January 2022

 January is here finally - hope it was worth the wait!

Skipped December

didn't I, well here we go

starting another year!

Happy New Year from our house to yours!

Recent cold weather and snow has created some interesting photo opportunities. 

Above is the reflection of my studio window in a Christmas ornament.

Below is one of our many outdoor gargoyles pecking out from a pile of snow.  

We have been busy trying to keep the food in the hummingbird feeders liquid: two feeders rotated, one out for the birds the other in to thaw.... 

We seem to have three Anna's hummingbirds taking advantage of the feeders at the moment.

Lunch time at ours?

Below a ministry of silly walks clock.

Some cold but beautiful weather and a walk at Vanier Park Park provided these photo opportunities:

Hooded Merganser with a crab above, drops it below.... 

Where is it? Oh good found it.

He rotates it a few times before swallowing it.

Female Merganser below is much more efficient about the process:

Dive and catch.

Swallow.

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News from the Studio:

Sales:

Painting "Nesting":

Several 3D scultures including:

and many Christmas cards.

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New Work:

Both watercolours,

"Raven Watching" 

"Sunwashed"

Shows:

"Windswept"

is in the Federation of Canadian Artists show Works on Paper January 25 to Feb. 6, 2022.

The following are in the 'Looking Forward' show at Gallery 1710 from January 21 to February 20, 2022.

Forest Greens

Sea Fever

Ship Wreck

Forest Spirits 2

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Lastly these thoughts:

I wish this was my photo, it's not - but it is amazing.

 

That's all for this week,

-the first week of 2022-

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.

 



Seasonal Colours?

From my camera:

This week I have the seasonal colours in the shape of an Anna's hummingbird. Green wings and beautiful red (red-purple head and gorget). I didn't go far to take these pictures, this little fellow is a year round visitor to my back garden.

Here perched on a trellis in the sleet:

 

"Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna), a medium-sized hummingbird native to the west coast of North America, was named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli.^[2] In the early 20th century, Anna's hummingbird bred only in northern Baja California and southern California. The transplanting of exotic ornamental plants in residential areas throughout the Pacific coast and inland deserts provided expanded nectar and nesting sites, allowing the species to expand its breeding range."

Wikipedia



 

"Anna's hummingbird is 3.9 to 4.3 in (9.9 to 10.9 cm) long. It has an iridescent bronze-green back, a pale grey chest and belly, and green flanks. Its bill is long, straight and slender. The adult male has an iridescent crimson-red derived from magenta to a reddish-pink crown and gorget, which can look dull brown or gray without direct sunlight and a dark, slightly forked tail."

Wikipedia

 

"Female Anna's hummingbirds also have iridescent red gorgets, though they are usually smaller and less brilliant than the males'. Anna's is the only North American hummingbird species with a red crown.^[3] Females and juvenile males have a dull green crown, a grey throat with or without some red iridescence, a grey chest and belly, and a dark, rounded tail with white tips on the outer feathers."

Wikipedia

 

"These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue. They also consume small insects and other arthropods caught in flight or gleaned from vegetation. A PBS documentary shows how Anna's hummingbirds eat flying insects."

Wikipedia

 

"While collecting nectar, they also assist in plant pollination. This species sometimes consumes tree sap.^[5] The male's call is scratchy and metallic, and it perches above head-level in trees and shrubs.^[3] They are frequently seen in backyards and parks, and commonly found at feeders and flowering plants."

Wikipedia

 

 

"Anna's hummingbirds can shake their bodies 55 times per second to shed rain while in flight or, in dry weather, to remove pollen or dirt from feathers."

Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

"Anna's hummingbirds have the northernmost year-round range of any hummingbird. During cold temperatures, Anna's hummingbirds gradually gain weight during the day as they convert sugar to fat."

Wikipedia

 

These hummingbirds are extremely protective of their food sources (feeders included). I feed them year round, but even I am not spared being dive-bombed if I get too close to one of the two feeders I maintain.

 

 

They also have a raspy scolding sound that they use to voice their displeasure if I get too close to one of "their" feeders!

 

... hummingbirds with inadequate stores of body fat or insufficient plumage are able to survive periods of sub-freezing weather by lowering their metabolic rate and entering a state of torpor.

Wikipedia

"There are an estimated 1.5 million Anna's hummingbirds. Their population appears to be stable, and they are not considered an endangered species."

Wikipedia

 



 

"The Anna's Hummingbird is one of only three hummingbird species that are permanent residents of the United States and Canada. (The others are the Allen's and Costa's.) This hardy hummingbird has the northernmost year-round range of any North American hummingbird species."

 

https://abcbirds.org/bird/annas-hummingbird/

 

"Anna's Hummingbird is an extremely vocal species, especially for a hummingbird. Males sing a buzzy, scratchy-sounding song while perched and during their high-flying courtship spectacles. During the display, the bird ascends up to 130 feet, then swoops toward the ground. At the bottom of its dive, the bird's tail feathers emit a burst of noise. These elaborate dive displays may be direction at other birds and even at people!"

 

https://abcbirds.org/bird/annas-hummingbird/

 

 

They are territorial, they can be scolding, but they are also tiny and beautiful and amazing to watch.

I currently have at least 2 hummingbirds attending my feeders, one is dominant and chases the other mercilessly.

 

Time to fill the feeders, it is cold out there!

 

Here is a You tube video of the Anna's Hummingbird:

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed my pictures today.

 

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  I have two shows on now:

 

The Great Stuff show and sale at the Ferry Building and a Christmas Art show at Image West:

 

 

http://www.gillianolsonart.com/art-shows.html

 

 

 

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That is all I have for you this week.

 

Thanks for dropping by,

 

happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

 

Gillian