No Vacancy

A few weeks ago I hung up my birds nest. It is a fixer-upper but I was hopeful that it would catch someone's interest.

 

Well by the end of the day, within a couple of hours actually, I saw a Chickadee checking it out.

 

Now there is a young family of Chickadees and much coming and going and chirping.

 

 

 

seems to be a bit of a tight squeeze:

 



 

there is a cheerful chirping sound every time one of the parents visits the nest

 

very soon I suspect the small birds will leave the nest

and take tentative flights around my back yard

 



and I look forward to that day

 

until that day there is no vacancy here!

 

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Two more watercolours of Gargoyles from my studio before I go onto something else:

 

 

 

"Watch the Birdie" is a gargoyle from the Paisley Abbey in Scotland:

 

 

 

The second is from Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, one of the chapels mentioned in the da Vinci Code.

 

I think this one looks like a lioness, I think that is what I will call it: 

 

Well that is all I have for this week,

 

happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

 

Gillian.

 

 

 

 



Signs of summer?

Do the arrival of Rufous Hummingbirds and apple, early clematis and lilac blossoms mean that summer will be here soon? I hope so, I am ready.

 

think this might be a rufous hummingbird, they don't stay here long

apple blossoms are dealing with the rain, cool temperatues and lack of insects -- hope we get some apples this fall

 the early clematis seems to take bad weather in stride

here is another picture of the Rufous Hummingbird,

 

 and the Anna's Hummingbird is below, notice the different gorgette (throat pattern) and the reddish sides of the Rufous

 

 

lots and lots of lilac

 

I have planted beans for the third time this spring, each time a few come up, maybe now I will have enough to fill the rows.

 

I am ready for warmer weather even if it means I might have to water the garden occasionally but I have been so busy painting and the cooler weather does make it easier to focus on that.

 

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In the studio:

 

Great news, two of my paintings have been accepted into the "oil and water" exhibition at Gallery 1710 (Delta Artists Guild) which opens at the beginning of June.

 

"Haida Song"- watercolour 18" X 24"

 

 

"Watchful" - watercolour 24" X 18"

 

Both are painted on watercolour paper and varnished; the first is on stretcher bars (first I stretch the paper then paint it) and the second is painted then mounted on a cradled exhibition panel.

 

Both are inspired by my visit to Haida Gwaii last summer.

 

 

 

I have also painted three more gargoyles, this one I saw and photographed in Albi, France.

 

 

The other two gargoyles will have to wait until next time, the pictures I took seem to have gotten "lost" somewhere on my computer for now.

 

 



 Brief today, but my paintbrushes are calling me again, bye for now.

 

Happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

 

Gillian.