Aren't they lovely!  Stopped by a couple of yard sales earlier in the summer and found these - all jumbled together in a ziploc bag, totally covered in grey dust so that I could barely tell what colour they were....but for the HUGE outlay of.........................10¢.................yes that's right, just one thin dime for all that colour and possibility!

I have to confess that up to this acquisition I was not a fan of soft pastels - too messy and I didn't really know what I was to do with them after a lifetime of mixing paint on a palette, but since I have been working extensively with coloured pencils I have learned a thing or 2.  It took me a couple of hours to clean them all - I started with a good shake in a tub of rice but that didn't seem to see much results when they were sooooo dirty, so I ended up wiping each one down with a paper towel.  I have no idea what brand or what quality they are, some are harder than others, some are very soft and smooth but for starting out and having some fun they are all that I need.

What I need now is some reference material to work from...almost all of my photography is close-up shots of flora and fauna and I certainly could learn to render those with pastel as many do but mmm.....I would really like to be able to loosen up once in a while from the uptight precision that I normally paint and just go with the flow on something different - maybe balance the uptight side of my brain with a looser, softer approach and play with a few landscapes.

I'm going to have to start carrying 2 cameras with me when I am out and about - one for any birds, bugs and butterflies that are going my way and another to capture some nice scenic views!

....another confession....I spent some time on-line studying the work of a few pastel artists who's work I admire and I did attempt a copy of one of their pieces - just to see if I liked it and could render something even "similar" to their work. You know what...I had FUN and my attempt wasn't half bad if I say so myself, in fact I can't wait to see it framed up and hanging on my wall!  I won't show it to you, it was just for me as an experimental piece.  However, I will definitely be looking for a few nice places to either work en plein air or to get some scenic pics to work from. After working so close up for so long I am now craving a wider, more expansive view point...at least some of the time :-)

Stay tuned!

Well, since my last post I have been from the extreme southwest of our province, up into the Bruce Peninsula and a few other places in between looking for the lovely little birds that spend their winters in the Caribbean, Central and South America and then fly thousands of miles north into the Canadian Boreal Forest and even as far as the northern Tundra to mate, nest and raise their young before turning around and flying all the way back to their winter homes.

Many of these little things are no bigger than a mouse, although much more brightly coloured when they arrive in their breeding plumage. When they return to the south some of them will have changed into a more subdued colour scheme and are much more confusing to identify.

Warblers are very tiny and very quick little birds, always on the move through the branches looking for spiders, caterpillars and other bugs that we can't even see.

Bay Breasted Warbler

This year I was hoping to find and photograph a Bay-Breasted Warbler as I didn't have even an identifying photo of one. As luck would have it - and trust me when birding you need lots of luck - we saw Bay Breasted warblers very often this spring!

Chestnut sided Warbler

I also wanted some better pics of a Chestnut sided warbler and again hit the jackpot - I have a few really nice pics that I will be using as reference for a painting eventually. This shot I thought was cute with the warbler framed by the leaves.

Yellow warbler

We didn't see as many Yellow warblers as we have in some years but there were still enough to get a few good pics of them- these happy little guys are still my favorites I think.

Black and White warbler

and there were quite a few Black and White warblers this year as well - they make their way up and down tree trunks much like a Nuthatch or creeper behaves.

Eastern Phoebe - a Flycatcher

Along with the warblers come the Flycatcher and Vireos. These  usually tend to be a bit larger than the warblers and much less colourful - which makes them much harder to identify! Some you can only tell what they are by learning their call and behaviour, they move just as fast as the warblers and once they get up in the trees with even small new leaves on the branches they are very hard to pick out.  I am learning the easy ones but most just confuse me!

Blue Headed Vireo

 Next time I will share a few more pics of warblers etc and also a few shots I got of some captive raptors at a raptor show that I attended. Although we are having a really slow start to summer weather, a day here and a day there separated by rain and cool temps the flora and fauna are still doing their "thing" so I have some nice butterfly and flower pics to share as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

J