An Unexpected Hiatus--And New Artwork

Where have you been, you ask? Just busy with life, I guess. I had no plans to take a break from my blog, but this summer got pretty crazy, and the next thing I know it's October, and I am totally out of the habit of blogging. It's really a tremendous amount of work, especially when there's photography involved. Images have to be sorted, edited and arranged in a way that they fit into whatever story is being told. I would often spend over an hour writing one blog post, and as it turned out, I just didn't have the time or energy to do it these past few months.

My plan was to "take time off" this summer from a hectic show schedule and spend more time doing some things around the house, as well as getting out more, at least on a day to day basis. I dropped my show schedule down to 10 from 17, but I somehow had less time for "me" things than more. I did take two extended trips--my Isle Royale trip in June and a vacation with Lori and Lisa to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in August. Prepping for these trips ate up a lot of time, in addition to the trips themselves. I also spent much time editing Lori's third installment in her Holly Wild mid-grade fiction series, which gobbled up whatever extra time and energy I had. But now the book is printed, my last show for the year is this weekend, and I am out of excuses and ready to jump into some new artwork.

Artwork! Right! I'm supposed to be making art! I only managed four new pieces from July 2012 to July 2013, although in my defense they were all larger, time-consuming pieces. I have way more pieces that I want to do than I have time for, and now after our trip out West I have even more (wild horses!!). I did produce one new piece over the summer, a Ruby-throated hummingbird feeding on a rose of Sharron in our backyard. It was actually a female, but for the added color I turned it into a male:

"Ruby", colored pencil and ink on Bristol board. 7x10, framed to 11x14. $395.00

So it's time to get back on the blogging horse, but rather than go back to June and Isle Royale, I think I'll start with our most recent excursion, a four-day weekend at Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's U.P., keeping these posts more timely, and save the summer vacations for something to write about this winter.

Upper Falls, Tahquamenon State Park

Yipee!

Late Summer Hummers

As an artist who does art fairs, I talk to a lot of people. I frequently get asked if I have a drawing of this or that animal or bird. I've had some interesting requests--a squirrel, a turkey vulture. One of the more common requests I've had over the years is for a humming bird. I've never drawn one as I haven't gotten shots to work from that I was really excited about.

That all changed a few weeks ago when I went out in our back yard with my new camera and set it up on a tripod aimed at the rose of sharon, which was in full bloom at the time. I had seen as many as three at a time sipping nectar from the flowers so figured I had a good chance of getting something interesting.

I wasn't disappointed.

I was amazed, looking at these images, by how their tiny little toes grip the edge of a petal, giving them a little support and probably making it so they don't have to flap those little wings quite so fast.

Such an impossibly tiny thing!

They are quite aggressive birds, and we often see them sparring over the humming bird feeder on the balcony. But here there was enough to go around, and no fights broke out.

Unbelievable, the iridescence of this bird. How does one capture that quality on paper?

Not one of the sharpest shots, but I love seeing her little feet tucked under her.

It's funny to see such a tiny bird perched on the thick cables and wires. There is a male who in summer sits on the power line that stretches across the driveway, who keeps a very close eye on the feeder. I have not seen him for some time--perhaps he has already headed south. This little lady paused for a few minutes on the cable line.

We still have, as of yesterday, one hummer hanging around. It's getting a bit late, they are usually gone by now. But the rose of sharon bloomed late this year, and perhaps some other plants did too, allowing them to bulk up a bit more for their impossible journey south. I wish them the best of luck.