381 Occupied

We have nests in our gutters where they meet a corner of the house.  In many past Springs, we found baby birds by the back door, kicked out of the nest by mother.  So sad.  Mother Nature can be so cruel.

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http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/381-occupied/236330

380 Abandoned

I am writing this prior to the finished painting so I can remember this moment.  It is a perfect day as I paint my little abandoned housefinch nest on the patio.  A mourning dove has just taken occupancy in our gutter, his hooo OOOO oooo, reverberating with such soothing and perfect painting music.  Other birds are busy flying too and fro.  Oliver doesn't like the mourning dove and has just scared him/her away.

p.s.  It was really hard to represent the down that is woven into this nest. 

To be directed to the Daily Paintworks site or to purchase, click here:  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/380-abandoned/236187

379 Whirlygigs

It was another perfect day and a joy to be outside.  I love nature and learn so much from observation on my walks.  The maple seeds are very small this year, and although I had never noticed red ones before, I was happy to have the complementary palette decided for me.  The oak trees have dropped their messy little fuzzies, and on the neighbor's lawn, they were so perfectly placed that they resembled fishnet stockings. Happy Spring!

To get to the Daily Paintworks site, or to purchase, click here:  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/379-whirlygigs/235965

378 Empty Nest

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377 Empty Nest With Feather

Today was an absolutely glorious day.  I blew off all my other responsibilities and sat on the patio and painted for most of the day with Oliver by my side.  The breeze, other than disturbing my still life, was lovely.

I am so happy that, once again, the beautiful song birds are populating our neighborhood.  For the last couple of years, we had sharp shinned hawks across the street from us.  (Wish I had a feather or two.)  Although it was fascinating to watch them pluck fresh twigs from trees to make the nest, and even more fun to see the fledglings fly for the first time, I was sad to see the the songbird population dwindle significantly.  An advantage to having hawk neighbors was that they took care of the rabbits too.
No such luck this year.

Here is a link to Daily Paintworks and to purchase:  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/377-empty-nest-with-feather/235497
   

376 Two Feathers and an Egg

I am running out of feathers to paint!  The painted feathers have a little shimmer to them, which I love.
To be directed to the daily paintworks site, or to purchase, click here:  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/376-two-feathers-and-an-egg/235345

375 Desperate Measures

It took a great deal of patience and resourcefulness to retrieve these red feathers from our window well.  Last year, a beautiful male cardinal got stuck in there while snacking on fallen birdseed.  We tried to free him by lifting the enormously heavy iron grate, but he crashed into it while trying to escape, and died very quickly.  It was so sad.

My stash of feathers is void of red feathers, so today I remembered the cardinal, and I was very determined to retrieve whatever I could from this beautiful bird. "Desperate times require desperate measures."

Click here to go to Daily Paintworks site, or to purchase:    http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/375-desperate-measures/235082