Cedar Waxwings in the Red-Hot Poker flowers, seed heads forming… Hillsboro, OR. 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.

I’ve seen this only twice, for just one or two mornings during Spring when the Red-Hot Poker flowers are at their peak. This is why I have my camera handy at all times. Wings fluttering, the birds would lose their balance and change positions as the tall stocks bent from their weight, hovering briefly to sip the nectar of the fresh flower buds. Last summer I watched Cedar Waxwings hovering beside branches to eat tree berries, and on another occasion, flying out to catch bugs in mid-air. Some things you only see once, and it feels so special to be in the right place at the right time.

Kananaskis Valley near Banff, Alberta Canada – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white wood frame, crackle finish.

Prairie Dogs, also called gophers, the Badlands Hoodoos near Drumheller, Alberta Canada. 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W inches.

The geography in this area of Alberta is incredible, and the gophers are so very much a part of prairie ecology. They are cute to be sure, but they dig their homes in fields and are a nuisance to farmers whose horses and cattle can trip and break their ankles and legs.

You know Spring has finally arrived when the roads and highways are littered with gopher roadkill. In Torrington, Alberta, one lady has found a creative way to manage that. You must visit The World-Famous Gopher Hole Museum located in the middle of nowhere, in a small prairie hamlet where there is not even a gas station, barely noticeable along a seemingly endless dusty gravel road. Gophers are stuffed, sporting handmade costumes and placed in small cubicles displaying historic scenes. Completely bizarre, but actually very well done and absolutely worth the trip.

Feeding Cockatoos, Apollo Bay, along the Great Ocean Road, Australia – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb watercolor paper.

Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper

According to written information about this amazing place, the 100 metre deep (330 ft), 150 M (490 ft) wide gorge formed a billion years ago, when earth split due to advancing glaciers, then most likely the tremendous amounts of water released during their retreat, and erosion of the slabs by wind and rain.

It was a rainy day, so the park was tourist-free, and I was able to experience the park alone. In a meditative state of mind, foggy atmosphere enhanced the sense of mystery. I imagined the violent forces that created this wonder, and within the scale of a few small moments, tried to comprehend how much time a billion years is.

Campfire Smoke, Yosemite National Park CA, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.

Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white wood frame, crackle finish.

Wyoming Rockscape, Bighorn National Forest, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on watercolor paper

Shepperd’s Dell Falls, East Historic Columbia River, Corbett, Oregon – 24H x 18W inches soft pastels on paper. Interesting that a change as trivial as flipping the format to portrait threw me off my game for a bit, and it took a while to adapt.

Two pieces will be showing at the Landscapes of the Mind exhibition at the First Floor Gallery, Santa Clarita city hall December 2020 through March 19, 2021. Here is the link to the virtual exhibition (work shown is not to scale). My two pieces, The Campsite and Winter Forest: Dogwood, both watercolors, are located just to the right as you enter, behind the central walls.

The Sound of Silence – 2009, 36H x 24W x 2D acrylics on canvas, trim frame

Five pieces were accepted into the J. Mane Gallery online exhibition Abstracts 2020 showing through December. All are available for sale, listed on the left sidebar.

Birch – 2012, 12H x 16W inches watercolors and Multnomah Falls – 2017, 18 x 24 inches watercolors

Queen Anne’s Lace – 2018, 14H x 20W watercolors and Spring Garden Mix – 2013, 18H x 24 oil pastels