watercolor

by

Painting During Loss

2.5 months ago my baby brother, age 44, was told by his doctors that there was not a thing they could do for the colon cancer that he had battled for some time. His wife and 5 children chose to do home hospice so that they could be with him (covid rules-grrr). This past Wednesday he passed away after a valiant fight. I have learned to despise cancer!

My way of dealing with this was to spend time painting him as I remember him, and pushing myself to get better at portraiture through this, trying again and again. I want to use this grief as a force for good instead of letting it sink me. So hang in there with me, I will be posting more Inktober soon, and my brother will be my subject more than once, I am sure.

FUNDRAISER FOR THE FAMILY

For those who feel to help his widow and children, I have included our fundraiser. Thank you!

by

Bandits

This is Notch – I think she may be a first time mother. She has at least 2 babies so she got bold enough to come up to the deck. It seems they get hungry about this time of year. I also see them in the deep winter when the snow is thick. Otherwise, they only visit at night. How do I know? My tomatoes growing on my second story deck keep disappearing.

by

Blackpoll Warblers

20200517_193939

During the shutdown I have not been birding like normal, other than off my back deck. However, the back wild space has delivered in spades – actually, in what we birders call “lifers” (the first time you spot a species.)

We had a couple of Blackpoll Warblers go through last week, giving a brief, yet very delightful glimpse as they paused on their travels from S. Am. to Canada.