42 - Red Shouldered Hawk

 

Red Shouldered Hawk__8 x 6 oil on linen panel__$350

#42 in the Birdseed Project

Please read about this important project at the link above, and consider donating!

I painted this from a photo I took of this magnificent bird out in the wild!...Yes, the busy Austin intersection of Parmer Lane and McNiel Road is a VERY wild place! That's where I saw this hawk as I drove by during rush hour! I circled back and went through the intersection again, pulling onto the shoulder and parking RIGHT NEXT to the fence wire where he perched.

Usually hawks are wary and will fly away if you park too close. This one was used to traffic and stayed long enough for me to get a BUNCH of pictures. I watched him (her?) searching the small field area for mice (or something), and flying from fence post to tree and back. He (she) actually outlasted me, and was still there after my memory card filled up and I had to drive away.

26-Little Tri Color Heron

Little Tricolor Heron__8x6 oil on linen panel

#26 in my Bird Seed Project

I place my title at the mercy of my real birding friends....If I had planned ahead, I would have asked Adele, Joe or Lynn to ID this bird for me! I painted it from a photo I took last year at the wildlife refuge in South Carolina....My choices were a Little Blue Heron or a Tri-Color Heron...Because of the white on this one, I am thinking it is a YOUNG Little Blue Heron...help?

Of course, if you tell me it is something all together different, I will simply claim that I painted it poorly!...So, I am covered.

21-Magpie Fly

Magpie Fly___8 x 6 oil on linen panel___$350 framed at Act I Gallery

#21 in my Birdseed Project

 

This little magpie painting would make a nice pair with yesterday's post.

I have shipped it off to Act I Gallery in Taos, to help spread the word about my Birdseed Project.

Magpies are lively birds that thrive out there in the mountains and they are beautiful in flight, with black and white blurring wings!

 

 

 

 

20-Magpie Stand

Magpie Stand

8x6 oil on linen panel_available FRAMED at Act I Gallery, Taos, NM

#20 in the Birdseed Project

Here is a link about the Birdseed Project. It is an exciting little thing I am doing for a great cause! I have two really cool things "cooking" with this, so PLEASE keep watching and listening for the latest!

I am stepping up "production" of the little bird works so that I can send some to my galleries and shows, and spread the word about the project!

Speaking of shows, there will be a special theme show, "Twilight" at Act I Gallery in Taos, NM, starting in a few weeks. Southwest Art Magazine did a feature on the gallery and the exhibit. The magazine used my painting "Past Their Prime" to lead off the magazine article, and another one called "Morning Star Transit" to lead off the web article!

http://www.southwestart.com/events/act-one-feb2013

Click the link and you can see many of the works in the show, including 4 of my bigger ones...of course, if you follow my blog, you have seen these already!...but now you know where to get them! :) Please tell your friends

#1-Bug for Breakfast

Bug for Breakfast__Texas Mockingbird___8x6 oil on linen__$190...includes shipping
SOLD

Today I begin to share a little project very near to my heart! For the past few months...to occupy my grumbling self while fuming over my lost hard drive, I began to paint little birds!...In all my travels, I have scores of great photos of all kinds of birds. Birds seem to be a constant from place to place. I have enjoyed them in the mountains and marshes, in the desert and coastal areas...but the birds that I am doing this project for are birds that bring LIFE and amusement to the friends I have made at my mom's nursing home!... I will tell more about this as I move through the "Bird Show" over the next month or so...but FIRST I want you to know that at least 10% of the price for each one sold will be used to buy seed for the feeders at the nursing home....these little birds have become spoiled and, well, they are morphing into pigs!...Maybe I will paint the "pig-birds" one day...but for now, please tell your friends to look in, and consider purchasing a little gem...The first one, here, is our beloved Texas Mocking Bird enjoying a bug for breakfast... 

I need suggestions to name this project!

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AND...

Consider a fine art print for Christmas! http://vvaughan.blogspot.com/2012/10/son-of-sun.html 

or ask Santa for the adventure of a lifetime

A Painting Holiday in New Zealand March 3-9, 2015