July Only Comes Once a Year...

 

Red-headed Woodpecker - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

Of course it does!  I guess I'm trying to be metaphorical...or maybe melancholy?  Even I don't know.  Maybe getting older has me thinking about things too much.  I was so used to saying to myself things like "I've got to try and see those next July."  Or maybe "We really should take that trip to (fill in the blank) next summer.  I'm not quite there yet but so many things are now out of my reach - they were great ideas but now no longer in the cards.  Especially things like that long hike or trek I always thought would be great to do...even some places I've long had permission to walk with my camera are beginning to be out of the question any more.  If you haven't reached that place in your life, it is sobering when they confront you, and you realize fully, I shouldn't have kept putting it off.  That is "life".

 

 

Lately, when I'm up to it, I have been trying very hard to take each moment and have fun with it.  When I was younger, I was busy with things that seemed important.  Now I know so much of it wasn't.  And now, everything is (important).

 

Female Eastern Bluebird - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

We have had such a fun year with nature here on our little postage stamp sized acreage.  Every day I try and watch and catch things before they pass. 

 

Cottontail Rabbit...rabbits make Georgie crazy! - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

Echinacea angustifolia in our pasture - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

Pearly Crescentspot (Phyciodes tharos) - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

Asclepias tuberosa in the pasture here - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

 

Now I haven't caught everything with the camera or easel of course...it's just not possible.  But what I miss stays with us in other ways - the Yellow-billed Cuckoo which calls from high in the grove, we know its there as it sings for us each day.  Then there's the Eastern Wood Pewee that we also hear each day; we do see it "fly catching" from the lower branches around the yard, but often we only hear it talk to us.  

The morning chorus has been amazing.  I used to try and record it with audio equipment in past years...maybe succeeded in a small way but could never do it justice!  Always first seems to be the Robins, then the Catbirds and Mourning Doves, then the Chipping Sparrows and the Orioles and Meadowlarks and Dickcissels, House Wrens, and so many others...sleeping with the windows open is a blessing!

We have noticed those missing this year...we no longer hear the night time calling of Sedge Wrens, and this year no juvenile Great Horned Owls or summer Redtailed Hawks.  Although the Great Blue Herons returned to the Waterman Creek rookery this spring - they abandoned the rookery in June and none raised their young here.

Not every year is the same..some things change, and not always as we'd wish.  Although we still have our ash trees here in the acreage and in the valley out front - there are farmsteads only a 5 minute trip from us that are losing all of theirs as I speak.  We are not far behind. 

But I will try and take in and enjoy in any way I can what is given to us each day as it happens...each day is a gift!  There is so much to see and do and July only comes once a year.

Be good to one another out there - we truly need each other.

Artwork Friday!

 

"Inciting a Riot!"  Blue Jay Portrait - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

It's Artwork Friday!  OK...I decided "Archival Works Friday" was too constricting - I think this will give me some room to just try and post something interesting once a month, whether it's new or old...sometimes my brain just drops something out there and I say to myself "why not?"!

I'll try and broaden the original idea a bit and give a little back story on the work - the first Friday of the month.  I hope you'll find it interesting!

Maybe this should be called "Blue Jay Friday". 

I just recently finished this Blue Jay color pencil drawing, and readily admit that this is not an old piece...but the idea does stretch back many years...Blue Jays and I.

I have always loved Blue Jays...these birds have real character and are very intelligent; part of the bird family "Corvdae", which includes crows, ravens and magpies.  My first personal “close encounter” with Blue Jays was when I was maybe around 11 or 12.  I had snuck up on one, on a friend's bird feeder, and reached up and grabbed its tail...of course the jay let out a loud squawk and flew off - leaving that stupid kid (me) with a handful of tail feathers!  Through the rest of the summer (until molt in August) everyone in the neighborhood recognized this "tailless" Blue Jay wherever it went!  I even got the feeling it was extra keen on avoiding "me"!

It's funny how us humans place our own judgments and morals on wild creatures...Blue Jays seem to get unjustly criticized at times.  Blue Jays are obvious when they're in the vicinity...noisy, constant calling; often arriving in numbers, and usually dominating the bird feeders.  Some people think they're pushy or mean, so have a personal dislike for them...placing human judgment on something is really misguided; in doing so it is easy to miss the “larger” picture...the entirety of these amazing and beautiful birds.

When we hear jays around the acreage, we can very often discern what is going on by the calling...the chatter of the airwaves if-you-will. I can often hear when they are calling to alert to a good meal to be had (at the feeders), whether they seem to be in a good or bad mood or when they are on their own and pensive (see - there I go placing human attributes myself!). I have often heard individuals do the most pleasing quiet gurgles, and jingles, when they seem to think they're alone and unobserved. When they're aware they're being watched, they can be quite quiet and alert.

They're good at imitating other birds – particularly Red-tailed Hawks. I often stop what I'm doing when I'm outside, to look up for a Red-tail whenever I think I hear one call...I can now spot “most” impersonations, but occasionally I have to say out loud “good one”! Even a Red-tailed Hawk would be proud of some of those attempts of jays (and even starlings, by-the-way) trying to imitate them!

I've found over the years how good they are at spotting hawks and owls in the yard. This can be beneficial to me if I have the camera handy. What better way to have a predator alarm! Crows are also very good at this...a flock mobbing a hawk or owl is a fairly common occurrence. And I've watched jays actually bully some hawks they should be wary of...like a dangerous game of cat and mouse. But they don't always come out unscathed.

A couple weeks back I was out in the north pasture photographing some dew covered webs and suddenly a big ruckus broke out up in the northwest corner of the backyard.  Blue Jays were having a fit...no, they were definitely upset and one jay was clearly beyond distressed. I thought to myself “someone had just become breakfast”. I made my way over to the yard as jays were dispersing in different directions. Moments later a large mature accipiter – had to have been at least a female Cooper's Hawk, flew up out from underneath a low sweeping conifer – carrying away its meal for the morning...Blue Jay feathers scattered about under the tree verified the menu.  Real life drama in the bird world!

I really enjoy trying to photograph Blue Jays. Their personalities really seem to shine at times, especially when they get cranked up or mischievous! The color pencil drawing at the top of this article says it all!  I read many years back that a flock of Blue Jays is called a "Riot" or a "Party"...hence the subtitle for this small life-size Blue Jay Portrait - "Inciting a Riot!"...gotta love these birds!

Blue Jay color pencil drawing from some 40 years ago...we all have to start somewhere!  (prismacolor color pencil drawing © Bruce A. Morrison)

This wasn't my fist Blue Jay drawing, but probably my most expressive and detailed...my first color pencil Blue Jay was done on archival/colored mat board, 40 some years ago...I've done others in more recent years as well.

I'll part by saying enjoy “all” the birds...they aren't little “people” and don't have our motives or faults, no matter how endearing or disconcerting!  Give 'em a break and enjoy watching every chance you get!

Archival Works Friday for July (July already???!!!!)

 It's Archival Works Friday!!!

The next post for "Archived Works Friday” originated from a sighting and photograph taken in NE Kansas in the summer of 1976.

As I mentioned before - I'll post a painting, drawing or serigraph (silkscreen prints) from the "archive" files of years past...and give a little back story on the work - the first Friday of the month. I hope you'll find it interesting!

I wasn't real familiar with birds of the grasslands or prairies early on...I grew up in a river valley with plenty of woodlands to explore and the birds found in that habitat were birds I grew up with.

Back in the mid 1970's we lived in the Kansas City area (Lenexa – then Shawnee), and spent what little free time we had exploring the Flint Hills and down along the eastern border and around Marais des Cygnes...all neat places. One day we were along an old railroad bed and a Dickcissel was singing away. Believe it or not – I “thought” I knew what that bird was but wasn't sure so tried getting a shot of it (shooting color slide film back in those days).

Although using a 400mm lens at the time, it was still not close enough and the slide film image wasn't the best...but there was a “seed” of an idea germinating way back then – the bird's pose was visually interesting enough to keep in my files for some future use.

It wasn't until 30 years later that I finally put an idea down on paper in color pencil...and the “study” drawing of a male Dickcissel singing was born -

"Summer Song - Dickcissel" - color pencil drawing (In the permanent drawing collection of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI) - © Bruce A. Morrison

About 10 years later I used the original sketch as a reference for adding to a prairie landscape I titled - "Prairie Song, Dickcissel" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison; now residing in a private collection in Minnesota.

I've been posting some about Dickcissels here on the acreage a fair bit this past month – I have grown extremely fond of them and have been having some preliminary thoughts in my head about doing something with them again; this time also as a tribute to this little grassland obligate. We'll see what comes of that in the near future I hope...love these little “Barking Dogs” of the Prairie!

Thank you for reading along!

Summer!

 Been a tough May and June for bugs!

Rats, let May and June go by without an entry...had a lot I could have written, just too many interruptions, projects and head in the wrong place I guess...oh ya - and BUGS!

Finished a couple small pieces since the last entry...had a great songbird spring and now a lot going on in the pasture here...uh more than usual, more on that later.

"Red-bellied Woodpecker (male)- Portrait"

(color pencil drawing -  © Bruce A. Morrison)

Did a nice little life size portrait of a Red-bellied Woodpecker a few weeks back...it is just slightly larger than those in the past..I wanted a more-to-life-size presentation, where I felt many of those in the past were a bit under sized.  The Red-bellieds are here year around and are really quite attractive up close, especially the males - as was this color pencil drawing.

"Windrows in Cloud Shadow"

(oil painting -  © Bruce A. Morrison)

Just finished a small oil painting of a pasture down the road about 3-4 miles...It was a great cloud shadow afternoon; I love those days in the landscape...as a kid I used to race them across open fields of a friend's farm.  I added some windrows in the foreground shadow and spot lit the middle distant ground field pattern and bales.  I had issues and hurdles with this one...firstly not getting the foreground dark enough to appear as in cloud shadow - then the middle ground not brightly lit enough to suit me...I spent about 3 weeks glazing the foreground to deepen and cool down the cloud shadowed windrows and foreground trees...then scumbling the middle ground area to make the sunlit pasture and landscape appear warmer and more brightly lit.  In the middle of all this I had cataract surgery in both eyes - wow did that add some issues!!!  In fact the cataracts kept me indoors much of the time, much much too bright outside now, which is improving every day though.

 

 Male Bobolink in the south pasture

(photographs - © Bruce A. Morrison)

I did try and chase a male Bobolink around the south pasture in dark glasses right after the surgery - didn't want to wait as they're finishing up their nesting and will be gone very soon.  I know I've talked about Bobolinks before more than once; after they finish nesting they will flock up and move around to other areas and parts unknown...will have to wait till next year to see them again.  Anyway - thank goodness for auto focus telephoto lenses, its not easy focusing through dark glasses!

 "White Wild Indigo (Baptisia alba)"

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison)

Been loving the pastures this summer, so much blooming and each ear a surprise.  About 6 years or so ago I found leaves of a plant tat hadn't shown itself there before...I recognized it as a Baptisia.  The next year I lost track of it, then actually forgot about it.  A couple years ago I saw it again and then remembered the first sighting.  Its gotten bigger each year and this year went into bloom!  A gorgeous plant and blossoms, a Wild White Indigo (Baptisia alba).

(click to enlarge)

The pasture is going through a "bit" of a transition right now...is necessary but still more of a change than I'd like.  The process hasn't been finished yet because of the extreme heat we're experiencing right now (mid and upper nineties with dew points of 78-79) - not a good condition to be working outside.  The "process" is a new septic tank and fields...the fields being in the pasture.  Right now it appears we'll have about I/10th of an acre to rehabilitate when all is said and done.  Losing a few good clumps of Culver's Root and some other desirable plants but hopefully no more than that!
Trying to get on to my next painting - with a solo exhibit approaching faster each week, I'm starting to feel a bit of anxiety!  I hope the summer temps cool down a bit and maybe actually get some outside time with the camera too!

Hope you have a safe and pleasant summer out there...take care!

From the Drawing Board

"Bald Eagle - Portrait" 

color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

Its been...how shall I say this?  Winter!  Ya...snow...cold...ha!  Well you know how it is; winter is a time I used to go sledding, have snowball fights, cross country ski or snowshoe - but that was eons ago! (At least the sledding and snow ball fight part!)

But we've been making the best of it, staying warm and enjoying the critters we usually see more of this time of the year.  The Deer herd in the valley, and the yard...the birds around the feeders here, and the Bald Eagles flying through nearly each day...occasionally even fence post or tree branch sitting here too.  Just a couple weeks back Georgie and I were heading out to visit the area nature center (the Prairie Heritage Center) and as we drove south of here we passed a harmless Bald Eagle melee - 15 or more birds just having a wee old time playing around (and eating)!

I had toyed with the idea of doing a Bird Portrait of a Bald Eagle for some time.  I have a few photos in my files but the pictures I've taken of Bald Eagles are from the ground and I wanted to portray a more "formal" look, up close and more personal.  There is a Bald Eagle on display at the nature center and I look at this beautiful bird every visit.  I just recently finished the drawing seen above here.

With past "Bird Portrait" drawings I've usually concentrated on doing all those little passerines - perching/songbirds in the yard, but decided to change it up a bit; as in my past Bird Portraits, this too is drawn approximately life size. 

"Wenasaga Bald Eagle"
oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

Many years ago I did a small oil painting of a Bald Eagle along a Canadian river we used to spend a lot of time vacationing at, but have never done a closeup like this before.  A very majestic and cool bird, whether up close and personal or at a distance!

Hope you're staying well this winter!  Thanks for stopping by!

Two Months!?!!

"Mountain Bluebird - Portrait"

color pencil drawing

© Bruce A. Morrison

2 months!?!!  Two months since my last post!?  That's just crazy...that thing called "time" is definitely on its own schedule...like a nasty bug, it infects all of us and erases days, weeks and months!  Where was I?  Well...I was still here, honestly!   

I guess I've just been enjoying myself.  Since the Artisans Road Trip event in October I've been taking some time off and just being a bit more laid back than is probably normal for me.  This was the last year I'll be participating in the Artisans Road Trip and when I resigned from the board I think I've begun to just spend time on other things instead.  

But life didn't stop or anything like that - I've been filling orders here in the studio both from the Artisans Road Trip event and from requests and customer commissions.  One example being the little "Mountain Bluebird - Portrait" color pencil drawing illustrated above.  And I am enjoying a "hobby" for a change...not that I don't have other interests...like birding and prairie restoration and antiquing...I guess they could be hobbies. But a more latent interest raised it's head about 2-3 years ago and I'm enjoying it ever so much more now with the help of a mentor...more on that some other time.

The fall bird traffic seemed early but then maybe that was the weather?  We had a cold damp autumn early on in October.  Not bad really, just a bit nippier than usual.  Our very first day of Indian Summer (any day reaching into the 60's after a hard freeze) wasn't until November 24th!  That is VERY unusual here...October is normally full of them!  We had just 3 days this fall now that qualified, but all-in-all it hasn't been too bad - we're usually blanketed with snow and in the deep freeze for the winter by now and we're not.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

photograph

© Bruce A. Morrison

But we've had great fall visitors here, like this sub-adult (transitioning) Sharp-shinned Hawk.  This guy was doing the "Veloci-raptor" moves with the birds around the feeder - running around on the ground chasing down it's quarry - fun to watch!  

We've also had the usual sparrow migrants go through, this year hanging onto a few Tree Sparrows and some Juncos hanging around as well.  Cedar Waxwings already giving our viburnums a taste test, a great flock of Blue Jays have moved in for the winter too - 15-20 birds at a time, quite a show!  And loads of the usual variety of woodpeckers and nuthatches...it looks like the winter residents have now set up shop.

I hope your Fall season has been going well and that the Holiday season will be what it should - full of Loved Ones and Good Cheer!

Till next time...and who knows when that'll be!!!???  All my best!

Some of My Favorite Things...

 "Canada Milk Vetch (Astragalus canadensis)" 

Color Pencil drawing -  © Bruce A. Morrison

I've been working on more drawings of prairie plants (grasses and forbs) and anyone that really knows me realizes I only do this out of a real love for the subject matter.  I guess I've been watching winter so long that I'm drawing for cathartic reasons!  But the subject matter this time around is one from our prairie pasture and that's the Canada Milk Vetch (Astragalus canadensis), sometimes these plants have other common names, I think Rattle Pod is one...these names usually make sense too - the seed pods do rattle when shaken about.  

This plant first showed up on our north pasture hillside over 10 years ago and in a location I had not been doing fall or spring seeding...again last year I found several plants in our south pasture, and again in locations not seeded before, so it may very well have been here before these areas were grazed years back.  Also, like some other plants I can think of, we've had some years intermittently that we could find no Canada Milk Vetch anywhere...2012, 2013 and 2014 were such years, yet last year they were "widespread" and in locations we'd never seen them.  That's very interesting to me but I have no answer to why!

Canada Milk Vetch, to me, has a very visually interesting structure...its almost graphic in quality ...although I chose to draw this plant - it would have made a great serigraph as well!  Or even a wood block!  Its a fairly common and somewhat aggressive plant - not one for the garden, but a great plant for the pasture here...I know the deer and rabbits sure love it!  (A lot of pruning going on through the summer.)

I tried treating the drawing's background a bit differently than in the past (more scribbling and less solvent), but tried being true to this forb's anatomy.  I drew this milk vetch at it's peak - which in the summer heat, lasts a fairly short time unfortunately...its a good thing there's lots of different prairie flowers and grasses out there and that they all have their specific bloom time - you have all summer to enjoy!

Spring is on the doorstep - get out and enjoy it!

Print of the Week - "Yellow Coneflower - Ratibida pinnata"

"Yellow Coneflower - Ratibida pinnata"

print from the original color pencil drawing

© Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

I have a lot of smaller "decorator" type prints and this is a good example of one.  This is a native prairie flower, a very common one that most will recognize...I like to call it "Yellow Coneflower" but most will give the common name "Gray-headed Coneflower" to Ratibida pinnata.  I believe this is because the flowering head of this plant is initially light green to gray when it first appears and doesn't turn brown until the head fills with small florets.

 

I chose this for the print of the week because it is now blooming profusely here in our prairie pastures!  A beautiful sight in mass!

 

The original drawing that this print is published from was in color pencil...the background thrown out of focus by using different methods of dissolving the pencil's wax based pigment and creating a "wash" effect.

 

This print is available as an open edition/signed print here at the studio/gallery or from other dealers given on my web site at www.morrisons-studio.com.

 

Thank you for visiting - I hope your summer is full of beauty as well!

 

Prairie Monarchs

"Prairie Monarch - Bison Bull"

color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

I've been working on a prairie monarch since March - not the insect kind, but rather the "regal" mammal kind - the American Bison.  I've never really drawn or painted a bison, except for a logo I did several years ago for the area's Prairie Heritage Center.  I have taken a few photographs over the years, but came across one in my file that I thought I could isolate and set into a scene fitting for him.  I had to do a bull - up close these guys are quite intimidating!

 

2 1/2 months on one drawing has been a little much for me, I need to get loose now - both figuratively and outdoors.  The prairie pasture has thrown several surprises at us this year...we're seeing many plants we haven't seen in the places they're showing their heads.  Some of our hillside pasture's original native seed bank is coming back, its pretty exciting to see!  I need to take advantage of what's out there and free myself from the lap board (drawing board) so much.

 

I've often wondered what it would have been like to see Bison here, in our local habitat a couple hundred years back.  I purposely set the bull bison in the drawing, on the side of a hillside slope; its how I see our pasture much of the time and adds a bit more drama as far as the image is concerned.  The sky is also quite dramatic out here in the open prairie, and by placing it back behind the hill top, it adds some tension and drama as well...is it a breaking sky or a developing storm over the horizon?

 

I hope you are able to get out there this summer and see what develops...what's over that horizon for you?!  

 

See you on the Tallgrass!

 

How It Needs To Be - For Our Sake

 "Monarch on New England Aster" 

color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

I've always had a soft spot for Monarch butterflies, but then who hasn't enjoyed these big beauties each summer?  They have always put on a great show here on our acreage and the prairie pastures.  But like many other people - some years ago I began to notice something just wasn't right.  My observations weren't exactly scientific; I was only observing a change, but it was certainly becoming clearer and clearer as I read more of what was going on in their winter sanctuaries, and how our newer agricultural pesticides were affecting them in their breeding grounds of the central U.S.

In the mid 1990's their numbers were estimated at 1 Billion.  In 2014 their numbers were estimated at 35 million.  The drop is so precipitous that status for protection under the Endangered Species Act was sought. In December of 2014 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated that Endangered Species Act protection may be warranted for Monarchs, and announced the agency will now conduct a one-year status review.

This and the Presidential Memorandum last June (2014) is highlighting a real need to investigate and act upon the plight all of our pollinators are now facing; not just honeybees, but our native bees, and butterflies and the many other insects that pollinate our crops and the flora of this planet.

It is my sincere hope that we will all consider the findings and research from the independent science sector - those with no "skin" in the game.  For too long we have seen Big Ag research and studies showing a virtual "no effect" in results pertaining to environmental damage to flora and fauna.  And the "revolving" door of political appointments and corporate interests are blocking true independent research as well. I personally do not feel a need or "pull" to put all the "eggs" of our natural heritage into the basket of corporations that only profit with status quo or increases of millions of tons of pesticides each year.  But maybe that's just "me"? 

I will admit that I draw, paint and photograph things that strike me as beautiful, but I do not want to be categorized as simply a "decorative" artist.  I do work of what is personally important to me - the land, the flora and fauna of the tallgrass prairie...these are all important to me physically and emotionally, they are something I dearly want my great grand children and theirs to inherit and experience.  I don't just draw something because its "pretty", but to me its all beautiful, regardless.

The top image, the color pencil drawing of the "Monarch on New England Aster" is of beautiful subject matter, and it strikes me as something precious...I'm drawn to it by my interests in the Monarch butterfly, it's conflicts, it's future and it's habitat needs.  I'm drawn to do this piece because of my concern and my admiration for this species here in North America.  Aside from that, the drawing was also a challenge to do and I am happy with the outcome - it wasn't easy for me!

 "Monarch on Heliopsis helianthoides"

(front side of "Prairie Cantabile" two sided violin painting)

casein painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

The only other time I can really think of doing artwork of a Monarch was on the front of a painted violin done years back for a NW Iowa Symphony Orchestra fund raiser.  It wasn't the main subject or focal point but a supporting character.  I liked the way this casein painting depicted a jungle of seeming chaos...the prairie and all its complexities can appear as chaos to the casual glance!

I hope a "pretty" picture can raise awareness of a precious piece of the prairie's puzzle. I'll continue portraying the landscape that I love and the natural heritage I feel passionately about...I'd hate to think of doing so as just "documenting" what "once was".  I'd rather think of it as how it needs to be...for our sake.

 

Past and Present

"Black-capped Chickadee and Blue Jay Portraits"

from the Favorite Birds Portrait Series

colored pencil drawings - © Bruce A. Morrison

I was recently thinking about where portraits and paintings of birds have gone with me over the years.  I don't believe I still have the "very first" images I drew of birds, but do have some from my teenage years...the very first "commissioned" birds I can remember doing were india ink drawings...I may still have slides of those...I'll have to do some digging and see.  I think they were around 1966-67 when I was around 16-17 years old?

The "portrait " series I've been dabbling with the past couple years, when my time permits, have all been in color pencil.  The earlier ones in Prismacolor and the later with Lyra polycolor.  My very first color pencil of a bird was a rather badly done drawing of a Peregrine Falcon.  I don't remember the year but I'm guessing it was around 1962-3.  I vaguely remember what that drawing looked like and it's not a memory I care to hang onto!  But we all have to start somewhere.

 "Blue Jay" on mat board
colored pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

I took up color pencils again around the early 1980's...the image above is of the type of work I did at that time...using a colored board to draw upon was a convenient  tool - saving a lot of time in rendering a background color with the pencils themselves.  

"Snow Laden Cedar - Chickadees"

oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

I did many drawings of birds but didn't "paint" a bird until my first year in Community College.  I was in my art teacher's office and saw paintings he was working on.  He had a painting of a Killdeer that I was quite taken with - here was an artist painting birds!  I always wanted to paint birds and this was the catalyst that pushed me forward!  My art teacher "Mr. Halm" (Robert Halm) encouraged all his students to do what "moved" them and that was wonderful encouragement for me.

The "Snow Laden Cedar - Chickadees" was a change from earlier years too, I was now placing birds in their environment.

It is occasionally fun to look back where you were years ago, but that was "then" and this is "now".   Keep moving forward!

 

"Big Bluestem in Bloom"

(Andropogon gerardii)

color pencil drawing © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

Just finished another color pencil drawing for this summer's exhibit at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, Iowa.

I've never drawn grasses before, except "implied" as a background form or shape.  And since this summer's solo exhibit will be at a national "Tallgrass Prairie" type refuge, I thought it'd be very appropriate to try to do some small studies of prairie grasses as well.

Of course Big Bluestem is the Tallgrass icon for grasses, so what better subject to start with!?  I am drawing many of these small studies as "close-up" drawings; to bring the subject matter into a more personal/true experience type of presentation.  The grasses depicted here were in "bloom", which is actually surprising to some people; many do not equate grass with having flowers...sometimes referred to as "florets".  Bloom time is usually around early to late July here, depending on the season's conditions.

This drawing was done from some video footage taken here on our native pasture in 2011.  When I started working on this summer's solo exhibit I garnered many images from the video work I've been doing over the past several years...they came in handy for reference material "and" inspiration, during this past winter!

Spring continues to make inroads here at the studio...rather chilly and breezy today but the yard is full of Red-wing Blackbirds and Robins...and the Great Blue Herons have just started showing up at the rookery across the valley! 

Well, back to work here - have a great week out there!