Fishing Lessons

 "Joy"

One of the joys of living in Western Washington is the variety of bird life here. We keep track of each species we find here at home, and watch our feathered friends with great joy and awe.

Tasty morsel of crab.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch a group of Great Blue Herons fishing at low tide... one of those magical days when sunshine, moderate temperatures and a "low" low mid-day tide happened to coincide - the perfect chance to view the herons at work.

Fishing lessons... doesn't the little one look a bit bewildered?

Stalking worms (!)

Mealtime tug-of-war... herons three, worms zero.

I had the camera resting on the dock rail for stability and used auto-focus capability "sans eyeglasses." Due to the lack of prescription eye-wear at the time, I couldn't tell exactly what the herons were eating, but assumed they were pulling some type of mollusks from their shells.

 The second-biggest worm of the day.

 What I thought at first was a mollusk body...

  Biggest catch of the day - a large, tasty sea worm.  (EEEwwwww! No more walking in the mud for me!)

Wrong! Once we downloaded the pictures and zoomed in, I realized that their tasty morsels looked like small, red snakes. After a bit of online research, I realized they had been catching polychaete worms. Who knew? It blew my mind that we've lived here for ten years and I've never seen these large sea worms before. You can be sure I'll be thinking about that the next time I think about dangling my toes in the water!

This juvenile was getting a bit aggravated by this point, not having much fishing success.

Juvenile camouflaged in muddy plumage -and just look at those muddy "leggings" - aren't they great?

Squabble between the siblings, which ended in one of them flying off in a huff.

The hour of watching was a dramatic one, complete with squabbles between juvenile herons as well as heron-gull tiffs. The gulls were relentless, each following their "own" heron, leaning in upon each catch hoping to snag leftovers or snatch the prey from the inexperienced juveniles. The juveniles were awkward and didn't have much success at the dinner buffet, but from the amount of worms the adults swallowed I have no doubt there was dinner for all back at the nest last evening.

"Mine."  "Mine."   "Mine."

Ratio of gulls to herons - 1:1

A few words were said to the gull beyond the picture frame at right; amusingly enough, the gull above seems undaunted by the harsh reprimand.  ("Who, me?")

A bit perturbed, this heron had finally had enough of the gull invading his personal space.

Gulls - nature's "Peripersonal Space Invaders"

My favorite picture of the day; I love the way the light reflects on the rippled water and the water reflects on the heron's under-body as it flies past.   And honestly, who wouldn't love those long, lanky legs and "turkey feet?"

Hope you enjoyed our little outing - thanks for visiting!

One More New Blog.....

Hi Everyone, I have one more new blog.... this one is dedicated to nature and natural wonders of the world. I love science and the beauty and complexity of the world around us.

First up: the giant Cave of Crystals in Naica, Mexico.

"Have you ever thought about what it would be like to miniaturize yourself and climb right into the middle of (or even live inside of) a geode? I used to daydream about such things as a child, while holding one of these fascinating, crystal-laden rocks in my hands. Sometimes, dreams do come true...."

http://mudbayworldwonders.blogspot.com/

Thanks for Stopping By!

Joys of Spring

Take time to smell the blossoms...

Art Fest Art Feast!

The Castle at Fort Worden

I'm still basking in the glow of art-euphoria from my time at Art Fest a couple of weeks ago. Three full days of art classes at Fort Worden in gorgeous Port Townsend, WA, immersed in a temporary community (a glamorous way of saying we all stayed together in military housing) of five hundred and seventy other enthusiastic, art-loving souls.

My little home-away-from-home

In the throes of the excitement of this being my first Art Fest experience, I didn't take hardly any pictures. Too much other exciting stuff going on to think about something as "mundane" as a camera... in other words - I was having so much fun that I forgot! However, here are some quick shots of some of the incredible student work displayed at the retreat's gallery on our last evening, which will give you a taste of what goes on during the day. (My apologies to the artists for the military dining hall-lit/over-the-head/under-the-arm/through-the-crowd pics...)

As you peruse these images, imagine the individual artists' experiences and enthusiasm in creating each of these pieces under the tutelage of some amazing teachers, multiply that energy by nearly 600 people from all walks of life from all over the world, multiply that by three days of classes and four evenings of gatherings, impromptu creating, and trading tiny pieces of artwork and supplies at every available opportunity... and you have an idea of what Art Fest is all about.

Artwork from students taught by: Bee Shay, Misty Mawn, Tracy Batista, and LK Ludwig:

Lulu Moonwood

Sorry - missing the name of this artist

Nancy Brister

Heather Foust

Betsy Spencer

Barb Brister

Nelly Eisenhower


Lorna Sommer

Students' in Stephanie Lee's class created their own Santos:


Sorry - missing the name of this artist


Also missing this artist's name... creator of perhaps the first Jackalope Santos - ever...

Melody

from Alex Shur's spontaneous watercolor class:

(I'm SO embarrassed to have forgotten this lovely artist's name, especially after our wonderful evening conversations. If anyone knows this artist from Dorm 202, please email me!)

The technique involved quickly puddling colors, then looking at the puddles and painting in details of "what you see" - rather like seeing shapes in clouds. I was so blown away by this gorgeous cat - and the artist had never painted or used watercolors before. Isn't this amazing? It's truly one of my "very favorite things" from the entire week.

Robert Smith's students made the most fascinating items out of wire and...
sausage casings! (Who knew?)

Tory Breckenshire's illuminated octopus

Jennifer Cabezas

Jennevieve Schlemmer

Pretty in Red!
Students of Richard Salley, Pamela Huntington, Gina Rossi Armfield and Linda & Opie O'Brien

Linda Freeman
Linda's show-stopper (literally) mixed-media collage. She used pieces from decorative tin cans, vintage Christmas light reflectors and other elements to perfection. As always, Linda - such a stunning piece!

Morag Campbell
Morag's sweet portrait of herself and her sister. From what a little art-bird told me, Morag continued to do some further techniques to this pretty collage after Art Fest. .. Can't wait to see the finished piece, Mo!

Morag Campbell
This is a small portion of Morag's multi-piece 3-D theatre. She did some very cool things with her theatre, including adding an audience as a front/top layer. She had already taken it apart for packing at this point - hopefully she will post a picture of the assembled piece now that she's back home.

Lynn Davis

And for those who love mosaics...

Kathy Taylor created this beautiful portrait in Katherine England's class

And this, you wonder? No, it's not a piece of artwork from the mosaic class - it's actually a small portion of a very nice woman's completely encrusted CAR! Only at Art Fest!

More Mixed-Media Beauties:

Linda Freeman created this beautiful copper Talisman necklace in Melissa Manley's class. The box opens to reveal a secret scroll - you can just see a peek of it in this picture. What does it say? I don't know... it's a secret!

From Tracie and Marylin Huskamp's FABulous textured landscapes class:
(By the way, if you EVER have a chance to take a class from Tracie and Marylin, Do It! This was an amazing day - they are incredibly talented - and incredibly sweet!)

Rhonda Parent
Just look at that sky and the dramatic red foreground. Stunning!

Heather Bentley's gorgeous moonscape
Heather was my table-mate in this class. It was so amazing to see her beautiful piece in progress - a bit of lace here, thread there, scraps of netting, a few beads, and that gorgeous seashell moon that she tinted with an amber glow... another one of my "very favorite things" at Art Fest!

Heather's table-mate (me!)

I had the lavender fields of Sequim on my mind...

Lynn Woodard

I love Lynn's piece, especially her clouds... and the marshy water... and the way she used her embellishments... and....

From Lynne Perrella's large-format layered collage technique class:

(My piece is still in-progress... will be posting pics at a later date)

Tory Breckenshire

Molina

Michele Vass

Another missing artist's name... why oh why didn't I write these down? This gracious woman was in my class, and it was incredible to see this collage progress throughout the day. Such drama and rich colors and texture - what a lovely, lovely collage. See the subtle way she echoed the parasol images with the real paper mini-parasol, the way the maiden's gaze is fixed on the bird, and the way she integrated the lower scenery into the bodice... stunning!

And Lastly, students of Michael deMeng

(alas, another of my pieces still in-progress...)

Michael's techniques are extremely intriguing, and it was quite interesting to see students' interpretations of the three different class themes; however, most of the artwork did not echo Michael's very dark style. Here are two beautiful pieces from our class, "Cave of Pages" - I wish I had a picture of each person's work from that class - so imaginitive with stunning use of color and texture.

Jennifer Lorton

Roberta

And Finally, three incredible assemblages from Michael's "Masks" class:

Inez Gray

There are some very cool things going on here - an intriguing piece from all angles.

Janne Robberstad

Just love this piece of Janne's... the "asymmetrical symmetry," gorgeous verdigris, and subtle humor. Another one of my "favorite things."

Q: Can you guess what she used as the main element in her assemblage?

(A: An old hairdryer!)

Sue Hadden
Of all of the 1500-plus pieces of artwork created that week, this is my hands-down favorite - so lovable, humorous and completely unexpected. There were constant gasps and and huge smiles as everyone gradually made their way around to the end of this table. Definitely the most unexpected interpretation of Michael's mask theme. I don't know what the artist used as her main component, but from the back it was hollow and threaded - so intriguing. So imaginitive. Definitely possesses the "it" factor... whatever "it" is, this lovable pup has it!

Hope you've enjoyed this little sampling of some of the creativity expressed at ArtFest. It was an amazing week and an incredible experience. But as fabulous as that all was, friendships - both new and old - were the most lovely part of it all.