Baby Barn Swallows

All of my baby barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) are now out of the nest and learning to fly and it won't be long before they will be able to feed themselves and not have to rely on their parents.

From the four pair of swallows I had nesting in my barns; we ended up with eleven babies surviving.















I managed to get these photographs of the first two batches that left the nest a couple of days ago.

The other six, I was not able to get photographs of today as they wouldn't allow me to get close enough to take their picture.















But I look forward to be able to get some more photographs of them over the next couple of weeks before they start their long journey south for the winter.

Fife Cabin

Yesterday the Outdoor Painters' Group were at Lang Pioneer Village and Museum hanging their show in the MacKelvie Gallery and after lunch I returned to the Village and started to take a walk around and got as far as Fife Cabin.














With the temperature at 91F (31C) and the humidity making it feel like 95F (35C) I stopped there and blocked in a quick sketch of the cabin before leaving the Village and heading home.

Today I worked on completing the drawing of the cabin and added in the fire pit, a couple of pioneer women and a few free range chickens.

Exhibit at the MacKelvie Gallery

Today the Outdoor Painters' group went to Lang Pioneer Village Museum to hang our art in the MacKelvie Gallery and afterward to draw and paint in the Village.

Take in began at 9:30 a.m. and by 11:30 a.m. we had a total of 52 paintings.

It didn't take long to set the paintings out around the room, where they would eventually be placed on the walls.

With seven of us hanging the paintings, we had everything up and in place on the walls by just after 1:00 p.m. at which time we decided to go out into Keene to have our lunch.

But not before a couple of people in period costume came in to see the exhibit.















If you have a chance to come out and enjoy the show, you will also be able to see how people lived in Canada over 200 years ago; with many wonderful ongoing displays and people in period costumes.

The exhibit will be on display from today until 26 July 18.

Scenes of Magnetawan Art Show

Today we went up to Magnetawan to set up the Scenes of Magnetawan art show at the Knoepfli Inn.

It is located at 5484 Highway #124, Magnetawan, Ontario.

We had made arrangements with owner Bea Kolman, to arrive at noon in time for lunch and we would also be spending the night.

After a wonderful home cooked meal we unpacked all the paintings to see what we had available and would put them throughout the dining room and lounge.

First we hung the two larger paintings in between the windows on the east wall and on the north wall.

Next we placed three smaller paintings on the north wall between the window and the west wall.

On the south side of the window on the east wall we hung three paintings with similar colours together.

After sorting through the paintings that were remaining we picked out the two larger paintings and hung them on the west wall by the kitchen.

While Sheila and Vera worked on putting paintings on that wall, Norma and I started hanging paintings on the north and east corner walls over the hutch.

We started by hanging one of the larger remaining paintings on each wall first.

This was followed by adding two acrylic paintings to go with the pen and ink drawing on the north wall.

Lastly we added a couple of smaller watercolour paintings to go with the larger one on the east wall.















Once we had finished our part of the wall, we went to help the others finish putting the paintings onto the west wall and that completed the dining room.














Now we were ready to hang the remaining paintings in the lounge area and we started by putting three paintings on the stair wall which was just outside of the dining room.















Once again Sheila and Vera took one wall and Norma and I took the other wall and we hung paintings.















With Norma being the tallest of the four of us, I helped her to hang the paintings in the corner over the piano and then the remaining paintings were hung around the deer heads mounted on the walls and near the various trophy plaques.















When we were finished we asked Bea to come in and approve how they were hung and see if there were any changes she would like to have made. Her only request was that she would appreciate it if for next year we could have some drawings and paintings of the various cottages.













Later when we went back to the cottage we all picked up our cameras and sketch books and went back out to take reference photographs of the cottages and made quick sketches while we were waiting for the bell to ring calling us in to have supper.

The Scenes of Magnetawan exhibit will run from 26 Jun - 03 Oct 18; if you have a chance to come out please contact Bea at the Knoepfli Inn to make arrangements to stay at the cottages for a vacation or to come out and view the show.

ACEO - Dusk 13

Today I thought I would finish this painting that I had started last year (see post on 07 July 2017).

I started by painting the pine trees on the hill using various greens made from Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna, new gamboge and cadmium yellow.

With a dark made of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, I added the dead trees, the tree trunks and some of the branches.

Now that the pine trees were completely finished it was time to add in the ground beneath them.

Using various combinations of alizarin crimson, burnt sienna, both of the blues and raw sienna I put in the rocks that would show through the grasses and growies.

Lastly, I added the grasses and undergrowth beneath the trees and in and around the rocks.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and enjoy the artwork. I hope you will return often.

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Fabriano 100% cotton, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Blue-Spotted Salamander

Today is Saturday and with the weatherman calling for showers later in the day and continuing throughout tomorrow, Ron and I decided to get the yard work done early.

With me doing most of the lawn mowing today Ron decided to clean out the underbrush beneath the willow tree at the front of the property.

It wasn't long before he flagged me down and when I went over to him he handed me a small, seemingly lifeless body of a salamander.

I took it up to the house to see if it was dead or just stunned.

I examined and identified it as a Blue-spotted salamander (Ambystoma laterale). Fortunately, it didn't appear to be crushed or harmed in anyway.

I placed it in a terrarium and added some water and a few leaves which seemed to revive it.

The Blue-spotted salamander is a member of a group of subterranean amphibians known as mole salamanders.

They are native to the Great Lakes area, parts of Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec.

Their range extends as far to the north as James Bay and to south eastern Manitoba in the west.

Adult salamanders measure from 3-5.5” (7.6-14cm) in length and have dark bluish-black skin, with blue flecks on its back and tail, with bluish-white spots on the sides of its body.

These salamanders have large heads with protruding eyes and stocky bodies supported by sturdy limbs, with four long toes long toes on the front feet and five on the hind feet.















Blue-spotted salamanders usually live in moist, deciduous hardwood forests such as red maple swamps and oak/birch woodlands, although they can also be found in coniferous forests and fields.

They prefer spring pools that retain water into mid-summer, to ensure access to a suitable breeding habitat. The adult is found in mature woods where the ground is littered with rotting logs, underbrush, leaf litter and rocks below which the salamanders dwell within moist depressions or burrows.















This is why the front of the property is an ideal location for the Blue-spotted salamanders as the area is under water from the early spring when breeding occurs and their eggs are laid in small clutches of about a dozen eggs, attached to twigs, rocks or plants at the edge of a pond and remains wet through to the middle of the summer and remains fairly damp until late summer when the juveniles emerge and disperse to terrestrial locations.

Once the Blue-spotted salamander was moving around in the terrarium without difficulty, I returned him to where Ron found him under the willow tree and heaped some of the partially rotted leaves around him.

Interaction Show at KAGS

Today I am sitting at the Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio for the first day of the Interaction Exhibit.

There are a number of very interesting paintings displayed at the Gallery and we had a large number of people come through to view the art work.

The show runs from 20 June - 15 July 18, with the opening on Sunday, 24 June from 1-4 p.m. If you wish, please come out and meet the artists.

At the end of the show the Gallery will close for three weeks for routine maintenance to the Gallery and Studio.









The Gallery will reopen on 08 August 18 with the next show entitled "Figuratively Speaking".