Our Growing Osprey Family

Posted on June 27, 2013 by foresterartist

pen and ink, osprey, fledgling, art, artist

The Fledgling.

The osprey chicks don’t look much like chicks anymore. They are nearly fledglings.

Feeding the babies.

Parent brings a fish. They have grown fast and eat the fish on their own.

Careful where you stand while taking pictures.

Projectile poop keeps the nest clean.

Sorry, didn’t see you there, hehehe.

Wing exercise is important preparation for that first flight.

The osprey parents are constantly flying in and out with fish.

We hit a hot spell a little while back, 109 F one day and 111 F the next. Osprey will fluff up their feathers and pant like a dog in the heat. When it gets that hot one of the osprey parents will stay in the nest and shade the chicks.

It’s been hot here!

It’s really hot on the tower.

This hot neighboring osprey shades it’s babies.

Wildflowers To Welcome Summer

Posted on June 22, 2013 by foresterartist

Tiger Lily, nature, wildflower, photography

The Tiger Lily

Bleeding Hearts, nature, wildflower, nature, photography

Wild Bleeding Hearts

Deer Brush

Poppy, California Poppy, nature, wildflower, photography

The California Poppy. The state flower of California.

Wild Rose, nature, wildflower, photography

The Wild Rose

Come Hang Out With Us

Posted on June 20, 2013 by foresterartist

Publishing Birdies and Beasts

Posted on June 20, 2013

Replay the Fun
The Backdoor Artist and I joined Mark Mitchell of
Make Your Splashes, Make Your Marks
You’re Invited to replay the Free Q&A

RECORDED June 20, 2013
Publishing Birdies and Beasts

Mark Mitchell, illustrator extraordinaire and proprietor of Make Your Marks, Make Your Splashes Illustration Course Interviewed Mary Livingston, The Backdoor Artist, and me Thursday, June 20, 2013.

Try Pro Bono Art

Posted on June 19, 2013 by foresterartist

Have you ever done pro bono artwork. It is an excellent way to get positive exposure. As artists we have all done artwork for friends or family as gifts. Try taking it one step further and do some artwork for your community, church or charitable organizations.

Pen and ink, traction engine, historic, logging, lumber

A steam traction engine hauling lumber.

The pen and ink shown above was done to aid the Shingletown Historical Society, a small community historical society that works to preserve their community legacy. They are a small organization with dedicated volunteer members. They have more enthusiasm than money. At the time, Red Tail Publishing still did book manufacturing for other independent publishers, a service that has been discontinued. The historical society hired Red Tail to do a reprinted edition of Way Back When, a book about the local history, written by Myrtle McNamar over fifty years ago. The original cover art was lost long ago and the previous reprints of the cover were reprints of reprints. At one point the only copy of the cover art was on a tee-shirt that had been produced for a fund-raiser. The cover art had become so degraded that an acceptable copy could not be produced. Mary, of Red Tail Publishing, asked if I would like to create a new piece of cover art for the project, and I agreed. We used an old photo provided by the historical society as a basis. I flipped it around and changed the background to make it work for the cover, and you can see the results below. The Shingletown Historical Society, at no charge, got permission to use my illustration for their book, but I kept all rights to the art.

I have done other art donations, such as illustrations for our church newsletter, and donations of artwork and commission work for local non-profits. Being an artist has not been my primary career, so I have been able to do this simply because I want to. It is a gratifying way to give back and a nice thing to support local organizations that in turn are trying to help others. It is also a great way to get your art seen by folks and to build good will. Who knows, you might even get published.

Here is a link to the Shingletown Historical Society, also here.

The Tiger Lily

Posted on June 10, 2013 by foresterartist

Tiger Lily

The Tiger Lily is one of my favorite wild flowers. It is a late bloomer in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and it prefers riparian zones. When it blooms I am compelled to pick a batch to bring home to my honey. In fact, it is the one I like to bring her the most. That is why I picked this flower to paint. Now Mary can have them all year. I sketched this painting a number of years ago. It is based on a picture I took a long time ago and have since lost. Without the original photo I had to wing it. I hope Mary likes it. I think it is the last watercolor that I had started, but not completed. It is now time to move on to new works.

Osprey Baby Picture!

Posted on May 30, 2013 by foresterartist

I’ve been watching, taking pictures and watching some more to get a shot of the osprey chicks. Mostly, what I got was this.

Osprey, photography, nature, wildlife, osprey chick

The Look! Are you lookin’ at me!

Sitting on the poles eating fish. It’s all good fun but where are the chicks?

What’s for lunch? Fish of course.

Then yesterday a chick got high enough on the nest to get a shot. I have seen them through the nest since last week, but I couldn’t get a clear picture.

Finally, a baby picture!

Not the sharpest picture, but a start. It looked like she was feeding two, but I never got a look at another.

Blue skies from now on.

I was planning a sketch of the view through the nest from last week, since I couldn’t get a shot. This was the rendition I was planning. A quick and dirty sketch of the scene with a few less sticks.

Osprey, pen and ink, ink, nature, wildlife, osprey chick

Feeding Time

This is also my Thursday drawing for Z’s challenge for art at Zeebra Design.

FIRE At The Mill!

Posted on May 23, 2013 by foresterartist

We weren’t expecting to have a fire threaten the mill. The photos below tell the story.

Firefighters in pencil.

I added this sketch of the firefighters after “Z” at Zeebra Designs called for folks to draw in her post Time Out For Art – YOU CAN DO THIS. Here you go Z!

The rain has been replaced by wind and dry conditions once again. Fire returned, only this time instead of in the woods, it was at the mill. With winds blowing 25 to 30 mph a fire broke out at the mill next door and was being blown right at our site.

fire, mill, photography, wildfire, firefighters

The fire started next door.

It was all hands on deck. The crew poured in from all over the plant site to fight the fire.

Everybody pitch in.

Hoses were laid and water was flowing onto the fire. Soon, the regular fire crews arrived on scene.

This firefighter is patrolling for spot fires.

We were afraid the fire would spread into the pole stacks, or God forbid, the chip pile.

fire, mill, photography, wildfire, firefighters, fireline

Clearing fireline.

Our dozer was building a fireline in case the fire tried to jump the canal.

fire, mill, photography, wildfire, firefighters, logging truck

The logging trucks had to stop while the fire was being fought.

The air tanker arrived ready to drop fire retardant.

Air tanker

The effort continued on the ground and we held the fire at the edge of our mill site.

Eating smoke.

Then the Helicopter arrived with the Bambi Bucket.

Air support.

The helicopter was scooping water from the Sacramento River to dump onto the fire.

fire, mill, photography, wildfire, firefighters, logging truck, helipoter

Making the drop.

With the spread of the fire was stopped, mop up operations began.

Mop up operations.

fire, mill, photography, wildfire, firefighters, logging truck, fire engine, mop up

Mopping up is putting out all the smoldering embers.

Our crew moved fast to get water on the fire and the fire department responded quickly. Together we were able to stop the fire before it could get into our yard. As a result of everyone’s quick action this wasn’t a big problem for us. I’m not certain how the neighbors fared, but I think they did okay also.

The crew at the other mill were busy battling the fire in their chip pile.

This is just another reminder that we are in for a long fire season this year.

A WIP Times Two

Posted on May 18, 2013 by foresterartist

My wounded paw.

That’s my hand with the bandage. If you are thinking that some emotionally motivated gesticulating by the digit wrapped in gauze was the cause for the bandage, then I’m going to disappoint you. No, Mary did not do me bodily harm, nor was it the result of some road rage incident. I had a cyst and bone spur removed. I know, considering which finger it was, I could have come up with a whopper of a story. You are welcome to speculate wildly if you don’t believe me. Now I have two WIP. One is the watercolor in the photo and the other is my hand. It looks pretty swollen in the picture. Fortunately, I am right-handed so progress continues.

Those aren’t my tears from the procedure. I’m a big boy and only cry during tragic dog movies. I took these pictures during the rain storm last week. It helped bring an end to the fires that were burning here.

Manzanita flowers in the rain.

That night after my surgery, when we went to bed it started raining again. It was hot in the house so I opened the window to let the cool air in. My hand ached and it kept me awake. The lightning flashed in the distance and the thunder rumbled through the sky. The sound of the rain falling outside was so peaceful that I finally drifted off.

Battle Creek Meadows

This rain has been a relief and has delayed our oncoming drought. Soon it will be dry again.

In the clouds.

Just the girls and I.

Tim, Teka and Blitz.

The Return of the Sandhill Cranes

Posted on April 30, 2013 by foresterartist

Sandhill Crane

The Sandhill Cranes returned to Northeastern California late this Winter. I have been fortunate enough to see them on several occasions.

A lone crane feeding at Poison Lake.

Sandhill Cranes

Poison Lake

Cranes with friends.

Which way do we go?

Solitude

Ruffled feathers

I think Big Bird must have been a crane.

Poison Lake

Sandhill Cranes of Ash Creek Wildlife Area.

Buddy The Wayward Wolverine

Posted on April 26, 2013 by foresterartist

Meet Buddy, The Wayward Wolverine

Buddy The Wayward Wolverine is based on the real life lone wolverine living in California. Nobody knows how he got here. He is related to the wolverines of the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. This is the fantastical tale of Buddy’s journey. Written by Maryᴀ Livingston, The Backdoor Artist, and Amanda Shufelberger, the main Buddy biologist. Illustrated by yours truly the Forester Artist.

We will be at a book signing at the Whole Earth and Watershed Festival, in Redding, California at City Hall on Saturday, April 27th from 10am to 4pm. Come down to the Red Tail Publishing booth if you are in the area.

Buddy The Wayward Wolverine is also available at REDTAIL.COM.