, then there is those questionable tracks that you study hoping that they are something more interesting than the neighbor's dog's footprints.

So I have to say I miss seeing the wildlife in the winter.  But I am fornuate to have one faithful visitor to the bird feeder all winter long.  He is a handsome vibrant ring necked pheasant. Here he is...

Sea of Cortez Wildlife Watching

One of the best things about being a wildlife artist is getting out and seeing wildlife in nature. Having the thrill of seeing a creature in the wilderness. The opportunity to have that experience is one of the driving forces of my artwork. When I have an incredible experience in nature I want to relive it in paint and reproduce the feeling of being there to share it with everyone.

Well this month I have been fortunate enough to have a grand experience that I have been looking forward for many years ( on my bucket list. ) Check out these pictures from our trip to Mexico....

LOOK AT ME.......LOOK AT ME!....Here I am swimming in the Sea of Cortez with whale sharks....how exciting! It really got my heart pumping when I first saw that massive body swimming toward me under water then to have it cruise by with one fin gently grazing my leg......WOW. 

Whale sharks are plankton eating sharks that range from 25 to 50 feet long. They have a dark coloring with spots. These particular ones were around 25 feet long. They are totally concerned with feeding and did not appear to mind our presence at all. It was an interesting feeling when I was swimming at his front flipper and he turned toward me and I suddenly I was looking into a huge open mouth. Biggest mouth I have ever been close to.......It was totally exhilarating.

In these pictures my husband Neil is wearing yellow flippers and I am wearing the full wetsuit and blue flippers.

Thank you to Shirley for the great pictures that she was able to get in spite of the wave action. Check out Shirley's website at www.emperorimages.com  She is a wonderful lady and a world traveler who has taken lovely pictures in the most interesting places.....let her know that I sent you.

Creating Something Different

 Sometimes every artist just needs to shake things up. Take time to learn, experiment and just play with paint. Here are some of my play pieces from the last little while. They all are a bit different either because of what they were created with, how they were created or in their style. This is some my experimental work that does not (always) show up on my website

The birds are on a heavily textured background on board created with layers of moulding paste and heavy body paints. This rough surface was then filled with self leveling tar-gel to re-create a smooth enough surface to paint the detailed feathers of these beautiful Prince Edward Island bluebirds. The grizzley was a quick draw/paint on speciality hard board. The Thunder Jet boat paintings are painted on a background that is meant to represent diamond plate metal. The white boat is painted on various shades of grey to create the illusion of a metallic surface and the black one is using a metallic paint for the silver base. I prefer to make paint look metallic than to use a paint that really shines. Good lesson though. By the way Thunder Jet boats are a great welded aluminum boat that my husband represents in Canada. The birch trees/heron were just a practice with a different thicknesses of  paint.

All fun and some interesting results. Some I would do differently next time but fairly pleased with how each of these turned out.

William's Art

William has been coming for lessons with me for the past few months and it is a pleasure to see the artwork he creates. He is a young wildlife artist with a real eye for detail. He has been focused on wild birds lately and is developing his skills in presenting them in a realistic manner. It is great to work with him and watch how carefully he takes information and puts it into practice. Just wanted to take this opportunity to share some of his work with you.