The Tree and the Bench

Five years ago, as I sat on a park bench in the woods at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and worked on this watercolor sketch of a wonderful old oak tree, a tiny bird, a juvenile no doubt, hopped along the ground and stopped next to my foot.  a little ball of fluff. It was a wonderful moment for me.  The bird eventually hopped away into the nearby woods, and into the rest of its own particular life.  So on Sunday when the metro sketchers went to the refuge for an outing, I ended up back on the same trail again and this time included the bench that had years ago offered me that memorable moment.

Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge  view from visitor center

another sketcher who joked that (like Roz) she had "infiltrated my journal"

See

Smalls

These are card size (5"x 7") and so I was able to do three this afternoon trying to take advantage of the sunshine.  (top two are on parchment cardstock, the card immediately above this text is on Ivory,
all Strathmore.  They would look very similar if I printed them, but there's something about the actual original handwork that makes a card special.

Dandelion Time

near southside of  Lake Hiawatha, Minneapolis, MN

This time I took a photo of the work in progress.  We don't get too many of these sunny, cool gorgeous days for outdoor painting.  I'm thankful I was able to enjoy it!

Still Amazed by Sunshine

We've been having so much rain!  More expected for the weekend, but sunny today so I'd best get out there and paint! The color is just lovely after so much rain, (not to mention all the snow).

Rushing Water into the Mississippi

Every once in a while an absolutely lovely spring day occurs and there's time to go birding, paint, have a good hike as well as visit with friends all in this same afternoon.  Just one more reason to reduce the amount of paraphernalia that I need to carry along on my back.  Meanwhile with all the spring rains and snow melt the bubbling brooks are truly bubbling.

A few more Spring Birds

 

These quick bird sketches are done with the help of several fieldguides.

I find it is a good way when returning from an interesting excursion to help me remember the characteristics I've seen but seem to otherwise soon forget again.

Spring Field Notes

Prothonotary Warbler from Sand Point Trail, Frontenac Sate Park

Warblers are tiny birds.  They move speedily so  these birds are quite fun and challenging to see as they dart in and out of sunlight and shadow.  I was able to see hundreds of warblers and they were feeding down very low on the surface of water to find the insects. Maybe I will take time to add a few more sketches of my most memorable birds for this season.

                                                                            

Frontenac State Park, Minnesota overlooking Mississippi River