Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Sharing, the gift of Cranes

African Crowned  Crane
I was wanting to paint an African Crane for my up-coming Calgary show as the Calgary Zoo contains some of these strikingly elegant birds. Well wouldn't you know I dug through my photo files and found all but the image I was looking for. About 5 years back when I was dating my sweetie I would pack my work back and forth between my place and his and sketch or read while he was at work. At one point I had sketched an African Crane from zoo photos taken when film was king, problem is details are not as good as I need to translate into a detailed painting, sigh, so the search was on for the images which I know are lurking somewhere in a spot of disorganization since my move and will surface in due time. Otherwise I would have to visit the zoo for more reference photos and with the blizzards we are receiving this winter its not going to be any time soon.

 While puttzing cyberspace researching info on Sandhill Cranes I somehow ended up on wikipedia (which I never quote by the way as I have found incorrect info there at times, ok I'm off track now) anyhoo there I found a beautiful photo of, yes, Cranes and also African Cranes. I was delighted. So I decided to contact the photographer. Well in no time at all wonderful Luc Viatour granted permission for me to use his photo for reference. Well at that point I realized the sweetness life grants by sharing with one another.
Check his work out, there are some of the most beautiful images I have ever seen. http://www.lucnix.be/main.php

I normally work only from my own photos yet this time I made an exception. With the photos I had found I would have had to image the crane loosely as a background element but by the generosity of Luc I was able to focus on a Crane portrait. Thank you so much Luc 

And on the topic of sharing a few weeks back Carol painted a wonderful watercolor of a finch from one of my photos, please check out Carols blog
scroll back to Feb 7 post to see the lovely finch.
So in essence as the world goes round and the sharing goes round it makes for a more beautiful day.
Hugs to all!

3 comments:

Red said...

This crane is really shown off by the background you use. The bird jumps right out at you.
I've been following a birder from England for a while . He's a super photographer and does a great job with insects. England has many invasive species as well as interesting looking birds.
Take a look at this blog. http://fabearlybirder.blogspot.com/

Carol Blackburn said...

Very beautiful, Teresa. I will check out the other photos and thanks for the mention, too.

tess stieben said...

Thank you both. I love hearing from you and enjoy the wonderful contact we are making and the sharing of info and ideas. Now this little bird is off to view some bugs, yum!