Birth of a Painting #5

Its been a few weeks since the last post relating to the Birth of a Painting Series" click on a number below for previous stages from the recent past. The idea is to photograph the painting ever few hours so you can follow along . Looks like snow is coming tonight...and possibly Friday. Cant wait. Any comments of feed back please feel free to email me through my Contact page
Cheers
Bill
Click Below
#1 #2 #3 #4

Art Show Photos

Thanks for all the people who made it out to the show. I had a great time meeting new people and seeing many familiar faces. The paintings will continue to be hanging up until the 28th of February. So if you still want to have a peek and eat some great food please do so!
have a great week!

Art Show January 28th

Click Image to Enlarge

SNOW!!!!

Finally, January 19th, 2007 we got it. Snow. Although it was a light dusting, its beauty was exquisite. With batteries charged and the big lens attached I headed out into the dark grey sky hoping the sun would brighten up things enough to take some images.

First stop was one of my secret nature preserves where I have yet to see anyone in the morning and nature seems to go on with its routine as if the middle of a huge forest. In reality the preserve is is fairly small and surrounded by neighborhoods, roads, and train tracks. Although I did not see all that much the silence and stillness was truly remarkable.

I was surprised how long I had to look to find some deer. I did find 3 doe bedded in some very thick brambles. The were kind enough to let me take some pictures before heading off into the deeper forest.

Around noon I headed out again, this time looking for hawks. Yesterday I spotted what I thought was a Coopers Hawk around lunch time. As I approached to take a picture it took off. Seeing ten Red Tailed Hawks a day seems typical for me, but a Cooper is a different story. Noticing very different coloration and a red breast led me to believe that is what I saw. Today I headed back to the same area in Redding to see if by some small chance it may be hunting the same area. Sure enough, there it was, this time only about 20 fee off the ground on the edge of a drive way , as I pulled in and adjusted my light meter he posed. Confirmed, a Coopers Hawk. Interestingly I have learned that a Coopers Hawk was recently removed from the Threatened and Endangered Species List and the population has been increasing over the past few years. Click to images to enlarge

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend
Bill

Coyote in Connecticut

Although I have seen lots of visual sign that coyotes do live around here. I have never actually seen one alive in the wild in this part of the country. Previous photos of coyotes on my site were taken in Wyoming and Montana. As it goes sometimes no matter how prepared you try to be sometimes its just not enough. On my way into the office today I saw my first east coast coyote. I had a very short lens (55mm) and the lighting was terrible at best. Although these images are blurry as you can get I still felt this is an important moment for me to share. Enjoy!!

Three on One

Welcome back to the site. Temperatures have dipped back into the freezing range and most standing water has at least a thin sheet of ice on it. While out shooting this morning at a nature preserve in Danbury I came upon 3 swans making a lot of noise, at first I gave it no mind. But the noise and splashing continued for a few minutes so I decided to investigate. Once I got closer I realized that 3 swans were swimming in the only unfrozen water on the whole pond. This open water just happened to be at the front door of a beaver lodge and he didn't seem to happy to have neighbors so close by. Over and over the swans would chase the beaver under and then the beaver would pop back up and slam his tail down on the water sending a huge splash up in the air trying to send the swans away. It was over in a few more minutes, the beaver went back to working on the lodge. Very fun to see interaction between two very different animals.











Art show will be installed on Monday January 5th...details to follow VERY shortly.
Cheers
Bill

Happy Friday!

Last night I was happy to share this painting with its future owners. Jill and Frank came by the Studio to have a first look. The painting of Zelda is not complete but I felt it was a good point to share it for feed back. My main goals will be to develop a bit more muscle tone in the shoulders and legs. I am also going to refine several areas in the back ground such as the water and leaves. I have had a blast working on this so far. 14 different image references were used to create this composition.

Have a great weekend and stop back soon for a new Birth Of A Painting

Cheers
Bill

Winners Announced

Happy New Year, as promised, the winners of the Contest have been selected and notified. Congratulations to Scott G. in St Port Lucie, Florida who won the calendar. Grand prize winner Laura S. from Dillon, Colorado wins a print of any photo or painting off the site! Thanks to all who entered and keep coming back I plan to have regular contest through out the year
Cheers
Bill

Answer to Contest question:

A tree's roots, branches and twigs can endure freezing temperatures, but most leaves are not so tough. On a broadleaf tree -- say a maple or a birch -- the tender thin leaves, made up of cells filled with water sap, will freeze in winter. Any plant tissue unable to live through the winter must be sealed off and shed to ensure the tree's survival.

As sunlight decreases in autumn, the veins that carry sap into and out of a leaf gradually close. A layer of cells, called the separation layer, forms at the base of the leaf stem. When this layer is complete, the leaf is separated from the tissue that connected it to the branch, and it falls. Oak leaves are the exception. The separation layer never fully detaches the dead oak leaves, and they remain on the tree through winter.