Sketching the Nature of Umbria
I had an exceptional week teaching in the Italian countryside in Umbria with Winslow Art Center, and I couldn’t have asked for a more enthusiastic group of participants. There is a quote that I shared with them from Italian painter Cennino Cennini (c.1360 to 1427), “Now then, you of noble mind, who love this profession, come at once to art and accept these precepts: enthusiasm, reverence, obedience, and perseverance.” Obedience aside, it exemplified the way in which they approached the lessons and techniques I shared throughout the week. As you can see,… Read More
From the Collection
I’m taking advantage of bitterly cold days to paint a few bird nests that I’ve wanted to spend time with from the collection of the New York State Museum in Albany. Maybe that seems like an odd thing—spending time with a bird nest—but I find that when I am doing a detailed drawing and painting like this, I can’t help but think about the bird that made it, the young that fledged from it, the materials it is made of, the weather it survived, and the person who collected it. In this… Read More
Becoming part of the silence
I love this quote by Irish writer Robert Lynd. “In order to see birds, it is necessary to become part of the silence.” He seems to have understood something profoundly true. Though we may see birds every day—by happenstance or on purpose– really knowing birds requires being quiet enough to enter their world. Unseen. Unobtrusive. Observant. I can honestly admit that I hardly do it enough. But when it happens, whether for just a moment or an hour, it’s a special thing. Tips & Techniques- If you are doing a piece like… Read More
On the Perch
“You’re on the perch,” my former boss would often say to me when I was at my computer. I was working for the Audubon Society then, and the phrase was part greeting, part acknowledgment of the task at hand. Though my work has changed, I’m still facing a computer most days and, thankfully, on the perch at my art desk most evenings. This week, I am experimenting with two of my favorite things: birds and words. There are endless possibilities—the fun is figuring out which combination of birds, hand-drawn letters, layout, and… Read More
Hidden in Plain Sight
Most birds protect and conceal their eggs in carefully constructed nests, in tree cavities or underground burrows, or high on rocky ledges and sea cliffs. Not so with terns. These seabirds nest together in colonies and lay their eggs right on the ground on small islands and stony beaches. Terns make just a small scrape on the ground and the females add beach debris or dead vegetation, shell fragments, or stones to provide some camouflage. The beauty and success of this strategy lies with the eggs and chicks themselves, whose markings blend… Read More
Spring Mornings
I love going outside on spring mornings to discover what birds have migrated north overnight. Every day brings new species and new songs to the woods and fields around us. Tree swallows came back a few weeks ago and I always love seeing their flash of blue and hearing their twittering song as they fly overhead. They typically hang out for a week or two before settling down to nest in one of our bird boxes. The rose-breasted grosbeak, on the other hand, just passes through. A single male spent only one… Read More
Springing into Yellow
I am sending you a bit of whimsy today as we spring into the return of yellow forsythia and daffodils, goldfinches wearing their summer suits, and—soon—the songs of warblers echoing in woods and fields. I painted this as a demo for my class Painting the Colors of Spring, thinking it would be fun for participants to try perching a bird on an atypical object. I hope you are enjoying spring unfolding wherever you may be. Tips and Techniques– Yellow can be a tricky color to paint since its value range is so… Read More
A Collection of Feeder Birds
If you feed birds in the winter, you know that watching what comes and goes can brighten your day and connect you with what’s happening outside from the comfort of your windows. We have a great variety of birds year-round and I like to keep a record of what shows up each season. Among my favorites is a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers whose heads glow flaming red when the sun shines. I was glad to give this bird the spotlight on this illustrated list and let him steal the show in my… Read More
Passing on a Sense of Wonder
“What Bird Is That? A Pocket Museum of the Land Birds of the Eastern United Stated Arranged According to Season” by Frank M. Chapman, published in 1941, sits on my bookshelf next to several other old field guides. This guide is special not only because of its lively descriptions of birds, but also because it previously belonged to my mother-in-law, Alice, who I never knew. The book makes me think about the ties that connect us to generations past and future. Chapman, as curator of ornithology at the American Museum of Natural… Read More
Juncos Return
When the Dark-eyes Juncos return each year it’s a sure sign that fall is waning into winter. A small flock arrives like clockwork when the oak and beech leaves are the only ones still hanging on. Their white tail feathers give them away as they flash across the road and dart into the brush. I welcome them with mixed feelings—I hate to see October go, but I’m glad to watch them all winter, small black bodies puffed up against new snow or hopping out from under the porch on cold mornings. They’ll… Read More
Jean Mackay
The Nature Explorer’s Sketchbook
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