Spreading Wings

Butterflies are so beautiful! …and challenging to paint. I tried to not get too caught into all the intricate details while still making it look authentic.

Tom’s poem for this painting will help conjure Spring for sure!

Hallelujah! Hear the news!
The spring is here and sun is warm!
Spread your wings and pass the booze!
Join with me in coming swarm!

Hummingbird on a Wire

Another Anna’s hummingbird because …they are just so sweet. I had fun playing with colours as well as form.

Here is Tom’s short poem for this tiny painting.

So kind of humans to erect
a fence like this through open fields
where the flower’s first effect
is to make me many meals!

Bumble 3

OK, this is the third and last bumblebee of this series …but who could blame me? They are so cute and this one even has a heart on its back. I scaled down my brushes a bit to do these but you can clearly see the brush strokes because the painting is so small.

Here is Tom’s poem for this one. I think this bumblebee deserves his nap. 🙂

Not every bee’s a working worker:
some like me are known to chill
upon a leaf. But I’m no shirker!
I just rest when all is still.

Bumble 2

I had so much fun painting the last bumblebee that I did another. It’s a challenge to get the fuzziness just so and the transparency of the wings too. Don’t forget how tiny the paintings in this series are – just 4″ x 4″.

Tom’s poem reflects the bustling busy-ness of the bees!

Scurry, shuffle, search and sniff,
gather pollen all the day.
Circle, flying, catch a whiff
of new flowers… On my way!

Bumble

Isn’t he cute! This bumblebee is head down getting all the pollen going …which is exactly what Tom wrote about in his delightful poem.

It’s in here, sure, so thick and rich,
the very best of nectar sweet.
It is my all, my ding-an-sich…
I have it! Oh! It’s such a treat!

Anna’s hummingbird

Another tiny creature for a tiny painting. Hummingbirds are so sweet and we do see them around quite a lot where we live. As we plant more flowering plants in the garden I hope they will spend more time in view instead of speeding off.

Tom wrote this: (I love the hummingbird’s perspective he imagines!)

Precisely feathered, warmed by sun
I sit upon a summer twig
while in the trees the bumblers hum
wishing they were like me: big!

Adrift – Abstract diptych

Adrift – diptych (oil on 2 raised panels each 8″x10″)

I painted this one back in November exploring shape and scale, colour and value. My method is a bit different from my acrylic abstracts but there is still lots of layering, shifts between warm and cool colours, and scratching through the surface to “excavate” down to previous layers. I love how this turned out.

Here is Tom’s haiku which interestingly also shifts between scales.

continents adrift
folding candelabra stones
crystals shine anew

Joy Eternal

In dark times it becomes even more important to celebrate the momentary joy and beauty that life brings… the breeze ruffling a field of flowers, the sun sparkling on the crest of a wave, a single golden leaf spiraling to the earth.
This piece was created with many layers – painted, scraped and scratched. I hope it speaks to others too.

Tom wrote a wonderful poem that captures and enhances my painting. Thank you Tom for the poem and the painting’s title.

Wandering beyond the drying fens
beyond the sunlight-burnished summer fields
a tramp might find a doorway to a gem
of elder darkness, where the Singer wields
her voice like some forgotten hero’s blade
sweeping past the stars to split the sky
reminding men they are for living made,
rising higher, sweeter, as it dies.
The Singer tells all hearers of a time
when for a moment they may breathe in joy
eternal: empty, pure, divine…
until an end no one who lives avoids.
A wanderer might listen at the door
then step in darkness, seeking always more.

Seasonal bird – bonus!

Varied Thrush (6″ x 8″) acrylic on Arches paper

I started doing a fun series of birds in December and posted one per day for the “Twelve Days of Christmas” with a short poem from Tom for each. Apparently, I couldn’t quite stop so here is one more.

One day in late December, our yard was visited by dozens of Varied Thrushes. I didn’t grow up with these birds so they are surprising and especially delightful to me. Of course, I needed to paint one to add to my seasonal birds. This piece of paper was a bit bigger than the others so I had even more scope for abstract play in the background.

And here is Tom’s poem!

A variation on a theme of joy
that darts through lambent colours of the wood
beneath the winter sun. A spirit buoyed
by all in life that’s gentle, kind, and good.

Seasonal bird – 12

Cedar waxwing in winter (5″ x 6″ acrylic on Arches paper)

I started doing a fun series of birds in December and posted one per day for the “Twelve Days of Christmas” with a short poem from Tom for each. Hope you enjoyed them!

Sharp-eyed I wait among the leaves
of cold December days
remembering the summer sun
and misty autumn haze.

Green Tea Doodles

take some time for tea and check out my doodles

poem