In the news

Earlier this month the Cornell Lab of Ornithology launched a contest, to win an enrollment in their newest online course The Wonderful World of Hummingbirds:
This “self-paced course features instructional videos, photo galleries, and interactive learning tools that reveal new dimensions of hummingbird life. Experience hummingbirds’ flashy transformations and discover the feather structures behind the magic, get up to speed on how they fly, and see how their bizarre tongues work. You’ll learn how to attract and protect them, plus receive special photography tips. This course is designed for anyone interested in hummingbirds and delivers a fun, science-infused look at these “flying jewels”.”

Although not about painting these gorgeous birds per se, any learning that helps me to understand an animal’s anatomy and behaviour will help me to better portray it – in my own way – with my watercolours.

Last winter I participated in a weekend watercolour painting workshop on owls, and was fascinated by how much the positioning of their feathers affects how they reflect light; this is important when trying to paint a realistic or semi-realistic bird.

To participate in this hummingbird course contest, all I had to do was share my own photo or other artwork featuring a hummingbird on social media – and tag the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

We only rarely see hummingbirds this far north, and only one variety; the ruby-throated hummingbird. I’ve never seen one land or settle for long enough to get a decent photo, but last summer a hummingbird visited our gardens over several days and I was able to create a watercolour sketch of its flight path as it flitted among the hosta flowers near our patio. I shared that painting, as my entry into the hummingbird contest.

A few days after tagging them on my “Hummingbird Flight Path” painting, I received a surprise message from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology… my little painting had won an enrollment in their new course.

That weekend, my dad passed away suddenly, so I haven’t had the heart to start this self-paced online course yet – nor to really paint again.

I’m slowly working my way back to my art practice, adding the finishing touches to some recent watercolours. And reorganizing portions of my studio space, something that I tend to do these days whenever I need some time to think.

Once I get back into the swing of things, I look forward to starting this course on hummingbirds – and to fulfilling a promise I made to a distant family member a few months back, to paint a hummingbird for their new home.

Stay tuned for some paintings of hummingbirds, over the next few months.