“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” – Mother Teresa
Cocoi Heron y Grebe – Poza Honda
Poza Honda/Manabi Province/Ecuador — Using a clothes-drying rack as my ‘supply’ table, I spent several hours outside adding details to two paintings. Many times the support-cast of items take more time to paint than the subject of the painting! With my feet propped against the tree trunk, and the painting taped to a drawing board, I added watercolor details to the orchid leaves.
Session One using material inside the house…
Ahhhhh; Session Two – Working from Life!
Sundays are often ‘family days’ when my neighbors visit loved ones, so the neighborhood was extremely quiet. An eclectic chatter of backyard birds provided a calming soundtrack. A Great Antshrike added its chortling rhythm to the afternoon chorus, which made my soul smile; I was painting that same species!
Male and Female Great Antshrikes
Our dry season has been extremely dry this year, and it followed a not-so-wet rainy season. The landscape is parched, and even the birds display their distress:
Streaked Flycatcher
Barred Puffbird
Even the squirrels are acting strange – or perhaps they often eat grasses?
The watercolor pigments evaporated almost as fast as I mixed them. Reaching a stopping point, I critiqued details and was about to add another layer of depth (darker) to one area when my own counsel to students spoke softly: “Always stop before you think you are finished.”
Great Antshrike Watercolor
No one (except me!) would note or care if one more layer of blue pushed some of the foliage to the back, which nudged other details forward. I rinsed my brush, mixed a new batch of blue-green and signed the painting.
I moved to a new location to study the Carambola (Starfruit) foliage and resume work on a watercolor of Tropical Gnatcatchers. Mixing paint for a study of a long slender branch, I noted a knocking/rattling sound near the house or fenced garden behind me. Assuming that Melissa and Joselo had returned home and were tending to outdoor tasks, I pulled a brush of clear water to prep the paper. Focused on the limb, I loaded the brush with pigment and began the initial process of ‘floating’ the paint. The rattling increased, and I realized that my chair was also moving! Earthquake!
Red-billed Scythebill on nearby palm…
I could be in no better place than where I was – grounded in Nature, and I paused until it stopped, then resumed painting. The quake rattled me more than I thought, as my hand trembled, and my concentration was horrible! The clear yellow-green colors of my pigments veered toward muddy colors, confirming that I should never paint when preoccupied or troubled. As paint flowed along that area of the painting, I wondered, “Where?” and “How strong?” and “Is everything OK?” I decided if things were not OK, a neighbor would soon inform me.
“Drive out tomorrow and check,” I counseled myself, “Because if it did make headlines, people might be worried if you don’t send a smoke signal!’
So here I am, one day earlier than planned to be online! I also ignored my self counsel and worked on the Great Antshrike painting last night!
Monday morning comparison check…
With foliage completed, I fine-tuned the tree and vine, then added tiny white feather details in acrylic. Finished, I wrote this post, waded through a weekend’s worth of photos then went to sleep just about the time the chickens were awakening! (I slept until almost noon and will go to sleep early tonight!)
With the moon almost full, perhaps I’ll peek to see if the Common Potoo is watching over the house!
Tomorrow I’ll spend the night in Portoviejo because on Wednesday the 24th, there’s a morning ‘press conference’ for the artists in the Nomadas Exposition! That should be an interesting event!
I’d best publish this, then return home and hopefully finish the Tropical Gnatcatcher painting.
A petite female Gnatcatcher…
Have a good week; see you again soon via cyberspace!
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
Glad it was just a shaker and all is well! Painting – gorgeous. Photos mismo!!! Stay well and safe travels Amiga xo
Hey Amiga!
So great to see your name pop up before I logged off! Thank you for your feedback on the work, and yes, glad it was just a shaker. I see where Canada has had two pretty strong shakers as well! Now maybe the planet has vented her emotions and will go into calm mode again.
As lovely and enjoyable a read as always, Lisa, and relieved that all seems fine after the quake?
Si; I checked tonight, and the news reports said little damage of the one that hit near the city of Guayaquil.
As for the image of the squirrel eating grass, when I have time I’ll do a post about the squirrels and include a link to your own special squirrel story!
Hey Sis, glad the quake wasn’t a bad one. You don’t need anymore of that. Love your photos and paintings. I think of you often and wish I were there. Love to you, Pat.
Thank you, Pat! I hope that your trip went well and that you ‘out ran’ the rain! Love, Z
I love the detail in your paintings Lisa and marvel at how alive the birds appear. Thank goodness the quake was only minor. Our 16yo granddaughter has been with us for a week and she is a delight. She has inherited Jack’s artistic talents and spent time painting a stunning self portrait on a large 2.5 x 3 foot canvas.
She gets that talent from BOTH of you, and I am sure that your encouragement is a great help… That’s wonderful that she’d doing self portraits at 16.. there’s no telling what she’ll do with her life!
She says I inspire her… Yes she has an exciting time ahead of her with so much talent and an enquiring mind
I would think painting outside gives you a better “take” on color. No? This was fascinating. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Oh yes, working outside is a joy! Any time one can work from life, it’s much easier to truly see what’s there. I found that very important when working on artifact paintings.. Sometimes a photo gets the colors wrong! Thank you, Hugh!
Lovely photos and paintings, Lisa. And – I’ve just shared an article by the New Scientist on my Writing from the 12th House Facebook Page on how much we need silence….
Amazing! I’ll look for that article! Tonight I was with friends who took me to a new park in one of the cities where the earthquake did much damage. It’s modern and peaceful and lovely and was very quiet…
You definitely understand the importance of silence; I find when I don’t have daily ‘silence’ – I lose that extra-sensitive intuitive nature.. where one just ‘knows’ without knowing…
Silence and nature are very important ingredients for a calm soul! But you know that too!
Squirrels do eat grass — and other tender young plants like plantain leaves and dandelions. They like fungi, too, and will store them in ‘pantries’ for their winter meals. Well, they do that here. I suppose you don’t have the kind of winter that requires large stashes of food.
Somehow I missed hearing about your earthquake. I’m glad it wasn’t any stronger. If I had been, we would have heard about it, so sometimes no knowledge is a good thing!
Wow! It’s great to know that they are not picky eaters! I don’t know if they hoard/hide their food or not between rainy season and dry season – seems they’re always foraging and eating what they find.
I’ve not been online enough to see if any locations had damage.. yes, no news is usually good news.
I see news about hurricane Willa, goodness, hail in Italy, landslides in Colombia, flooding in Trinidad y Tobago… Sometimes when all is fine at the house, I drive out for internet and find that ‘no knowledge is a good thing!’
Lovely experiencing your amazing talent first hand.
We are ever so grateful.
Thank you and stay safe Lisa.
Thank you, Eddie! You’d enjoy seeing the botanical plants/trees in this area. There is a bountiful supply of material for subject matter in paintings!
Your art is really so very beautiful. I love the bird and the orchid plants and the branch….I would love to be able to paint like that!!! It has that botanical look to it I really favor.
Thank you so much! You know how much I admire your own work – I think that inspiration often comes from looking at work by other artists, no matter if it’s culinary art, gardening, sculpture, photography, painting, etc! As for the little orchids, they truly are tiny little orchids, ones that grow wild, I think, and are inconspicuous on many limbs. They often grow with the larger ones which take up most of that ‘green’ space in the painting!
If you were here, I suspect that you’d be an ‘easy’ student to nudge you to a stronger level!
I enjoyed drawing (or trying to ) as a kid but I think it is a muscle best exercised or the ability gets lost. I spend a fair amount of time wanted to turn my photographs into paintings with digital technology but only rarely feel something was sort of close. Ah for more time and more energy!! But, it makes me appreciate what you do all the more.
Thanks for sharing the process. I love your painting and the Red-billed Scythebill is awesome!! Always good to know you’re safe and sound and creating beauty. I know what Mother Teresa means, but nature really isn’t quiet. Nature noises are very different from other noises, but they’re still “noise” in the most basic sense of the word. There are almost always at least insect and bird noises. Just saying. 🙂 My kind of noise, though.
janet
Yes, that Scythebill is a beauty, surely one to capture via art in the future.. it’s only the third time in over a year that it’s appeared, and each time I feel very lucky. You’re right about Nature not being quiet – but oh those sounds are sooo soothing. Down here the bird can be quite loud, but rarely intrusive!
I’ve been following your posts while reading offline.. you have had a very busy year and some amazing family moments!
It has been a busy year, but a good one. So much going on behind the scenes as well. 🙂 Hard for me to believe that it’s almost the end of October already. Where does the time go?
I love the sounds of nature and you’re right about them being soothing (at least most of the time.) I so prefer them to the sounds of the city.
Enjoy the rest of your week, Lisa, and have a wonderful weekend.
The painting of the couple of Antshrikes is beautiful, sitting there in the lush foliage. It’s always hard to know when to stop isn’t it. Good to know that the earthquake didn’t create any havoc.
Si, it is hard to know when to stop; when passing along tidbits to students, I often point out that the difference btw the amateur and the ‘more professional’ artist, is that the amateur hurried through to see what the end result might be.. and stopped too soon.. where the professional knows not to rush it.. and to continue to a ‘higher’ level.. usually a few hours more or a few days more, etc, depending on the painting.. usually the amateur work has two values – light/medium or medium/dark, where the stronger works have light/medium and dark values….
yet—- one can also over work it, and then it’s the ‘stop before you think you are finished!’
I started a comment on your last post and got home and realized it was never sent.. time to go back to that still-open tab and try again!
What a lovely post Lisa. I so enjoyed being there with you and the birds in your beautiful garden. You painting is gorgeous! Glad to hear the earthquake was relatively minor.
Alison
Thank you! I’ve been ‘loading’ your posts and reading offline – and remain enchanted with every one written! You are the darlings of the WP community!
Thanks for your thumbs up on the painting and for your continued support of my journey!
xoxox
The painting is superb Zee, you are a wonder! And during an earthquake too!!
Ha, our comments crossed in cyberspace! Thank you!
First, I’m glad the earthquake you felt wasn’t a big one, and second I hope your press conference went well, and your time in Portoviejo is enjoyable and fulfilling. So many times you have shared your process here, from the practical parts (the drying rack!) to the odd details (feet against the tree trunk), the advice to fellow artists (stop before you think it’s done) and all the emotional swirling that goes on inside your head. It is so very generous, and do not ever doubt that people value it.
(Oh, the painting is beautiful, and wow, the Scythebill! What a looker!)
Lisa, do you know this woman’s work? I thought of you…
https://jeanmackayart.com/
What a stunning work of art Lisa! Glad to hear the earthquake was nothing significant. Do you often get quakes near where you live?
I read “The watercolor pigments evaporated almost as fast as I mixed them” as “The watercolor pigments exasperated almost as fast as I mixed them.”
ha! that made me laugh! today is the first day to have ‘neutral’ time, and i’m about to start working on the images of the show – then share the story via post. am in a little hostal and look forward to catching up!
thank you again for helping with the translation for ‘the muir tree.’ the curator had a great plan which worked very well… she thought that the muir tree painting should the final one, and i transported ‘chunks’ of one of my favorite balsas that had been ‘destroyed for its bole backbone…’ then before/after images of that tree, and the finale was on a wide stretch of white wall —an ‘observation’ quote from jane goodall stating that the most intelligent species on the planet was destroying its only home… that finale has a very strong effect and definitely prompted people to pause and ponder… one younger friend almost cried when she read the finale.
hopefully today that post will be written, but you now have a sneak peek!!!
thank you again!
Your artwork is stunning Lisa.. And the wildlife are suffering all around the world with the extremes in weather changes, Some too dry, others too wet. And others now facing fire.. And the extreme cold to come in winter. Already some places getting snow.
As to your experience with the earthquake.. no wonder you were shaken.. but as you said, I think you were in the best place.. But I would think it brought back the memories of the other one…
I too have needed to step out for a time of the technology and have not been doing as many rounds in WP, but taking time to create and get back into my meditations again.
I hope now you also may find you have more ME time, and relax a little more.. But knowing you, I doubt it.. lol
Sending huge hugs your way…. I think what you have achieved is beyond remarkable, and the joy you have brought to so many with your art is wonderful Lisa..
Love and Blessings my dear friend ❤
Your painting is impeccable. And to be outside with the birds must be so serene.
That squirrel looks hot wearing fur on the Equator.