Day 4: The Sentinel

"The Sentinel" 5"x3" $125

Day 4: I’ve always loved birds. When I was in college I found a couple of newly hatched baby birds that had fallen out of the nest. They were so new to the world that their skin was transparent and not a hint of a feather. I rolled up one of my socks for a nest and fed them with an eye dropper. They both survived and when their feathers formed, I had two adolescent house sparrows. I named them Pete and Ethel. When they got old enough, Ethel decided to fly away (how I taught them to fly is another story), but Pete made the choice to stay with me for a wonderful 4 years.

Today was my Ski Patrol day. After signing in, I went out and filled the bird feeder with two very vocal chickadees chattering in my ear. I enjoy watching the birds and decided I would do a painting of one or two for my fourth painting. It’s hard to paint a moving subject so much of this painting came from past experience. As I painted I could still feel the cool little feet wrapped around my finger and the soft downy feathers lightly brush against my hand... Sometimes little things leave big memories.