Wednesday, December 5, 2012

One Snowy Day

Here it is December already! It's the most wonderful time of the year (as the song goes) when we celebrate Christmas, getting together with family and friends, drink hot chocolate, gather around warm, toasty fires and look for that first winter snow. In my house there's all of that plus there's the hope that a large, white bird from the Arctic will fly further south than usual and end up somewhere near my area. I'm talking....Snowy Owl!
One Snowy Day  8" x 10" Acrylic - $200.00




As many of you remember last year about this time snowy owls were showing up all around the country in great numbers. It's called an "irruption". We had at least four show up within thirty minutes driving distance from my home and, as you may recall, I became quite obsessed with finding one. I was finally rewarded for my efforts and was able to find three of the four and took dozens of photos in anticipation of creating a painting featuring one of these Arctic wonders. 

This year the owls have returned again and so far there are three confirmed in my immediate area. I have had time to search for one and watched it hunting far out in a field, but too far for photos. There have been others sighted further from my home including one that has chosen a school in Spokane, WA for it's daily perch and has drawn quite a crowd to watch it every day. They are such fascinatingly beautiful creatures, who can resist?

The painting in this post features one of the birds I saw in Anatone, WA. last year sitting on a rocky outcropping that is a common perch to both the tundra where they live and to my area. It's a cold, gray, snowy day and this owl is right at home watching for some movement in the snow that might be it's next meal. It is 8" x 10" and is painted in acrylic. And seeing how it's the gift giving season this beautiful painting would make a fantastic gift for a bird loving friend or family member!