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A Year of (Michigan) Birds: July
Read more: A Year of (Michigan) Birds: JulyThe gulls have taken over the point to the north of the bay. They can be seen sunning, dozens of them perched on the rocks and walking around. When I go kayaking by the point, I can see the mergansers and their babies. They have 19! The babies are so cute, and follow in the…
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A Year of (Michigan) Birds: June
Read more: A Year of (Michigan) Birds: JuneIt’s early June, and I saw a pair of sandhill cranes at Squaw Bay today. They are beautiful, and hard to see since they are perfectly camouflaged by the ochre reeds and small dead trees next to the marshy water. As soon as they saw me, they went and hid in a clump of trees,…
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Yellow-Rumped Warbler: Acrylic Painting
Read more: Yellow-Rumped Warbler: Acrylic PaintingAbout five weeks ago, I was hiking near Presque-Isle Michigan, and saw this beautiful little bird on a fence. When painting this, I decided to play with abstracting the background a bit. I also went with a fall theme, since fall is here, with warmer colors in the background to contrast with the cooler trays…
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Sandpiper on the Log: Oil Painting
Read more: Sandpiper on the Log: Oil PaintingI saw this beautiful bird on a log a month ago while walking the beach, and decided to paint him. This ended up being a study in browns and blue!
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A Year of Birds: March
Read more: A Year of Birds: MarchIt is March, and the weather is finally starting to warm up a bit – it even goes into the mid-40’s on a sunny day! The snow is starting to melt, and the landscape is slowly turning from white to brown. Locals are used to the “spring slush” in which back roads turn into muddy,…
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Flickers on the Ground (acrylic)
Read more: Flickers on the Ground (acrylic)I think flickers are beautiful birds. A couple of months ago, I saw some in the side yard, busily eating ants (these woodpeckers like ants from any source, including an anthill!) This was painted in acrylic with a limited palette: titanium white, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, burnt umber, yellow ochre and sap green.
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Sandhill Cranes: Oil Painting
Read more: Sandhill Cranes: Oil PaintingA few weeks ago, I saw some sandhill cranes feeding in the evening light at Misery Bay. I took a bunch of photos, and decided to take a more impressionistic approach to these beautiful birds. I used a limited palette for this oil painting: tit. white; ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, Burnt Umber, burnt sienna, yellow…
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Mute Swans on the River
Read more: Mute Swans on the RiverI love the beauty of swans, and when I saw these two on a nearby river, I couldn’t resist painting them. I hope you enjoy their elegant grace as much as I do! As usual, my palette was limited: titanium white, burnt umber, cadmium yellow, ultramarine blue and cerulean blue. The swans can be seen…
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Kildeer on Lake Huron Beach
Read more: Kildeer on Lake Huron BeachI enjoy painting Kildeer; they are one of my favorite shore birds. This one hangs out on a small rocky point on Lake Huron in North Michigan. I went with a limited palette for this one: burnt umber, burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, yellow ochre and titanium white.
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Egret in the Marsh
Read more: Egret in the MarshI have spent a lot of time walking near, around and in the marshes of North Michigan. This is the habitat where black flies and mosquitoes like to live – but it is all worth it to catch sight of an egret like this one! This painting is based on one that hangs out in…
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Geese taking off in late afternoon: acrylic painting
Read more: Geese taking off in late afternoon: acrylic paintingI love the birds around Lake Huron, and last week I saw this beautiful sight that I decided to paint: Canadian Geese beginning to fly just before sunset. I used the following colors for this painting: ultramarine blue, cerulean blue; cadmium red medium; titanium white; burnt umber and Lamp Black.
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Nuthatch in Early Spring: acrylic painting
Read more: Nuthatch in Early Spring: acrylic paintingI enjoy watching nuthatches creeping upside down and sideways around trees, and decided to paint this one that I saw in the early Michigan spring a few weeks ago just after it had snowed. I used a very limited palette for this painting: ultramarine blue, titanium white, burnt umber, burnt sienna and yellow ochre.