Arizona Songbirds Coloring Book Art

This is the second design I chose to play with from the previous coloring book.  The fanciful birds were painted to represent songbirds native or migrant to Arizona.
Birds painted included: Yellow Warbler, Western Tanager, American Goldfinch, Vermillion Flycatcher, Red Faced Warbler and Painted Redstart.
I resisted the temptation to add more birdies such as Verdin and Hummingbirds!

Arizona Spring. Adapted from Eleri Fowler's charming coloring book Joyous Blooms to Color.

It was a simple, no thinking painting that was relaxing.  I enjoyed puttering through my bird books to pick my bird colors. Warm brights for the birds and flowers, cool blues, greens for the leaves.
The painting is embellished with lots of gold, just on the leaves as I played with the metallics. It looks pretty, shimmering in the light. Watercolors on watercolor paper.

Sunday Hidden Magic

A few birds from last Sunday's birding. I'm going to go back for some field sketching before it gets too hot.
Meanwhile I have written notes and get reference photos from favorite photo sites I will share in another post. The best part after the adventure is painting and drawing with my notes!

My nature list and a few subjects.

Tohono Chul Exhibit

Last night was the artist reception for the Tohono Chul exhibits Piece by Piece mosaics and Dia de los Muertos. As usual, it was very well attended with crowds of viewers jostling to view the artwork.
Tohono is one of my favorite nature oasis in Tucson and I always feel fortunate and privileged when my work is selected to participate in an exhibit.
Ran into several friends and met wonderful art lovers and artists.
Sold the Heart Song, yellow warbler and hope for another sale before the show ends October 20th.  I think the fact that Heart Song was featured on the Tohono web banner for the show helped :)

Face Painting for Feast of The Dead

Alright, here's a little side painting that turned out to be a blast. Did I say I love to paint? My canvas can be traditional, cookie or face/body.
These are a couple of the Many faces I painted for Tucson Botanical Gardens Feast of the Dead event this past Saturday.
The theme was Day of the Dead so it was mostly skulls except for grandmothers who just wanted something on their cheek or the little ones who wanted animals or something very simple.

I am grateful someone took these photos because the reality was that almost as soon as I got there (and I arrived 20 min. early) people started lining up to get their faces painted. My plans to have photos taken never happened because the line for face painting never let up and was at least 6 people deep for the next 2 hours.

There was another face painter there whom I never formally met because even though I arrived early - he was there Earlier already painting!
He had a large kit full of paints, sequins etc. and as it turns out, he is a professional face painter so his kit was very tricked out and he was very experienced. I brought some nice Snazzaroo face paints, my paint brushes, some wipes and water thinking I would have time to get fresh water, wipes etc. - never happened.

It was an intense two hours of painting and at the stroke of exactly 7 pm the other face painter packed up and left - quickly. He was already booked for another gig and knew as long as he stayed, people would keep coming.

I stayed an extra 30 minutes to finish the little ones that had been waiting and one lovely Mariachi girl, then I packed it in too. 

What a fun event - I was buzzed on adrenaline driving home thinking wow, I had a great time AND got tips! Actually it was the other painter who put out a tip jar and people just started giving me tips too - which made me smile All the way  home.   A bit of extra cash to keep my Risa in cans of her favorite doggy food - LOL :~D

I hope TBG keeps me in mind for next year. Then I will be a bit more prepared for the crowd, with more glitter colors (love using them!!) sequins, glitter paint. As it turned out I did pretty good with eight colors, two glitters, a water bottle, some wipes and a handful of brushes. Plus when people found out what I paint for my day job, dogs/animals, they asked for my card.

Painted lots of skulls - calaveras. All the while in the background there was a fabulous Mariachi youth band which I loved and could have listened to all night.

Keep your eyes open for next years Tucson Botanical Feast of the Dead event. Music, food, sugar skull decoration, presentations and Face Painting "~)

The next event will be the Luminaria Nights December 7, 8, 9 from 5:30 - 8 pm. A lovely evening at the gardens full of twinkling lights, music and treats.

Backyard Friends!

Posting the front cover of a children's coloring book I did few yeas ago thru a grant with the Tucson Botanical Garden because I just signed and gave a copy to a very dear little friend who wants to write books someday.

It's a story about how to attract wildlife into the garden.

The book is bilingual with story by Rita Magdaleno, illustrations by me and my parents did the spanish translations, isn't that cool?!

x

Kit Fox

Here is a secretive little kit fox peaking out from a mesquite - finished! She is part of my Starry Night series for the upcoming shows. A small piece 9" x 12".  These little foxes have adapted well to urban life as it has encroached on their environment. Being mostly nocturnal they  can be seen scavenging around trash cans, yards etc. It's amazing the way  much of the wildlife has adapted in spite of the often thoughtless human society. Birds, bats, coyotes, squirrels, raptors, bobcats etc. can be seen everywhere.