Last night and into today: the first snow of the winter season. A dusting was the perfect foil for a family of crows which foraged in the plowed garden beds at the arboretum.
12-05-24-crows01 pastel, ink |
03-27-24-crow pencil, ink |
I haven't been walking much since I hurt my leg but I have been able to focus on things closer to home. My wife built and tends this garden in our backyard and the rest of us benefit. Black eyed Susan is particularly lush right now.
08-22-24-flowers |
08-24-24-blackeyedsusan |
08-14-24-flower |
08-10-24-blackeyedsusan |
08-07-24-flowers |
I see robins year-round but this time of year they are the stars in the spring drama that brings summer ever closer. And once again, a pair has nested in an exuberant honeysuckle vine and is raising two babies close to a window so we can keep an eye on them. They seem to have learned our habits and adjusted to our comings and goings. I see them foraging and returning with beaks full of some dark squirming thing. It gets quiet for a minute and then with a squawk, the robin is back to the grocery store.
05-14-24-robin pastel, charcoal |
05-17-24-robin ink |
05-20-24-robin watercolor |
04-27-24-robins crayon, ink |
04-13-24-robin ink |
03-25-24-robin ink, pastel |
I have befriended a sparrow. It not a good artist's model though so only the most superficial sketches have to do. I see it in the criss-crossed twigs and winter stalks alongside Leach's Brook where it crosses under the lane.
04-22-24-sparrows pastel, crayon, ink |
04-21-24-sparrow pastel |
03-10-24-sparrow charcoal |
04-30-24-sparrow01 charcoal |
04-30-24-sparrow02 charcoal, ink |