This is a watercolor painting I did after I was inspired at the Little Red Schoolhouse yesterday. It is called, "Little Red Schoolhouse Winter Tree" and was painted on a 12x9 piece of watercolor paper.
There are a few main things I wanted to bring out in this painting. First, I love the shape of the oak and how our heavy snow storm has left a few inches on all major branches. Second, I love the amber grasses peaking through the snow, that was real fun to paint, flick, flick, flick! Third, I also love a misty background and the snow covered fence.
Here is the actual photo I used for reference.....
As you can tell, the real photo does not have a misty background. That's when you just whip out you artistic license! Now the oak doesn't have to compete with the background trees.I think there must be a painting hiding in every square foot of the Little Red Schoolhouse grounds, it is an endless source of inspiration for an artist, poet, writer, and hiker!
"Little Red Schoolhouse Winter Tree" watercolor painting is available on Christine Kane Art.
P.S. Don't forget to vote tomorrow!
My beloved, the Little Red Schoolhouse of Willow Springs, IL is under construction!
I almost gathered a tear. I've never seen her like this before. So stark and naked. "It's for your own good," I said, "you'll be stronger and better than ever."
No trails to the north open during construction, I bet the wildlife is a little bit giddy about this. Oh well, we'll just walk on the south trail, that's all!
Just how beautiful is this?
Too beautiful, I say.
Lots and lots of snow makes for an awesome landscape scenery. This is part of the south parking lot trail of the Little Red Schoolhouse. At this spot there is a pond to your right and a fenced in field to your left. It is neat to see all the wildlife trails and no human trails behind the fence.
Here is a close up of the fence which reveals just how much snow we've received within the last few days. Baby oak saplings are half buried in the background. The weight of the snow is just dropping off the fence. It is very, very quiet now...I hear a chickadee say, "chick-a-dee-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee-dee."
I smile.
On the snow of the post, I take my finger and draw a smiley face for the chickadee to view while flying above.
:)
Today I went to Little Red Schoolhouse in Willow Springs, IL. They had a free presentation called Falcon Fun. Oh, I had fun alright! Here is the Falcon of the night, Ms. Kestrel. She is 8 years old and has a broken wing. This kestrel is 8 inches long and weighs about 4-5oz. The schoolhouse takes care of her and other injured birds because otherwise she wouldn't have a chance in the wild.
This beautiful lady eats young "fuzzy" mice provided by the schoolhouse nature center every day and leaves a wonderful pellet as a present. Pellets are regurgitated hairballs with intact prey bones. So cool. Much more interesting than the hairballs I find around the house left by my kitty.
The Kestrel is the smallest of the falcons and a permanent resident here in Illinois. Sometimes it is referred to as the "sparrow kestrel" because of it's small size. Naturalist Steve also talked about some other popular raptors in our area....
Ahhhhhhhh! What on earth? This is a real owl skull with fake eye balls. Notice the bone around the eyes. It's called something that I forgot. The main point is that this bone prevents the owl from moving his eyes, therefore he moves his whole head. Contrary to popular belief he cannot move his head completely around (360 degrees) but really only 270 degrees, so says Naturalist Steve. He can hear up to 7x what humans can and flies silently thanks to....
His wings! You can't tell from this photo but it's really huge! If I had to guess, about 2 feet. The very top has a fringed edge, not shown in picture, this awesome built in, standard feature in all owl models, keeps them silent when in flight. Easier to sneak up on you my prey!
Here is an owl talon compared to a red tail hawk's. You don't want to be in their grasps! Notice how "hairy" the owl's leg is to the left. For two reasons, probably more than that but I only remember two; one is another silent mechanism to prevent a noisy flight, they're not the most gracious fliers and need all the help they can get, and two for warmth. I had the best time and really learned a lot thanks to the the Little Red Schoolhouse and Naturalist Steve:)
Hope you enjoyed too!
For my very first posting, I'm going to talk about my very most favorite place, the Little Red Schoolhouse in Willow Springs, IL. This picture is a pastel painting I did while sitting outside, en plein air. I have been going here ever since I was a small fry. This little gem of a place is an old schoolhouse converted into a nature center. The house has live and previously living stuffed wildlife. Some of which are: turtles (live), frogs (live), snakes (live), crow (live), and fawn (stuffed), etc. You can also find much information about whats going on in the wilderness at that particular time in the season. The Little Red Schoolhouse also host many classes for young and old alike. Next, we'll move outside. The grounds hold 3 main trails, the longest being about 1.25 miles long. I love, love, love to go on days when slightly raining when NOBODY is there. Just me and the animals. I've encountered deer, finks, several species of birds, fish, snakes and so on. Right in back of the house are three cages, two house owls and one houses a red tail hawk. Next to the cages is a large fence-in garden with arbors and a bench and really neat things growing which I cannot nearly do as well in my own garden. The best part about the Little Red Schoolhouse is that it is FREE. What do we like better than free? They are open 7 days a week 8-4:30pm but the schoolhouse is closed in Fridays. Maybe you would like to pay a free visit?
