whale

Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale.
--Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Haven't touched a brush for two months and it shows. Good thing no one really reads this blog.

Owl eyes

I feel like this may be my last post for a little while. I hope you enjoy it. Comments are always welcome and appreciated, even if you hate it.

Brown fish owl

I was attracted to the photo of the brown fish owl in Owls by Marianne Taylor because it looked different than other owls normally pictured. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to retain that quality in this painting, since the body is less narrow and more squat than it should be. What sort of repulsed me about the photo was that the lines on the body looked like little worms. Fortunately, I don't have extraordinary powers of realism with watercolor.

I probably could have put more time into layering the feathers but having already invested more time than usual, I was just eager to finish.

On a side note, I think the term "talent" is often thrown around too loosely. For instance, I have no illusions of grandeur that I'm an amazing artist; talented or just normal, I am grateful that when needed, breathing life into a work of art can be a safe place to pour your emotions and yourself.

blackness

bird sits in a tree
stillness blends into night
silence fades away

Owl, undone

I just can't seem to put a body on this.

Bird in the night

Birds singing in the dark- Rainy dawn. -Kerouac

Puffin

Cardinal

bluebird

I saw some birds flitting from tree to tree this morning--another reminder that spring is coming.

A Quiet obsession

Check out Susan Cain's newest blog post on Michael Schiller's Social Introverts Facebook Fan Page. "All they may need in order to find their own peace and healing is to understand that being an introvert is not supposed to hurt, and that it is possible to be both quiet and powerful."

Not boring, not different in a negative way, not aloof or unfriendly -- OK as is. http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com/

blue whale

"All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick."