The Stunning Brown Creeper

Always a fun surprise, especially at eye-level, I discovered a Brown Creeper scooting up a tree truck near my carport as I was taking my recycling out.  The carport is high above ground-level, mid-way up the trees, giving me a good view of birds in the area!

In Tennessee, these 5" birds (including bill and tail)  are seen mostly during the winter months so I've never heard their calls or songs, or at least, I haven't recognized them.

This creeper was scooting so fast on this gray, overcast day, that I had difficulty getting a good focus with my camera and then she stopped to preen!  (Males and females appear the same, so its impossible to tell!)  What a treat to see this activity.  Check out the long back toe and claw, above.  And below, a nice view of its tail brace. 

Though creepers aren't in the woodpecker family, they have a tail with stiffened, pointed tips like those of woodpeckers, that help brace them as they forage in the bark looking for insect eggs and larvae. Their beautiful dark and chocolate brown colors speckled with white, camouflage them almost completely when perched motionless on the bark of a tree.

My first creeper sighting of the season--a bird that makes you appreciate the beauty of brown and gray!
To see another intimate visit with a Brown Creeper visit my Brown Creeper post on Vickie Henderson Art.  

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Trying something new in art stimulates your creative juices, challenges self doubt and hesitation, and pushes you past habits that represent safety but not your best artistic potential.

That is what happens when you take a watercolor workshop from a master or from any accomplished artist that you want to observe and learn their way of creating watercolors.

Charles Reid is known for his bright use of color and unique drawing style.  He admits readily that his quirky drawing is because "I can't draw".  He draws what he sees making pivotal dots as he moves his pencil in a different direction, similar to contour drawing but more angular in style.

One of the most important watercolor skills I retained from his demonstrations was his emphasis on the connection of colors within the painting.  Each yellow flower, for example, should connect with another yellow.  He does not identify a center of interest, but considers these color connections as a pathway through the painting, leading the eye.  He also paints straight from the pallette, using generous amounts of water to spread the pigment on paper, creating brilliant colors.

Each of the paintings above, were my practice using his techniques.  Unusual subjects for me and fun experiments into a different way of painting!

Vickie Henderson, Charles Reid and Kay Alexander at Cheap Joes in Boone, NC, 2017.

See also:  Art Workshop with Brenda Swenson

Watercolor Nature Journaling Workshop

Join me for a fun day of exploring nature with watercolor on April 8th at the Chota Recreation Center, Tellico Village in Loudon, Tennessee.

Nature journals are the earliest source of information that we have about our natural world.  Holding a journal in one's hand evokes emotion and awe because we innately relate to the sensory details captured in the artists words and images.  The added bonus to creating our own journals?  We see and enjoy more deeply and that comes with calming health benefits!

Join me for a relaxing day of exploring watercolor and nature. We will review helpful sketching techniques, use of values, basic watercolor washes, negative painting, representation of sky, clouds, rocks and trees, and choice of colors for the season. Using all our senses to enhance our observations, we'll leave our traditional artist fears behind and enjoy a day of exploring nature with watercolor.

The workshop is sponsored by the Art Guild of Tellico Village.  Visit this link to sign up!  
For more information about the workshop and the guild visit:  the Art Guild of Tellico Village Workshops

Inspiration from Cuba

I took a sketchbook and a tiny watercolor palette on my ten day trip to Cuba in January, but our schedule was so full, there was no opportunity to sketch.  I was very glad to have my camera with me and recorded what I was seeing even while we traveled on the bus.    

There was meaning, beauty and inspiration everywhere I looked--in revolutionary symbols, in color and texture, in tropical scenery and endemic birds, in age and youth--a country lingering in a time past with so much energy and vitality in its art and culture.  Artistic images were everywhere.  A warbler perched on a porch lamp, green bananas ripening in a rusty blue wheel barrow, colorful chickens scratching to feed their young, a team of oxen pulling a plow, a sturdy horse pulling a cart loaded down with people.

My photos captured much of what I saw, but I came home with a burning desire to paint these different and challenging subjects in watercolor.  The young girl from Las Terrazas, pictured in the sketch above, is dressed in her school uniform and paused to display her flag for us before heading home after her day at school.

Above, a study of a young horse being trained to accept the noises and confusion of road travel.

In Cayo Coco, Cuba, I was on my way to breakfast and stopped to watch Cuban Emeralds (hummingbirds) nectaring blossoms in a nearby tree.  I also discovered a beautiful Yellow-throated Warbler perched on the light fixture on the second floor balcony above--an unexpected setting for a life bird!  Wintering warblers were everywhere in Cuba!

Visit Cuba on the Discover Birds Blog

White-throated Sparrow on Ice

The cold winter months provide opportunity for gathering inspiration, as well as, quiet indoor time to create watercolor paintings! 

The above painting was inspired by a harsh but beautiful ice storm in east Tennessee in February 2015.  Ice coated everything so I not only spent a lot of time making sure the birds in my yard had food and water, I took many photographs.    

The limbs of an ice-coated Burning Bush were breath-taking, looking like lace.  I watched birds move in and out of its branches, some plucking berries, others perching near the feeders. Above and below, fluffy White-throated Sparrows perched among the limbs.  Birds fluff their feathers to trap air giving them an extra layer of warmth trapped under their feathers.

Painting ice in watercolor means "saving the whites".  The white of the paper is the white in your watercolor painting.  Ice presents an interesting challenge, more so than snow, because it reflects light and color from the surrounding area.  .  

Above you can see how I began this painting.  After carefully drawing the limbs and sparrow, I began negative painting with light washes of a mixture of burnt sienna and ultarmarine blue. Together these hues range from blue to blue-gray, to brown, to brown-gray to rust and subtle shades in between.  .

In this case I applied the washes in layers, with each area drying before I applied another layer over it.

While painting you can also drop paint into damp pigment to vary the color.  The key to keeping the paint underneath from moving is to avoid dabbing your brush but rather, add pigment with a stroke or two and leave the area until it dries.  

Watercolor painting takes patience because we often spend a lot of time waiting for the right moment to add the next brush stroke.  Paint will have a shiny appearance when wet and look dull when dry. Waiting for that right moment will reward you with satisfying results.  
Look for inspiration in the neutrals of winter and have a great time painting while its cold and wet outside!

Links and references:
Negative painting:  Fun with Fall Leaves and Hummingbird Inspiration
Helping wintering bluebirds

Elkmont Cabins En Plein Air

Just across the road from the Elkmont campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park you can explore what is often called the "ghost town" of the Smokies, cabin remnants of a vacation community that was built in the early 1900's.

The cabins, even in their deteriorated condition, offer interest, texture and intrigue for sketching.  Juxtaposed against moss covered stones, graceful woodland ferns, wildflowers and falling leaves, this setting was a spectacular place to join friends, Kay and Doris, for a morning of outdoor painting--en plein air.  The possibilities for visual exploring were endless.

It is often hard to remove the pressure to "produce" while making art, but this setting made it easy.  Among the trees, in the midst of an early autumn coolness and surrounded by so much stimulation for the senses, sketching became a way of enjoying more deeply.

The slide show below offers a glimpse of the cabin community along with its peaceful natural setting and the sense of tranquility we experienced while painting there.  I hope it inspires you to venture out and take your paints with you!


Links and resources:
For more posts on this blog about painting in the outdoors, visit en plein air  and
sketching hummingbirds in flight.
Visit Kay Alexander Watercolors and see Kay's beautiful en plein air paintings.

One Decision at a Time

I have been blogging since January of 2008--eight years!  Google sent me an email message today saying some of my links on Vickie Henderson Art are not working and I should clean them up.  Good idea.  In doing so, I ran across this early post published April 1st, 2008.  I love the message.  I am astounded that I still paint this way.  Its wisdom lives on!  

One decision at a time, a painting is formed.
One decision at a time, a life is lived.
The name of this painting is “Pink”. It began as a wash of pigment brushed on wet paper with nothing in particular in mind, except to see what a bit of rock salt sprinkled here and there would create. The next step was to define something, a shape, a form, a suggestion. The first time I tried this, I struggled. My mind was blank. I saw nothing. Nothing came to me, except frustration and the feeling, maybe I can’t do this. Maybe I hate this.

I revisit that place from time to time, where desire and doubt butt heads. Desire wins out with a little perseverance. And the next thing I know something magical has happened and I created it—me and the water and the pigment and the Universe--one decision at a time.