Alligators

The Florida sun shines today. Yesterday I was on my own, my friends had to go home and my sis is still in meetings (no worries I like being on my own). I was dropped off in front of Gator Land about 11:00 am and could see wild birds perched on top of the buildings, paintings through the window. Hurry take my money let me in!

This painting is by M.S Barry a water color on canvas.Barry's work fills the gift shop walls and are very tempting with all the rich color and humor. But out in the real world.....

the birds move as if on a moving side walk only this one might have you for lunch.

Cute little Gray Catbird just a little smaller than a Robin.

"You lookin at me" Boat-tailed Grackle

Yellow-rumped Warbler gave me a great view for identification.

It was so fun to get up close on some of the birds for great shots. National Geographic here I come.

 I loved this painting.

 This is a beautiful boardwalk in the swamp. Almost no one was out there and I felt very alone and at peace. The trees made a different sound than at home a deeper hollow sound. The birds still moved around the same and did a great job of hiding from me.

They say that this is the headwaters of the Everglades 170 miles to the south.

I was thinking if I jumped I would fall into the ski.

The water is not deep but the soil under the water is black just perfect for reflection. I learned all about swamps today very interesting, I would love to spend more time in them poking around in a small boat well maybe a medium one to avoid snakes and alligators.

Thursday desk photo. What?

Spotted Towhee aka Rufous-sided Towhee

Painting by Tory Brokenshire

I took this photo about a month ago just outside the window of my studio. Rufous is one of my favorites, he lives on the ground in dense thickets hunting for bugs and seeds. But the way he looks for treats is funny he uses the double scratching method by pulling both legs sharply backward at the same time.

I put the photo in photoshop 6 and started to play, having just recently participated in a wood block class I saw his image as a carving with a twist.

Then used a tool called Bass, just a different look but I like the simplicity.

And the next step would be to make a few cards.

But the urge to create with this image was still not satiated so I grabbed a canvas and started to paint.

My original thought was to have a light background because the bird is so dark. But then I thought of the behavior of the bird and how I see him, it is on the edge of dark thick leaves and stems. he is very hard to see at times. The fun began with texture and beautiful rich colors.

As in the photo I painted his tail up, and in his mouth I put a cherry to go with the round shapes behind his head. Darn it just doesn't look right! His mouth isn't big enough to hold a cherry like that, it was a sunflower seed he was eating.
His legs are very thin he would be called "bird legs" and a few colors needed to be tweeked. So I played a bit more...

The finished painting...I love his red eyes.

I'm out of town for a few days to do some art with friends, I hope you find some time to play.

Bracelets and Baby Birds

During the hot weather I made a few bracelets, I just love taking out the boxes of beads and fingering all the different colors. I feel like I'm looking into a pirates treasure chest. At the beach my mom and my cousin Barb spent hours sorting colors for me, now I'm a well organized pirate thanks to them.

All the beads are glass and come in a variety of sizes. This one is summer colors.

Amber's are so rich and blend into the nest. My favorite.

I'm ready for fall these beads look like juice red berry's.

And two red ones are ready for...... can't say it.

I learned a new style at the coast, flat very simple but also very very comfortable to wear.

And the lot of them.
LOOK WHAT I FOUND__________ I was talking on the phone with a friend and decided to look in the garden while talking for a Robins egg shell or a discarded snake skin some little gift from nature. I went to a shrub that I new a bird had nested in last year and saw a new nest, I went in to take a close look and to my surprise it was full.

They are not asleep but hoping that the monster will go away. Do click on the photo to enlarge, you can see the yellow fold on it's mouth. And my favorite is the wee bit of fluff on the top of their heads. Also look at the spider webs used to make her nest.

And in this one you can see the feathers just coming out of the quill. These are American Gold Finch babies. If you are not keen on birds stop reading here.

American Goldfinches breed later in the summer than most songbirds. Their breeding is timed to coincide with the peak abundance of thistle seed. They often nest in loose colonies. The nest is located in an upright fork of a shrub, tree, or occasionally a dense weed. The female builds a tightly woven, compact cup of plant fibers and spider webs and lines it with thistle-down. The female incubates 4 to 6 eggs for 12 to 14 days. The male brings her food while she incubates, and while she broods the young for the first few days after they hatch. After that, both parents bring food to the young. The young leave the nest after 12 to 17 days, but the parents continue to feed the young for a few weeks. American Goldfinches generally raise one or two broods each year.