Adding layers

I am frequently asked "How is the mural coming along?" My usual answer is "It's coming right along". And it is. At a steady pace. A nice unfolding. A little each week. Here are some examples of the latest additions:

mama bear sketch

Completed mama bear

Mama bear was very fun to finish. Layers of thin color put on with choppy strokes gave her coat depth and made her look shaggy. I'm very pleased with the way she came out.

I had spent a few weeks over in the "bear corner", and even though there is still more work to be done there, like finishing the turtle and the possums, I felt like I needed to pull back and look at the bigger picture once again. So I moved over to the center portion of the wall, and started adding new stuff there.

Center wall

 You have already seen sketches of the raccoon, bobcat, domestic cat, copperhead snake and kingfisher. Now you can see them in relation to the landscape, with more trees and plants sketched in too. There is the outline of a  hickory tree in the foreground, which will be home to some songbirds and a native vine, a twiggy little dogwood tree, the skeleton of a cinnamon fern, and the cardinal plant, so named for it's bright red flowers, which will be added later. There are more plants and details to be added to this section, but it's starting to fill out nicely.

Probably the most important improvement is the addition of the layer of hills in the background. Right now they are just a wash of green, but already they make the foreground pop out.

I have never seen a beaver, but I've seen lots of evidence that they live here. It's amazing how quickly they can gnaw through a tree trunk. You can be hiking one day and there is a healthy tree, and the next day it's chomped almost all the way through! I keep thinking that someday I'll actually see the beaver. Sometimes the damage is so fresh looking I swear the beaver is hiding somewhere nearby laughing at me. But for now I guess I'm just happy that they are here, so I have included a couple of beaver-chewed stumps in the mural.

Beaver-chewed stumps

I'm not sure what's coming next, but I've been thinking about where I'm going to put the vulture I had to take out earlier. Maybe on the hill behind the stream. And I need to get all the hills sketched in more firmly before I start to define the trees more. Maybe I'll put in some turkeys, since Thanksgiving is coming. They aren't on the list but I have a great shot of some turkeys running up a hill. I keep telling myself that if I don't stop adding things to the mural that aren't on the list that I'm going to run out of time and space. But there is still plenty of time, and nothing is looking crowded or forced yet, so I'll just keep going!

More flora and fauna

We're smack in the middle of fall here in central Virginia but I'm still thinking about flowering plants and trees in their summer plumage. Not that I don't love fall, I do! But the mural is a depiction of the fullness of summer.
Every time I went for a walk or saw something I thought "Oh, I've got to add that!", so the list of plants and animals has grown. I've been concentrating on one corner for a while, and am very pleased with the way it is starting to look. It's one thing to see it sketched out or have an idea in my head, but it's really great when the spaces begin to get filled in with form and color and things start coming to life.

Rufous-sided Towhee

I love it when I am surprised by a Rufous-sided Towhee scratching around in the leaf litter.

Here is the Towhee again, with the soon to be completed mama bear and chipmunk, with the Virginia Willow, the Cutleaf Coneflower, and the Southern Lady Fern.

Soon I will add details to the hollow log, and flesh out the chipmunk and the pile of baby possums.

Also in the works is a Piliated Woodpecker.

This is the completed Belted Kingfisher on his perch (not yet detailed) overlooking the stream.

And here is the basic stream bank, without any plants added yet. What looks like the horizon is really just the opposite stream bank as it curves around. There will be plants and some beaver-gnawed tree trunks there to define the contour.
That's it for now!

A big step forward.

Yesterday I was alone with the mural. For three whole hours! Not completely alone; the turtle, bearded dragon, and a few other creatures that inhabit the nature center were there to keep me company. For a variety of reasons, it had been a while since I had gone to work on the mural. The room had been temporarily unavailable, there was an earthquake, then a hurricane, then one of my beagles got really sick...just a series of things that made staying home seem like the right thing to do.

Driving over there with all my stuff, I knew that, since camp was over, there wouldn't be any kids around.  I was looking forward to some quiet time and getting a lot done. There can be a social aspect to painting, but for me it is mostly a solitary activity. I do my best work when I can give it my full attention. So I went into the room, turned on the lights, and looked at the mural. It only took a moment for her to speak to me.

"You're here!" she said.
"Yes, I'm glad to be back. What shall we work on today? Maybe I'll put in the kingfisher or work on the copperhead" I replied.
She laughed, but she was firm when she said "Oh, no you won't! Just sit down and spend some time with me, and I'll tell you what I need".
I hesitated, knowing that it had been a while since I'd worked, and really wanting to "get something done". But I agreed to sit, just for a minute.
"What about all the plants?" she asked. "It's fine for you to detail a bird or two, but I think you could make some important progress if you skipped the details for now and looked at the bigger picture."
"Hmmm....." I mused. "Maybe you're right."

And she was right. Aside from the trees, I had only chosen a few other plants and needed many more to make the mural full and complete. What were they, and where would they fit? I knew I needed shrubs, flowers, and grasses. It was time to get out the reference books and take a look.

I buried myself in the books with great results. Just to name a few, the Virginia Creeper will go on the Mockernut Hickory tree along with the holes made by a yellow-bellied sapsucker. Poison Ivy will go on the Tulip Poplar. The Southern Lady fern will give shade to the chipmunk, and the Cardinal flower will not only give a great splash of color, but it will provide food for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly and the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The Virginia Willow has a delicate white flower, and the Twisted Sedge and Appalachian Bluet will fill the nooks and crannies among the rocks on the stream banks.  It was a cross between planning a garden and working on a jigsaw puzzle, and I loved it. The three hours flew by, and look how much I got done without even lifting a paintbrush! I am feeling newly inspired.

There aren't any photos of this part of the work, so I will leave you with a photo of a large painting I did a couple of years ago. This painting was also a "jigsaw puzzle" of sorts, the different sized and colored pieces needed to fit together perfectly to make it work. The main difference is that the mural is realistic and this painting, my version of the Tree of Life, is pure fantasy.

Tree of Life, 24x36, acrylic on canvas

Steady Pace

It's been a while since my last post, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working on the mural. I was hoping to finish the water, get it photographed, and then do a post, but it took me a lot longer to finish the water than I thought, and I'm still working on it. I am building the shoreline as well, and will have pics hopefully next week.

The ed center is being used for other purposes for a few days, so I can't really get in there to work, but it gives me a chance to reflect and plan. I get excited when I walk into the room now, and see it growing day by day. Working on the images close to the ground is tough. I have to sit on a low stool or on the ground and hunch over. Many times I'm thinking about how much it hurts instead of what I'm doing. I'm looking forward to working my way up, so I can work standing, or at least sitting in an upright position. I'll be able to do longer days that way.

It's been fun working while camp was in progress, seeing all the kids enjoying themselves, and getting to know some of the counselors too. Camp ends this week, and it will be a different experience when I get back in there next. A lot quieter, for sure!

For now I will leave you with a before and after picture. The Great Blue Heron is the first creature I have done detail work on. While the sketch takes a few minutes to put on the wall (not counting the initial sketching time and prep work), adding the details takes several hours. I will go through this process with everything in the mural.

Great Blue Heron sketch

Great Blue Heron detail

The list keeps growing

Just when I think I'm really getting somewhere, I think of something that I need to add or change, and I'm back to square one! The turkey vultures had to come out because I needed another tree in the foreground, or I would not have a home for all the songbirds, which have to be up front because of their small size. I plan to add the TV back in, but perhaps use one TV instead of two, and put it more forward to show better detail of the head, which is really quite beautiful if you consider what it was designed to do. They do a nasty job but somebody's got to do it!
If we're talking about straight up numbers, I am slightly less than halfway with all the species (plants and animals) that need to be placed. The good news is that the large ones are in, and now it is time to start figuring out where the small ones will go. There is a lot of work to be done before I get to some of them. For example, I will be doing all the life stages of the dragonfly and the monarch butterfly. Those can't be done until I get the water done, and certain plants in place. Some of the smaller species may not get their home until the very last.
The pictures tell the best story, so here's what's new! Remember, these are just sketches.

Copperhead

White-breasted nuthatch

Barred owl

Downy woodpecker

Decaying log with Eastern box turtle, chipmunk, and fungus

Red fox and brook trout

Great blue heron

Another day, another species.

Since my last post I have added seven new species, but didn't have the camera with me on some of the days I was working!

 Just a couple of new photos today. The Turkey Vultures with their carrion are an important addition. Nature isn't always pretty, but it's always efficient, and scavengers are a vital part of the ecosystem. I have always wanted to do a portrait of a TV, but couldn't find a logical spot in the foreground to do it, so I opted to put them on a hill in the background. Still, they are unmistakable. 

Turkey Vultures with carrion

This raccoon made it to portrait status. He's big enough to really stand out, but small enough to be shown near life-size. He'll be sitting pretty on his log in the foreground. I really love watching raccoons. They are so smart and curious about everything, and it's amazing the way they use their dexterous forepaws.

  Things are progressing smoothly. Most of the bigger creatures have been placed. But there are so many more decisions to be made...there are still at least 35 more species of plants and animals to be placed! And I definitely need more trees!

This view of the wall is actually four or five separate images "stitched" together, to show more detail. It doesn't include all the work so far, but it's an experiment to see if we could get a good pic of the whole wall. I think it will work once more color and detail are added.
Up next (when I have the camera): Red fox, barred owl, brook trout, downy woodpecker, and white-breasted nuthatch.

Why is there a domestic house cat in the wildlife mural, and what does it have in its mouth?

House cat with prey, a Carolina chickadee

True, the house cat is not wildlife. But its impact on wildlife is profound, therefore it is included in this mural. Unfortunately, that is not a ball of string in its mouth, it is a chickadee.

 Did you know.....

• Nationwide, hundreds of millions of birds, and more than a billion small animals are killed by cats every year?
• Cats can transmit disease to wildlife?
• Cats compete with natural predators?
• Invasive species, including cats, are the second most serious threat to bird populations worldwide?

 It is a myth that well-fed cats don't hunt and kill birds and other wildlife. Well-fed cats kill birds and other wildlife because the hunting instinct is independent of the urge to eat. In one study, six cats were presented with a live small rat while eating their preferred food. All six cats stopped eating the food, killed the rat, and then resumed eating the food. I'm talking about Fluffy and Snowball here, not feral or native wild cats, such as the bobcat. Even putting a bell on your free-range cat doesn't help, because cats can learn to stalk quietly, and birds do not recognize the sound of the bell as something dangerous.

Things you can do to help:

•   If at all possible, for the sake of your cat and local wildlife, keep your cat indoors. Keeping your cats indoors helps protect the wildlife around your yard and prevents your cat from picking up diseases from strays or getting injured.
• Neuter your cats or prevent them from breeding, and encourage others to do so.
• Locate bird feeders in sites that do not provide cover for cats to wait in ambush for birds. 
• Don't feed stray cats. Feeding strays maintains high densities of cats that kill and compete with native wildlife populations.  

For more information, visit the American Bird Conservancy's website www.abcbirds.org and read about their program called CATS INDOORS-THE CAMPAIGN FOR SAFER BIRDS AND CATS.