Coffee Painting, Colorado Winters and Shrike

Still Life With Stone Setting
oil on paper 7 x 5 inch
available here

You could say coffee and still life are the themes this month.  I joked about naming the painting below  "Ugly Mug", but I went with a different name to keep it on the positive.  Poor little mug.

Mug With Circle Handle
oil on linen panel 4 x 6 inch
available here

 Of course there has to be figures too when I paint.  I am not sure I will ever stop painting them.

Brew
oil on paper 9 x 12 inch
available here

Here is a recent shot of my art studio.  It is a loft area at our house.  It has lots of southern light.  My poor guitar just sits there.  I quit lessons some time ago when I started working two jobs and would much rather paint in my spare time.  Learning an instrument is a bit comittment, but maybe I will pick it up again some day.

It has been a snowy winter here in Colorado.  I am getting my exercise for sure with all the shoveling.  Our bird feeders are quite busy.  At the Wild Birds store I work at people complain about the squirrels eating all their bird food.  We even sell foods with hot pepper in them to deter the squirrels.  They don't like the taste, but the birds can't taste it.  I don't really mind the squirrels, they have to eat too.

We also have these magnificent Magpies here in Colorado.  They are a large intelligent bird said to know how to mimic sounds.  I have never heard them do that though.  People also complain about these birds because they bully smaller birds at the feeders.  Our Magpies are nice, they don't misbehave.

Another Colorado bird I have really enjoyed seeing is the Northern Flicker.  It is a woodpecker and it has the most beautiful markings and color.  They are fun to watch at the feeders, hanging upside down and such.  How in the world they can eat that way is beyond me.

The trees behind our house often look like this - full of birds.  It is such a joy for me to watch them and photograph them.

Speaking of birds, I am obsessed with this song by Hozier.  He learned about a bird called a Shrike, which is actually a kind of vicious bird.  After hearing about the Shrike, he felt inspired to write a song about heartbreak.  It is such a beautiful and almost haunting song though and I will leave you with this video of him performing it.  Enjoy.

Until next time.  Take care.