Cedar Waxwings…and frustration

 Yesterday, K and I went show shoeing at Hidden Lake Gardens.  On every trip I carry my camera and binoculars.  I try to capture bird close-ups whenever possible to use in my art.  When it comes to Cedar Waxwings I learned that it’s best to let them come to you and not go out to actively search for them.  Flocks come and go.  When they show up they show up in large numbers.  As my luck happens to be…they usually show up in very large numbers when I dont have my camera with me.  But yesterday I was ready.  And, still I only ended up with one usable photo.  Is it frustrating…perhaps.  I recently read a blog by a fellow artist about frustration and wondered how I deal with it personally.  In art, photography, or flyfishing I can control the many fine details of the craft to the best of my ability.  But sometimes there are things I have no control over.  Sometimes things happen the way I want them to, but most often they do not.  Is the search for perfection a fruitless task?  Is the end result what means the most?  Or is the means in which we get there more important?  I’ll probably ask these questions the rest of my life.  But, whether I can capture a Cedar Waxwing, or catch a Smoky Mountain Brook Trout is not up to me completely.  God has given me the tools and I can chose to use them to the best of my ability or not.  But God controls whether a Cedar Waxwing lands in a tree facing into the sun or away from the sun for a photo.  Had I not gone back to look for K’s lost pedometer I may have never seen the flock.    My point is that there are too many variables in life to say that we are in control.  I try to deal with frustration by simply accepting what God gives me and thanking him for allowing me to do the things that bring me joy.

Theobroma cacao, hand painted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Theobroma cacao”, hand painted linocut

paper:  Rives BFK

Press:  Richeson Baby Press

Ink:  Daniel Smith water soluble oil based ink.

Cutting tools:  Speedball

linoleum:  Dick Blick Battleship grey on particle board.

Watercolor:  Winsor & Newton

Theobroma cacao, linocut, unpainted

This linocut titled, “Theobroma cacao” was designed and printed especially for the Chocopalooza Festival at Adrian High School.  Adrian High School alumni teamed up to exhibit artwork to be auctioned off during the event.  All proceeds will go towards the Adrian Public Schools.  

I plan to water color this over the weekend and have a finished piece by Monday.

“Theobroma cacao” is the latin name for the Cocoa Tree.  If you are familiar with cocoa trees you’ll notice the flowers are about 10 x their normal size.  That’s called artistic license.  I love the flowers on this tree and wanted to show them in more detail than I could if I put them in proportionally.  Inspiration to do this print came from the Theobroma cacao tree at Hidden Lake Gardens.

Mexican plants and new project

 In preparation for my next project I’ve been collecting photographs of Mexican plants from the Arid Room at Hidden Lake Gardens.  This one is Palmer Agave.  It’s one of my favorite plants in the arid room.  I love the subtle squiggle which adorns the center of this plant.  I love a lot of the plants in the arid room.  Some people race through the conservatory like a Nascar race.  I like to take my time.  I like to pick out patterns in nature.  I use these patterns in my artwork.  I recently picked out about 10 Mexican plants in the arid room to feature in my next project.  I’ll talk more about this project in the weeks to come.

Horned Larks

  I recently joked with a fellow birder about driving long distances to see birds…only to see them when you get home in your own yard.  Well that happened to me today.  I went snow shoeing this morning at HLG but didnt see any new species.  On my way home I bought a new shovel at ACO Hardware.  Of course I had to try it out when I got home.  While shoveling I heard some birds fly over that I’ve never heard before.  They landed in the field next to my house.  I ran inside, grabbed the camera and walked right up to these guys (after identifying them from a distance with binoculars).

Batik Fly

This evening I attended a watercolor batik demonstration given by Susan Sitterly at the LCVA Gallery.  She let us make a small batik.  I made this little mayfly.  It’s about 4″x 7″.