Bluebirds & Apple Blossoms

The blossoms on my heirloom crab apple tree have long since faded and its now covered in hundreds of tiny green apples. She’s been working hard for months now, preparing her food for autumn, when the summer supplies of brambles and chokecherries have all been picked clean.

The Eastern Bluebird has made fewer trips into the open spaces at my woods edge lately, but I can count on his reliability each year to be among the first spring arrivals. This year, I spotted him before I even saw my first Robin. His showy blue feathers striking against the brown monochrome landscape of the early season; a harbinger of the promise of a new life-giving cycle.

The apple blossom and the bluebird; Each spring they flash onto a dreary Midwest landscape with promise and predictability, bringing with them beauty, wonder, abundance, and stability. Extending their gifts freely, they give unconditionally and only ask us to appreciate and accept them in return.

“But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.”   – Job 12:7

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Wood Thrush & Pokeberry

Two new species that 2019 brought to our property was the ever elusive Wood Thrush and the little appreciated Pokeberry plant, providing me with further inspiration, wonder, and understanding. I’ll let this post rest there and leave you with my latest work.

 

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11

Gray Catbird

This painting was fun to work on, as this guy has become one of my favorite birds here. The Gray Catbird migrates to SW Wisconsin every spring, and our property has become a favorite hangout of theirs. Dark gray in color, they are easy to miss among the more colorful bird species, but if you take the time to watch and listen, you’ll find they make up for it in character. Their characteristic “cat-like” call is where they get their namesake, and while walking through the woods, or even down my drive, I always know where to spot them because I can hear them first. And if you ever get the opportunity to observe one up close, the subtleties in their color are a beautiful understatement, and they might just have a berry in their mouth!