23 Thursday May 2024
Posted in Art, Birds, Needlepoint, Painting, Poetry, Reflections, watercolor
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What the Owl Sees by Elizabeth Sears Bates
His velvet wing sweeps through the night :
With magic of his wondrous sight
He oversees his vast domain,
And king supreme of night doth reign.
I heard the soft and soothing hooting of an owl several nights ago. Sadly, the owl decided not to stay but I took his presence as a sign of good luck!
17 Friday May 2024
The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins
I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.
I have become fascinated with birds of prey in the last few months – the variations of hooked beaks and talons are particularly interesting. I will share my paintings once the raptor series is complete.
14 Thursday Mar 2024
My Hedgerow Needlepoint Gift by Joan Currie
Six months of needlepointing, each day a steady hand,
With Victorian cross stitches, my large opus planned.
Thousands of small stitches, so meticulously placed,
And twenty hues of tapestry wool carefully spaced.
On this canvas, my heart is stitched in every row,
A gift to my daughter, a treasure on her bestowed.
I hope she will hold it close and feel the love it bears,
My offering of this hedgerow to cherish and to share.
This needlepoint pillow was planned as a gift for my daughter. So glad to have completed it! 🧡
22 Thursday Feb 2024
Posted in Birds, Nature, Needlepoint, Poetry, Reflections
≈ Comments Off on Beautiful Flying Higher…
To Fly Higher by Joan Currie
In shadows cast by judgment’s weight,
I find myself, a bird, sedate.
Dreams clipped by critical gaze,
An anchor, heavy, in life’s maze.
Each flight of joy, a tentative dance,
Held back by words, a stifling trance.
But deep within, a yearning stirs,
For freedom’s song, no longer deferred.
To cut the chains, to break away,
From mainstays holding, day by day.
To soar anew, with wings unfurled,
Towards dreams embraced, in a boundless world.
So let me sever, let me fly,
Bid farewell to judgement’s sigh.
For in the vastness of the sky,
I’ll find my joy, no longer shy.
Today I noticed that the birds are back in my yard. Spring has come once again!
25 Monday Dec 2023
Posted in Art, Birds, Christmas, watercolor
≈ Comments Off on Beautiful Christmas Dinner…
No Christmas Goose!
Papa, please don’t make Gilbert
the Christmas goose!
I love him so.
How about ham?
from All Poetry
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!
Fowl, but not goose, will be at our dinner table this year. Looking forward to merriment with family and friends.
Be well!
08 Friday Dec 2023
Posted in Art, Birds, Christmas, Purple, watercolor
≈ Comments Off on Beautiful Golden Eagle at Christmas…
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Advent, Art, Christmas, golden-eagle, nativity, Purple, watercolor
Purple (or violet) symbolizes repentance and penance. Vestments of purple or violet are used during the seasons of Advent and Lent. The color reminds us of the violet flower that bows its head and is a symbol of humility.
I saw a magnificent Golden Eagle soaring above me yesterday on my hike. What captured my attention was not its wingspan or plumage but its dark purple beak! It made me reflect on the color purple – one that has been associated with royalty and spirituality for centuries. In the context of Christmas, it carries a rich symbolism in the Nativity – one of the three Wise Men, Balthazar, wore a purple cloak and later Jesus was draped in a purple robe as King of Kings.
My last post celebrated the color red and a more secular vision of Christmas. But the color purple drew me into the real meaning of Christmas, the celebration of Christ’s birth, the liturgies, a deep reverence for the omnipresent spirit and ways of the Lord, and a profound connection with my fellow human beings.
06 Monday Nov 2023
Posted in Art, Birds, watercolor
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Now the blue heron
wades the cold ponds
of November.
In the gray light his hunched shoulders
are also gray.
He finds scant food – a few
numbed breathers under
a rind of mud.
When the water he walks in begins
turning to fire, clutching itself to itself
like dark flames, hardening,
he remembers.
Winter.
From A Poem for the Blue Heron by Mary Oliver
I watched a blue heron as it stood in quiet contemplation – its long, sinuous neck curved like an ornate candelabrum. In the language of the poets, this elegant creature embodied a dignified grace, a symbol of refinement and grandeur. Its slate-blue plumage, reminiscent of fine silk, caught the light, creating an ethereal aura that stirred my senses. I had to paint it.
07 Saturday Oct 2023
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, watercolor
≈ Comments Off on Beautiful Sea Eagle…
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He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
From The Eagle by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Until recently, I have not been a fan of eagles. I think I associated them with my father’s emphatic mantra, “You can’t fly with the eagles if you hoot with the owls.”
I wasn’t sure I even wanted to fly with the eagles – their sharp, hooked beaks and talons looked very scary! Rather, I loved the reassuring sound of owls hooting in the stillness of the night (even though they are birds of prey, like eagles, but I didn’t know that then). I wanted to hoot, too, but alas, that was not permitted as long as I lived under my father’s roof.
P.S. I finally finished the watercolor of our Akita, Kimmie. Please see my August 26th updated post.
19 Sunday Mar 2023
Posted in Art, Art studio, Birds, Home, Poetry, Reflections, watercolor
≈ Comments Off on Beautiful Taking Flight…
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Art, Beauty, Bernard E. Harris, Bird, Bird flight, Grosbeak, Poetry, watercolor
When a bird, takes flight
Wings, sail on air
Silhouettes of time
Upon clouds, inspire
No height, inconceivable
Nor dream, unreachable
Fear, no longer, an obstacle
Hunger, no more, high I soar
Tears retreat, from, the earths floor
The sky, stretches out, its arms and opens its door
from A Bird Takes Flight by Bernard E. Harris
After months of contemplation, I awoke this morning and knew it was time to move. Although I haven’t settled on the exact location for my new home, I am ready to take flight!
24 Friday Feb 2023
Tags
Art, beautiful, Birds, Crabapples, John Heath-Stubbs, Nature, Poetry, Starling, watercolor
The starling is my darling, although
I don’t much approve of its
Habits. Proletarian bird,
Nesting in holes and corners, making a mess,
And sometimes dropping its eggs
Just any old where – on the front lawn, for instance.
It thinks it can sing too. In springtime
They are on every rooftop, or high bough,
Or telegraph pole, blithering away
Discords, with cliches picked up
From the other melodists…
From The Starling by John Heath-Stubbs
Despite the snap of cold weather, the starlings were out in full force today perched on the branches of crabapple trees – mostly hidden by the burgeoning pink blossoms. It seemed as if they were rehearsing a mixture of musical numbers and squeaky songs for a springtime premiere. They put a smile on my face!
Satin & Sand 