Winter at the Shed

It's been a while since I added new images here...but I spend part of every day in our little sanctuary, sometimes alone, often with my husband, and it is precious to us.  Peaceful, beautiful, close to nature...magic.

January snow...there's nothing like that warm, inviting glow against the chill of oncoming night.

Almost night...and worth getting snowy boots to capture...

Art supplies and cups of tea in my handmade mug and the company of tiny bears...I sketched them soon afterward!  This is Cocoa and Sebastian...

A place to meditate and read and create...carve stamps, journal, enjoy the gifts of the earth and be grateful...

Our infrequent, shy visitor, the female flicker...

a downy woodpecker male...

brilliant cardinal and blue-shadowed forest...

Spring at the Shed!

GREEN!  And the redbuds are blooming...

Yep, goldfinches have almost attained summer yellow!

Seeds are started...a bit late...

And the pileated woodpecker made a fast appearance

Time Flies When You're Working Hard! And shed-birds...

I couldn't believe it when I saw my last post here was January!  I've been getting ready to launch a new mini-class, so although I've been AT the shed every day, I haven't thought to stop in here and say hello!

We've seen some delightful new birds at the shed--just passing through, I believe.  Here are our two visitors:

 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Fox Sparrow (an aggressive little fellow!)

And some of our "usual suspects":

We always see a lot more birds on cold, snowy days...how can I resent the chill when it brings so much pleasure?

More Winter Birdwatching...

Couldn't resist this fluffed-up spiky starling!

Loving the little juncos

He was TOO comical!  Look at that grumpy face...

Still loving the wrens...

Birdwatching in the snow

The snows we've had lately have really brought out the birds in numbers!  I didn't get a thing done one day but watch the snow, watch the birds, and sketch...the shed is a great place for that.  I am SO glad I chose the big French doors and the window on the opposite side so I can watch from both directions. 

Our feeders are getting a workout! 

Winter is here...

Wishing you all a wonderful Solstice and a most peaceful and joyful Christmas season!

Day before yesterday was a great day to sit and sketch...the birds were literally flocking at the feeders.

Beautiful against the snow...

Plenty of peanuts for Mr. Downy...

The male goldfinch looks a bit disgruntled.  Of course what does a "gruntled" bird look like?

OF COURSE you have to take a photo of a cardinal in the snow.  J. calls him Richelieu...

My new crabapple was coated in crystal!

Late afternoon...no fire in the firepit just now, thanks...

The view from the shed door...

Thanksgiving Day

...and I was very happy to see the first juncos (or snowbirds as my mom used to call them) at our feeder!  It's been warm here, but apparently not so where these little birds come from.

We were also delighted by the red-breasted nuthatch--we normally see its less colorful cousin, the white-breasted variant.  I keep a variety of bird books at the shed--my favorite is still Peterson's--and hadn't realized this little guy was as common as he is!

I've been enthralled by John Muir Laws' wonderful book, Laws Guide to Drawing Birds*--among dozens of other inspirations, one pearl of wisdom I especially liked was "if you can't see it, don't draw it."  So I'm trying to remember only to draw those things I actually SEE, and not worry if the bird flies before I can finish.

The basic shape and pose is all you can expect in a field sketch--a touch of color fleshes out the image.  And of course quite often the bird will return so you can capture a bit more!

I have a lot to be thankful for, and one of the most important things to me is the opportunity to see and sketch the creatures around me.

*Please note John's comment below--if you use the link above, you'll be able to get a signed copy of his wonderful book, and it will benefit the artist/author!

Mourning Doves at the shed...

It's been lovely having mourning doves in the yard, lately...around here they're more likely to be in more suburban or rural areas.  Being able to watch them so closely reminded me how similar they are to the extinct passenger pigeon.

I recently found this rough sketch, left, on the back of an old bank deposit slip...I did research years ago for an article for Country Living Magazine, and drew on what I had with me!

It HAS been a while...

I'm loving the shed as much as ever, and tweaking here and there as we go along...we have MORE birdfeeders, and the little creatures seem to especially love raw peanuts and black oil sunflowers.   These titmice are sharing a dinner...

Lots of little downy woodpeckers, too...

Yep, another one...

Sparrows feed on the ground, on the feeders, at the suet...omnivorous!

The wildflowers are almost gone...these have puffy seed heads now instead of flowers.

Some of the trees have changed, but the soft maples are still mostly green...with lovely red stems!  This was taken with my new Canon camera, with the zoom function, way overhead.  Cool...

The damp wood by the door appears to FINALLY be dry, and I gave it two more coats of spar varnish...hopefully that will protect it over the winter...and we're looking to get the insulation under the floor fixed THIS WEEK.

I've shot a number of videos and painted a lot, in and around the shed...it's quiet, no phones, and a good place to work, still...

This one's down the alley, just beginning to look like fall...

Birdwatching at the shed

 

I posted another version of this on our Sketching in Nature blog, an international group of nature artists you may enjoy, but wanted to include it here as well, with tweaks!

Joseph spotted these White-crowned Sparrows at the shed, out in the alley, and I was delighted that they came back later and let me sketch them!  I keep a variety of bird books for ID, and our binoculars are always handy, so I was able to see them quite well...

Here are no end of images of the white crowned sparrow from Google...

I'm used to chipping sparrows and house sparrows so it's been fun seeing these different ones, like the White Throated Sparrow on Easter I sketched here.

You can see a photo comparison of these two on Marie Winn's blog, here.

I keep getting tiny, unfinished sketches of our hummingbirds, though!  They move FAST.  The female is a much more frequent visitor, and since it's shady I don't see the male's gorgeous red throat patch, but I keep trying...


I am REALLY enjoying the big French doors at the shed!  And so is Joseph, it's been a great place for him to recuperate from surgery...

Quiet Easter at the shed

It's been a busy, crazy time for us...J had surgery early this month, and I've had a rotten cold, so we've spent a LOT of time at the shed, recuperating, resting, reading...and of course, sketching.

There's been SO much rain here that on Easter Sunday, we were very grateful for a quiet day with a bit of sun...even the robin was napping on his perch!

The yellow patches on the white-throated sparrow were like drops of pure sunshine.

J. just got the new birdhouse up on the fence outside the shed door...hoping it attracts something!  It has a larger opening one one side and a smaller one here, for different kinds of birds--I wasn't sure which to pick, so we'll see.

We're adding more bird feeders and making this little spot into a real nature sanctuary...looking forward to being able to start the planting, when it stops raining and we can get together with our friend Keith, who owned a greenhouse and is advising us on what will grow best in this shady area, and be food for birds.

I can foresee sketching subject for a long time to come...