Chaloners

“Chaloners”, Linocut, 8×10 

 I finished this quick lino-cut on Friday.  Chaloner’s Tobacco store is in downtown Adrian and two doors down from the LCVA Gallery.  I’ve known the owners since the 80’s.  They are good folks and I love visiting them.  I buy my Fly Tyer Magazines there and always grab a bag of fresh popcorn and cold Coke.  I used to smoke cigars more than I do now, but I did have one this weekend.  My friend gave me a Classic Acid cigar and I have to admit it was pretty good.  I’m tempted to go out and buy a few this weekend, but they seem to taste better when they are free..ha!  Anyway, I did this for the Art-a-licious Festival this Fall.

Ring-billed Gull

I’ve been thinking about the Gull a lot this summer.  A lot of people think these birds are “crappy”, literally.  I admit this one has done his fair share of pooping on the pontoon boat.  But, that’s what lake living is all about.  I look past this fellas diarrhetic issues and think about it’s other qualities.  I love looking up into the blue and watching gulls circle high in the sky…their faint white silhouettes appearing and disappearing as I squint to see them.  On night-time boat cruises, gulls are like ghosts, floating in large numbers……barely discernible in the darkness.  And, what about the gull’s yalp?…a sound of summer, of water, of sun.  

This photo was taken at Devil’s Lake on Sunday.  I fished a little this weekend…before and after a friend’s wedding vow renewal at Hidden Lake Gardens.  I also finished a novel by Edward Abbey, “A Fools Progress”.  Ed is a strange bird himself.  They call him the Thoreau of our age.  I’m not sure he is as poetic but he certainly had passion.  Anyway, I’m on my 5th Abbey book and intend to read them all eventually.

Eastern Towhee

 

A little over a week ago I went to Silver Lake Recreation Area near Pickney, MI to hike some trails and take some photos.  I tried to sneak up on a few Towhees with no success.  Then I noticed this Towhee singing on a high branch without a care in the world.  Later that day I stopped by Dexter’s Side Door Gallery to see Valerie Mann’s “Fortunes” installation.  I feel fortunate to know such talented local artists like Valerie.  She’s a busy woman.  I believe she has work in three places….Ann Arbor, Dexter and Blissfield.  I’m hoping to see them all if time permits.

Ok, now I need to get back to work on a new linocut.  I put my bird project on hold to do a print of Chaloners Tobacco and magazine store in downtown Adrian….one of my favorite hangouts.  This print will be used…if it turns out…for the Art-a-licous Festival in September.

Northern Flicker, Yellow-shafted Male

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rummaging through my photos I found this one of a Northern Flicker.  I took this last winter on a Sunday morning.  I’m running low on bird photos so tomorrow I’m heading to Dexter to hike some trails and get some new bird close-ups.  My goal is to capture as many Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Titmouses or Chickadees as possible.  This weekend I’m starting on some sketches for a new woodcut relating to birds and trees.  Birds and trees are not new to me.  The playground of my youth was the woods around Beaver Creek just outside of Adrian.  So, birds and trees have always been a part of my life.  But, this year my friends will tell you that birds have really been on my mind a lot lately.  It started with a purchase of the “Peterson’s Birding by Ear” CD from the Sugarland Nature Center in the Great Smoky Mountains.  I’ve had an Audubon Bird Guide for at least 10 years and it’s received plenty of use.  We keep it in the kitchen next to the binoculars so we can spy on birds eating from the feeders.  After I studied the cd’s for a month or so I took a beginners birding class at Hidden Lake Gardens.  I found that birding by ear is a good way to spot new birds.  The instructor identified the unseen birds first by ear.  If it was one that we hadn’t seen we scanned the trees.  Sometimes we spotted it and sometimes we didn’t.  About the same time I took the class a weird thing happened.  I dropped my Nikon binoculars on the kitchen floor and broke them.  A few days later my dad gave me a pair of Leopold binoculars that he won in a raffle.  I hadn’t even told him about my broken Nikon.  So, now I have a new set of binoculars that are smaller than my old pair with excellent optics.  With all this new birding knowledge I broke down and purchased a new book, “Sibley’s Eastern Bird Guide”.  It just came in the mail today and the first thing I do after I write this is crack it open….that and a cold brew…ha!