The Daily James

 

"James"

"Partners For Life"

A bird can't preen its own head with its bill, so they use their feet to clean head feathers.  In a few social species, like ravens, flock-mates preen each other.

(From:  What Its Like To Be A Bird  by David Allen Sibley)

This post brings you the amazing world of James and Margaret.  I found this pair of ravens on Instagram...

The Daily James

Following this instagram account gives you a daily peek into the lives of the lucky residents of a backyard habitat created by thoughtful animal advocates who reside in the Los Angeles area.  There are many characters to follow.... There's Mumford the Turkey Vulture, Miss Bonita the ground squirrel, and nocturnal creatures captured on cleverly placed cameras near a bubbling water feature.

I encourage you to follow along for a daily dose of joy and to remember that we are not the most important species on this planet....we are just one of many equally important residents.

If you are interested in these pastel paintings please visit my website:

Donna Theresa Fine Art

There are many  more to choose from and I would be so happy if you took a look around!

Chicka-Dee-Dee-Dee

 

"Newcomer"

Pastel 18 x 24 inches

donnatheresafineart.com

Chickadees are the busybodies of the forest, peering into crevices, exploring tangles, studying twigs and pine cones, and constantly chattering about it.  When they aren't nesting, chickadees are quite social, and travel in small groups of up to ten birds.  Other songbirds understand the chickadee's calls and often join their roving groups.  By relying on the chickadees to watch for danger, the other birds have more time to focus on foraging.  This can be particularly helpful to migrants.  A migrating warbler that has just landed in an unfamiliar woodland at dawn can take advantage of the experience of the local chickadees.  Following them as they move through the forest will be relatively safe, and will lead to the best sources of food and water.  

Despite the fact that chickadees are reliable and consistent visitors to bird feeders (they especially like sunflower seeds), more than half of their diet year-round is animal prey.  In the northern winter, they hunt for dormant tiny insects and spiders, including eggs and larvae, which are found in bark crevices and dead leaf clusters, along twigs, and in other such places.  In the summer, they mostly bring small caterpillars to their nestlings (they can collect over a thousand in a day), but for the first week or so after hatching the adults make special efforts to seek out spiders to feed to their young.  Spiders provide the nutrient taurine, which is essential for brain development and other functions.

From: What It's Like To Be A Bird by David Allen Sibley

Each morning I have the pleasure of sipping my morning coffee in front of our large living room window which looks out to our many bird feeders under our front yard oak tree.  With binoculars at the ready, I can delight in the resident chickadees, finches, and titmice while be occasionally surprised by the seasonal visitor like the grosbeak or warbler.  

Birdwatching became an activity that my husband and I now share after our first date when he packed up a lunch and some binoculars and took me to a local lake in San Diego county and introduced me to the world of birds. What a "nerdy" first date, I thought to myself!  As a native to the city of Los Angeles, the only birds I ever knew were represented in horror films like Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"!

This newfound love affair with my now husband has led to a 3 decade long love affair with our winged friends of the sky!  Coming full circle after a career as an ICU registered nurse for 10 years then a full time mom to my two amazing young adult kids, I now find passionate joy in the recreation of my feathered kindred spirits in my art.  It is with great joy that I share this passion with you!

Don't forget to look up at the sky and be grateful for the birds.....

The Wonderful World of Woodpeckers

 "Woody"

 The Acorn Woodpecker, found in the southwestern U.S., has the unique habit of drilling small holes in trees and storing an acorn in each hole.  This species (particularly in California) lives in cooperative groups that include several breeding adults with several non breeding helpers, and all contribute to making holes and gathering acorns.  Acorns are gathered and stored in the fall to be consumed during the winter when few other food sources are available.  This allows the birds to remain on their territory through the winter, and to be healthy enough to breed in the spring.  The success of a breeding group is related to how many acorns they can store.  Holes are drilled in dead limbs or in thick bark, so as not to injure the tree, and they are reused each year.  A relatively small number of new holes are added each year and a group of woodpeckers builds up a large storage capacity over time.  A typical storage tree with four thousand holes could take over eight years to create, longer than most Acorn Woodpeckers live.  The record - an estimated fifty thousand holes in one tree - probably took more than one hundred years to make!

(From What It's Like To Be a Bird by David Allen Sibley)

In our backyard, we provide suet feeders for our resident woodpeckers.  Yesterday, I observed at least three eating at one time from the hanging feeder while two more watched and waited for their turn.

This painting is inspired by these colorful fellows.  I so enjoy their characteristic chatter as they move about our backyard!

This painting measures 4.75 x 3 inches and is available here:

donnatheresafineart.com

Cedar Waxwings and the Make-Up Artist

 

"Make Up Artist"
Original in Soft Pastel
10 x 8 inches

Cedar Waxwings get their name from the small red tips on the feathers of their inner wing, which reminded early naturalists of the red sealing wax used on important letters.  The birds' red markings are not wax, of course, but keratin ( the same substance as the rest of the feather) formed into a solid flat tip and decorated with red pigment.  Carotenoid compounds are common in fruits and seeds, and birds' bodies use these carotenoids to produce the range of red to yellow colors in their plumage.

Waxwings eat mainly fruit, and live an itinerant life, moving continuously through the winter.  They spend most of the year in small flocks simply wandering in search of fruit.  They will stay in an area only as long as the fruit lasts, then wander again in search of the next meal.

(From: What It's Like To Be A Bird  by David Allen Sibley)

This painting is inspired by a flock of these beauties that wandered through our backyard eating the berries of our cypress tree... Waxwings are also known to gorge on pyracantha berries and become "drunk" .  Scientists say that pyracantha berries contain hydrogen cyanide, which may act as a mild neurotoxin in birds if consumed in large amounts...

'Tis the season to be merry....

If you are interested in this painting, please visit my website:

DonnaTheresa Fine Art

Eastern Bluebird and the Color of Blue

 

Bluebird and Blossoms

There is no blue pigment in birds-

all blue color is produced by the microscopic structure of the feathers.  If you find a blue feather, you will notice that it is only blue on one side, and it looks drab brownish when light shines through it.  The bluebird's color relies on the same physical principles as iridescent hummingbird feathers, in which a coherent scattering of light reinforces some wavelengths and diminishes others, but the structure behind it is quite different.  Instead of multiple flat layers of material to reflect light, bluebirds have a spongy layer filled with tiny air pockets and channels.  These air pockets are all about the same size, and together they produce a patterned structure with the correct intervals to match the wavelength of blue light.  Waves of blue light scattered from one air pocket will be in phase with waves of blue light from some of the other air pockets.  Light of other wavelengths will be out of phase and mostly invisible.  Because the air pockets are evenly distributed throughout this spongy layer, the effects on light traveling in any direction are the same.

(From: What It's Like To Be A Bird  by

David Allen Sibley)

Hello friends!

Here is an original pastel painting on paper fresh off the easel of an Eastern Bluebird.  These birds can be seen in Southeast Arizona during migration as well.  I remember a birding excursion that my husband planned that took us to this region.  Up at the crack of dawn daily, we ventured out with binoculars and a packed lunch early to avoid the heat of the desert midday.  The vacation included an upgrade to a convertible which was a delightful surprise.  My husband introduced me to the world of birds and birdwatching.  I now find myself most attracted to the rendering of these feathered friends above other genres, and thus I embark on a commitment of weekly renderings of birds I've seen and studied with an accompanying blog post to share in the joy of art and birds.

This piece is available on my website:

donnatheresafineart.com

Staying in the Joy

 

"Bath Time"

What a time this is we find ourselves in.  You think these birds playing in the bird bath know?

Hardly...

I'm a birdwatcher and a painter.  I paint lots of birds. I sip coffee every morning and watch the birds compete for their turn at the bird feeder.  In fact, since no one is coming to visit anytime soon, we decided to turn the matching conversations chairs towards the front window to look out... 

no sense looking at the adjacent room...

JOY

Where can we find it?

I find it in the simplest of things...mostly I find it watching the natural world carry on despite the follies of

the human kind.  I need to turn away from the machinations of the human world to keep my sense of joy...

That's not to say I don't love humans...some humans, that is, like my dear family and friends and the smiling passers-by...

It's just that the busyness of the animal world, the complete abandon to their survival, the fact that to them I'm just another being moving in space...this captures my attention. 

We have taken over the world, we humans, and it's looking like we need to give it back to the birds...and the wildness that once was.  

I would love to know your thoughts....Please take a moment and click here to visit my collections of paintings...Just take a moment and relax and tell me....Do they bring you joy?  I hope so because it's the reason why I create...Take care and be well...

~Donna Theresa 

A NEW YEAR…A STUDY IN VALUES

Happy New Year my friends in art and life!

I hope this greeting finds you all in good health and good cheer!

Winter is a time for inward reflection for me. Spending more time indoors by a cozy fire with a good cup of coffee and the silence of a winter day allows me to evaluate , reassess, sit, and just be. My exploration of “tonalism” with winter landscape compositions has been my latest painting experience.

Tonalism was a short lived art movement during the early 20th century. Working within a carefully chosen palette of closely related colors, the Tonalists aspired to emulate musicality and inspire contemplation. By arranging color and forms, they believed that landscapes could evoke emotion and suggest deep, cosmic harmonies. Their gentle color schemes and softly brushed contours quickly became popular, influencing musicians and poets. Unlike their contemporaries, such as the Luminists and the Impressionists, the Tonalists favored cool palettes and often chose nocturnal or modest scenes of contemplative quiet. The simplicity and attention to composition found in Tonalism contributed to the abstractions that would develop in 20th-century American modernism.

A limited value range contributed to creating mood and emotion. Value, in art terms, is the lightness or darkness of a particular hue or color.

Using a limited value scale creates a subdued composition with little contrast. It’s much like an overcast winter day. Thus winter landscapes are the ideal way to explore this style. The paintings I share with you here are my attempts in a tonalistic approach to winter landscape.

The new year seems to be the universal time to reflect, renew, re-evaluate….and in this writing as with my previous entries, I often find myself connecting a life as an artist to living life. So many principles correlate.

Values in the human experience can be a compass to a good life. They can be large intangible concepts like kindness and generosity. They can be conditions desired for daily living like a quiet house or a lively one. They can be personality traits you may admire in others. Naming personal values can lead to self awareness and self improvement. I strive to improve in my art practice and in my human practice.

Having said that, I created a mantra for myself:

Be Kind

Be Helpful

No Judgement

No Opinion

What do you value? I would love to hear from you!

As always, I am grateful to share my artful journey with you all and from the bottom of my heart, I wish for you the very best in the New Year.

Cheers!

~Donna Theresa

Summer is Here!

"Gathering" Pastel 15.5 x 11.5 inches

"Ocean Beach"  9 x 12 inches

"Golden Evening" Pastel 9 x 12

In most of the country ( United States ) , summer is hot and sometimes humid...

Here in the coastal haven of Santa Cruz, our summers are naturally cool often waking to foggy mornings that give way to sunshine by midday.

When I first moved to this part of California coming from southern Cal, it was a bit dreary during the summer and I complained..  As time marched on and I aged a bit, I have come to cherish these cool mornings and evenings as it is nature's air- conditioning! I have become less tolerant of heat and so time has placed me in the perfect location!

These recent paintings are my newest additions to my portfolio. Seascapes are a new genre for me and I was spurned on to try them by artist friends and inspiration from other artists in my medium of soft pastel.  I may have found my muse... and to think, the inspiration is in my backyard!

How lucky am I!?

Check out my latest paintings on my gallery page @

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/donna-theresa-9223

Wishing you a cool summer!

Starting off the New Year with a Chirp and a Screech

Happy New Year friends in art and joy! 

I am sharing the joy once again with a few of my paintings.  For the month of January I challenged myself to paint a painting a day for 31 days! Most of these are small little gems....sizes range from 

5 x 7 inches up to 9 x 12 inches. 

This experience gave me so much more than practice.  It gave me a solid goal, a purpose for each day, structure and decision making practice, and the result was rewarding!  Everyday I posted on social media and all my wonderful supporters cheered me on!  All these friends that I only know on my iPhone!  People I will likely never meet.  Yet, each day I reached out and shared and each day they responded with love and support.  

We humans are social pack animals.  We thrive in a group.  We have a biological need to belong.  For some that belonging is narrowed to the virtual world of social media and whereby I really never thought I could belong there....well there I am.  The trick is to stay humble and stay engaged.  It's not a platform to boast or gain "likes"....that stuff is kind of weird...but really if you look at it honestly, it adds some sense of belonging to your life.

Is it real?  That's up to you.  What's real for me at this stage in my life is seeking joy and happiness....and then sharing it.  

"Solstice Twilight" Original Pastel 8 x 10
©DonnaTheresaFineArt
Available @ donnatheresafineart.com

The longest day of the year approaches as the last days of 2018 wind down. As is so inevitable, often we take this time of year in the calm winter days to review our lives over the past year.

Did you set any goals? Did your dreams come true? Was life good to you this past year?

For me, 2018 proved a fruitful and creative year. I wish to thank all of you my friends and art enthusiasts for your support as I continue on my artful journey. Art is meant to be shared. It gives me humble pleasure to share my artistic creations with all of you. If I can shine a little joy and beauty your way every now and then, my efforts are rewarded.

From my heart to yours, thank you and may your season of gratitude be fulfilled…

Happy Solstice and Cheers in the coming of the new year.

DonnaTheresa

Stepping Up My Game!

A Riverview Morning Walk  Pastel 10 x 17

Capitola Palms Pastel 14 x 10

 This past weekend I participated in The Capitola Plein Air Painting competition! For three days I awoke at dawn and headed out for a day of painting putting as much pastel onto paper as I could get done! I produced 8 paintings in 3 days! Phew, I am tired and taking a much needed breather!

Jetty At High Tide  Pastel 8 x 10

Morning Cliff Walk  Pastel 6 x 8

Rail or Trail  Pastel 10 x 11

The other participating artist were the best in this area and beyond, some having flown in to compete in this event! Intimidated? You bet! However, there is something I learned a long time ago in my dance training....if you want to improve, train with better dancers! So too, it is with art...I was honored to be juried into this competition and excited to paint alongside some seasoned professionals. 

Success vs. Satisfaction

"At Peace"  Pastel 12 x 15 © Donna Theresa Fine Art
Available @ donnatheresafineart.com

About a year ago I started my online blog documenting my daily artistic journey. It was a way for me to stay accountable to a practice of daily painting and to see my growth. I did not take on this endeavor with the hopes of people even finding me on the world wide web let alone follow me. As time passed and I shared my images and musings of daily life as an artist and mother, woman, dancer, etc., I was pleasantly surprised to receive positive comments and words of appreciation for the art I was sharing. Sharing is what I wanted to do. Isn’t that what we teach our young children? The native peoples of this land measured success not by what they had but by how much they gave away…

So what is success? Is it sales of artwork or any creative expression ? Or is success giving away our joy and beautiful creations? Are we satisfied with our success? That is, how we define our success determines our satisfaction.

This past weekend I fulfilled one of my yearlong goals I set out when I began this journey of artistic expression. I was juried into our county wide annual Open Studios Tour. I opened my studio and my home to the public and I put my creations on display….And to my surprise I was successful and received many visitors who were buzzing about admiring my work and, yes, buying it! And, yes, that was satisfying. As artists, validation comes with the sales of your creations…for someone to want to display your work in their personal space is a great compliment. However, the satisfaction came with the time and energy I gave away to each and every patron who engaged with me and my work. In the studio, I demonstrated technique as I painted on a work in progress. People were amazed that one could created with sticks of bulky chalk. They wanted to do it too! I spread the good news of the medium of pastel as an accessible medium to create one’s own beauty … one’s own satisfaction.

The weekend of October 20th and 21st is encore weekend…All the artists in the county open their doors again to welcome art enthusiasts to their studios and homes. Again, I will be among them..and that brings me great satisfaction….and perhaps success! Follow along on my artistic journey. Please comment below and get updates when I post.

Cheers,

Donna Theresa

First Few Days of Fall

Picking Time  Pastel 12 x 9 © Donna Theresa Fine Art
Available @
donnatheresafineart.com

First Day of Fall  Pastel 9 x 12 © Donna Theresa Fine Art
Available @
donnatheresafineart.com

Season is defined by change....especially on the cusp in between seasons...I feel that transition most when autumn arrives...It's as if I go to bed one evening and the air is warm and thick with summer only to wake up the next morning with a chill in the air that is thin and crisp and full of the sounds of the waking hours ...The light is more luminous as the sun begins to travel lower in the sky which lends to compelling shapes and shadows to stare at and wonder how to render that....

Change is good. I love change..Travel to new places...rearrange the furniture or if that's impossible at least arrange a new tabletop display...or in my case rotate the many paintings I have in my inventory...the side benefit of being an artist...a never ending supply of wall decor...

Autumn is my favorite season....My birthday is in the fall and my mental calendar starts in the fall. The year starts at the end of September for me...I have to believe that is a leftover memory /feeling from childhood as I anxiously awaited the start of the new school year.  Yes, I was one of those kids who loved school...

So tell me...what's your favorite season and why?

Would love to hear from you.....

Velvet Dreams

"Velvet Dreams"  Original Pastel 15.5 x 12 © Donna Gross
Available @ donnatheresafineart.com

Dreams are like velvet sometimes....fuzzy, unclear, nebulous, a distant memory that fades more and more with each passing moment.

About a year ago this time... or maybe less than a year I decided to pursue my fuzzy, unclear, nebulous, "how can I do that?" dream.... I set realistic goals and a timeline.... I let go of expectations and just put my best foot forward only listening to the voice of joy....the voice that asks..."Does this make me happy?"

For me , that dream started with three goals resulting from my commitment to try and paint everyday...put in the time ... be consistent... set my priorities so that I am pursuing joy, which for me is to paint in the luscious medium that is pastel...to "paint" with a stick of chalk is a visceral experience...my fingers so close but not touching my paper...the feel of the various textures each stick offers because each stick is a handmade piece of art itself....

I digress...

So with that commitment in mind (painting everyday) I set my goals...

Submit my work to juried local and national and even international exhibition competitions....

check..

Develop a website...

check... you can check it out here!

donnatheresafineart.com

Apply and get juried into Open Studios 2018 Santa Cruz County...

check... you can come by my studio!

Slowly those velvet dreams became clearer with every stroke of my pastel stick....

Tell me your velvet dreams

Leave a comment...follow me and subscribe for more musings on life and the artistic journey that gives such joy that I must share it with all of you!

Sunset to Moonrise

"Moonlit Sonata"  Pastel 9 x 12 © Donna Gross
Available @ donnatheresafineart..com

This composition I have tackled before....It used to be a sunset entitled 

"Settling Down"

I recently treated myself to a new set of Terry Ludwig's pastel set of 14 luscious violets.  So I thought I would rework a piece using a different palette. Now the moon rises....and I have named it Moonlit Sonata....Ironically, right now I am plugging away learning Beethoven"s Moonlit Sonata on the piano.  For me, living artistically is the key to my happiness.  Whether playing classical piano or rendering beauty in the landscape with pastels, or dancing ballet....I am in my creative element and that brings me joy.  What brings you joy?  I would love to hear about it....

My Favorite Place

"An Autumn Walk At Wilder Ranch"
Pastel 12 x 12 © Donna Gross
Available at donnatheresafineart.com

Do you have a favorite place?  Perhaps there are more than one.  How lucky one is to find a spot that inspires and rejuvenates.  A place that brings renewal and peace.

We all know the state of affairs in the world.  Well, the very young are spared the drama.  

Oh to be that young again..... As my young adult son claims, "Growing up is hard."

I agree.  I've done my time in the trenches of life. Now I am so lucky to be on the other side of that growth and struggle.  Now, I find myself in growth without the struggle. 

Sure aging has it's challenges, and I am lucky to have good health, but I am talking about feeling like one has a place in the world....a sense of belonging.

It took me well into my fourth decade of life to have that sense of belonging...and it began when I started a family of my own.  So to my young adult son I say..."Thank you for anchoring my life and giving it purpose...don't worry , it will all be ok...you have a place always..in my heart."

New Brighton Beach

"New Brighton Beach"  Pastel 9 x 12 © Donna Gross
Available @ donnatheresafineart.com

 Investing in art materials is just that , an investment Living in beautiful Santa Cruz California calls for painting outdoors. So I invested in the product most plein air pastelists buy ....a fancy Heilman pastel box The fun part is loading the box with my personal selection of favorite sticks. I then created my “art bag”...hat, paper, gloves, towels, apron , support to put paper on , etc.  For days now, I have been driving by this spot on a cliff overlooking the beach nearest my home and imagining setting up there and painting. This painting is the result of that dream. My first outing with my plein air set up.

Fields of Lavendar

Lavendar Lane Pastel 8 x 10 © Donna Gross
Available donnatheresafineart.com

Today's piece brings Provence home...

Autumnal Chill

" Colorful Promenade"   Pastel  5x7  © Donna Gross
Available contact artist

The weather is beginning to "turn" ....I mentioned to my husband  this morning....As our Earth turns , so does our weather and the daily experience of living .  We are sleeping with the windows closed now for the first time in maybe 5 months.....I awake with 3 of our 4 felines molded to my sleeping body seeking warmth...For me, autumn has always been an exciting time....Time for a new school year...Time for another birthday....Halloween and the perfusion of the color orange in everything ...pumpkins, leaves, leaves and more leaves that seem to accumulate only in my front yard!!
I feel giddy at night when it is time to hop into my p.j.'s and curl up with a book feeling an overwhelming almost breathtaking  realization that I have a home...a roof over my head....warm blankets and food...
It is with this immense gratitude that I sit at my easel everyday to paint.  How lucky am I to have discovered this passion at this time in my life....for it is simply never to late to find your creative self...don't wait until whatever you think you have to wait for....just do it....create in any way that pleases you....and be grateful....

Revisiting an Older Piece of Art

"Dust in My Sandals"
Available@ donnatheresafineart.com

Preparing for an upcoming Open Studio , I am building my original art inventory .  Referring to previous original works I have completed, I am reinventing the image .  Using a larger piece of high quality archival sanded paper by Pastelmat
 ( 15.5" x 12"), I am finding this a most rewarding practice. Improving upon already existing work builds skills and most of all confidence. It helps me to see the pastel marks that I made on the previous piece versus working from a photo. It's a more direct instructional experience for me. To reproduce a piece of art relieves me of the interpretation needed to paint from a photo. To practice what one has already accomplished with a measurable bit of success is confidence building.  As an artist , half of the challenge is having such confidence. Confidence to even claim my place in the world as a creative person...an artist ... to me that takes some moxie, some gumption, some confidence!