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Showing posts from April, 2017

Is It Spring Yet?

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It is typical this time of year to get all excited about spring plantings when the temps are in the 50's and the sun is out. Just as the sun goes behind a cloud we have yet another round of 30's and snow. The wave pattern continues through May most likely. The snow is still covering the ground at 7000 ft elevation. There are some spots that are bear ground, but frozen. I tried to rake out the little of the garden that was showing, however, the rake would not scrape the frozen mulch. Such is mountain living. So I bundle up and take a hike through the woods and it is invigorating.

Leonardo da Vinci - Botany Drawings

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"Hope through the resurrection...' Peter 1:3  

Fly High

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This particular hawk is Hyla. She resides at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson. Hyla is one of many raptors in the Raptor Free Flight. There birds of prey can be observed from behind metal gates while they swoop over head going towards handlers for feed. Hyla is a ferruginous hawk rescued after falling from a nest in Montana. The ferruginous hawks live in a habitat of native shrub land and grassland which is shrinking. A friend of the family took the hawk photos which I used for reference. I used other photos of mine to compose the hawk over water. My aim was to keep with a high key color scheme and, as always, keep it simple. Painting high-key is to hold back on the darker values. I did use dark values sparingly, mostly on the hawk. Still in progress, but close to the finish.

Spring Forth

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In our forest along the streams and wetland areas grow willows. Most are Booth's willow, to name this particular species. This I ascertained from the Montana field guide. The willow family includes aspen and cottonwood as well, over 50 species. Booth's willow branches have a nice deep red color in winter standing out against the snow. Moose, elk and deer, in particular, love to munch on their top tender branches. As they bloom out in spring they put on a show attracting lots of butterflies.