#2845 "Female Snowy Owl"

#2845 "Female Snowy Owl"
18x14 oils on stretched canvas
Started Saturday, February 17th, 2024

This female snowy owl had a whimsical, perhaps questioning expression on her feathered face. I was happy when that emotion also came through in the brush strokes. The owl would have been regarding the man with the camera in front of her and wondering what the fuss might be about. Female snowy owls might not be as showy as the almost virgin white males, but they are stunningly beautiful. That man in front of her would have been my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John provides a tremendous source of inspiration during the winter when the windchill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio. John is also very respectful of nature and uses long lenses to give nature the space that it deserves. 

Snowy owls nest all across the Arctic tundra of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Russia. One careful estimate put their total world population at only about 300,000. However, their numbers undoubtedly vary from year to year, rising and falling with changes in food supply and other factors. They probably have declined overall in the last century. 

They're native to Arctic tundra, north of treeline, so for most of the year they wouldn't even see a tree. When some of them come farther south, they seek out areas that look similar to their Arctic territory: prairies, wide-open fields and beaches.

Within a few hours after hatching, the young nestlings are covered with fluffy white down which is replaced by darker gray down within a few days. Their first set of feathers, which takes a while to grow in, is basically white, but with a variable amount of black spotting and barring.

The number of eggs that the females lay will change from year to year, depending on how much food is available. When food is scarce, they may lay only three to five eggs and sometimes none at all. When food is abundant, as in a year when lemmings are in peak numbers, they may lay seven or even more eggs. This is part of the reason why their numbers can increase so rapidly in a good season.

Since most of their breeding range is above the Arctic Circle, snowy owls are in a regime of continuous daylight in summer. Snowy owls are thus used to hunting during the continuous light of summer or the dark of winter. Wintering Snowy Owls will often sit in one spot for most of the day, starting to become active near dusk, and doing much of their hunting at dusk or just after dark.

Most owls live in the forest and are active at night, so communicating by voice is a very important part of their behaviour. Since snowy owls live in open country, and they're active in daylight during the breeding season, they have less need for far-carrying sounds. Still, they do make hoarse hooting sounds as part of their territorial defence. They also make a variety of other sounds during interactions with their own kind, including shrieks, cackling barks, mewing cries, and snapping their bills shut loudly. Lone snowy owls on the wintering grounds are often silent.

Snowy owls are protected so it is best to give them their space. 

The image is displayed on an old, large screen beside the studio easel built by my Dad. I go right to the brush. I typically start with the eyes which have to be perfect. If the eyes are not right, it would be best to stop before you go any further. The painting stays on the easel until I am satisfied... it can take a while! I am in no rush. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

2844 "Red-tailed Hawk"

#2844 "Red-tailed Hawk"
18x14 oils on stretched canvas
Started February 17th, 2024

Red-tailed Hawks are the most common hawks in Ontario. Red-tailed Hawks are opportunistic carnivores. 

The primary part of their diet is small mammals such as mice, moles, rats, squirrels, and rabbits. They favour hunting from a tall perch. The Red-tailed Hawk is not a species at risk in Ontario however they still face a range of mortal threats. 

This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John provides a tremendous source of inspiration during the winter when the windchill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio.

The image is displayed on an old, large screen beside the studio easel built by my Dad and I go right to the brush. The painting stays on the easel until I am satisfied... it can take a while!

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2843 "March Bluebird"

#2843 "March Bluebird"
14x18 inches oils on stretched canvas

With climate change, the bluebirds are now year-round residents at Singleton Lake in eastern Ontario. They seem to survive on the small cones of red cedars. Bluebirds can be attracted to platform feeders, filled with grubs of the darkling beetle. These beetles are mainly sold online as mealworms. Bluebirds will also eat raisins soaked in water. Some people even use backyard heated birdbaths that winter bluebirds apparently enjoy.

We do not engage in any of these unnatural encouragements to try to persuade the birds to stay year-round. There are no mealworms or warm baths at Singleton. Severe winter storms are even more likely in the cold trough that will dominate eastern Canada for the next couple of decades. After that, the entire planet will be too warm for snow. Winter storms would probably result in many casualties within the bird population that refuses to migrate as they have for thousands of centuries. Bluebirds have been known to live for a decade so the birds that inhabit the Singleton Sanctuary know us well. I would never wish to encourage their premature demise even though I love to see and hear them...

The first-day painting at the Studio easel. Right to the brush... starting with tones.

This male bluebird had already claimed one of the most favourable Peterson Blue Bird Houses within the Singleton Sanctuary. I could see his breath condense into ice crystals as he sang. I included those wisps of song in the condensed vapours that I painted. 

It was a chilly March morning in 2021. Hoar frost covered the branches of the shagbark hickory. The frost forms first and thickest on the smaller branches. Those twigs have less heat capacity and cool to freezing faster than the larger branches. The layer of frost on the larger limbs was thin in comparison. 

Male Bluebird March 2021 

Hoar frost typically forms on calm, cool and clear nights when the air mass is moist with water vapour. The word 'hoar' comes from the old English "showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair". Apparently, the feathery ice crystals resemble the white hair or the beard of someone old. I have enjoyed white hair from my thirties so white is not necessarily old. Water vapour sublimates from gas to solid ice crystals on the twigs of the hickory. The size of the frost that forms depends on how much water vapour is available to 'feed' the ice crystals as they grow. Vapour pressure over ice has a maximum near minus 12 Celsius and I expect that was the temperature when the bluebird was singing about how happy he was to be home in the Singleton Sanctuary. 

I possess Artistic License Number 000516 and I admit to enhancing the amount of hoar frost on those shagbark hickory branches. I probably should invoke that license more than I do. However, I prefer to record what I see while keeping the brush strokes painterly in nature. As a meteorologist, I focussed on the facts since people tend to prefer realism as opposed to abstraction in their weather forecasts. Some of that tendency has bridged over into my art. Maybe I should let my hair down more!

By the way, climate change and its impacts is not a question of belief. The science has been well-known since the 1800s. The impacts have been well predicted. The tipping points can be observed. Please read John Vaillant's fine book "Fire Weather" is a textbook on the science and sociological aspects of climate change disguised as an action tale about the Fort McMurray wildfire. Be informed.

The response of Canadian politicians of all flavours to the obvious impacts of climate change was to remove the scientists and dumpster their research… forbidding them to use those words in any sentence. Deny the science, destroy the evidence and get rid of the messengers. Shame.

Nature and art still make sense though. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2842 "Northern Shrike"

#2842 "Northern Shrike"
18x14 oils on stretched canvas

This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John provides a tremendous source of inspiration during the winter when the windchill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio. These striking birds are rarely seen but look for solitary and wary robin-sized birds perched at the top of a lone tree in an open field, watching for prey. 

The burly, bull-headed Northern Shrike is a pint-sized predator of birds, small mammals, and insects. A bold black mask and stout, hooked bill heighten the impression of danger in these fierce predators. They breed in far northern North America and come as far south as the northern U.S. for winter. They hunt in brushy, semiopen habitats, chasing after birds, creeping through dense brush to ambush prey, or pouncing on mice. They often save food for later by impaling it on thorns or barbed wire. 

Loggerhead Shrikes have a thicker black mask than Northern Shrikes that often extends over the eye and above the bill. They have cleaner white underparts without the fine barring of Northern Shrikes. 

There was an Environment Canada (EC) pamphlet produced during the era of "program reviews" (aka budget cuts/career losses) in the 1990s. A northern shrike was featured prominently on the cover. The EC directors probably never realized that the "butcher bird" was an editorial comment on what was transpiring within the public service. 

There was a forty-year window of opportunity to take real measures on climate change beginning in the 1970s. The threats to the environment were apparent and not just dire warnings found in 200-year-old science literature.  Sadly, the response to the climate and environmental crisis by governments and corporations became increasingly clear during my career. Maybe someone still has a copy of that pamphlet... 

In particular, the 1990s was a time of cuts at all levels of government. Just when the efforts to address climate change and unsustainable extraction should have been escalating. The window of opportunity to take meaningful steps was still open but the cuts to science and service were brutal. The superficial and ineffective deeds did not match the heroic, political rhetoric. 

Provincially, a series of"sharp" budget cuts to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment in the 1990s saw the lifetime efforts of many scientists that I personally knew and called friends, simply thrown in the dumpster outside their cubicle. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3552259 

Federally, the cuts also started in the 1990s. The cuts to environmental services spoke volumes and those who were eligible to "retire early", simply left taking decades of knowledge and experience with them. Those assaults on science have never stopped. 

A March 19, 2014 article bannered as "Echoes of Walkerton in Environment Canada cuts" follows with "Health and safety of Canadians is at risk with latest slashing of Environment Canada budget." 

"Albert Einstein's well-known definition of insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" is unsettlingly relevant to a new round of federal government cuts. The latest slashing of Environment Canada, which by 2016 will have half the budget it had in 2007, calls to mind a series of deep cuts to environmental protections in Ontario in the late 1990s. Some of the players are even the same, so they cannot reasonably claim to be ignorant of the tragic consequences.Both at the provincial and federal levels. Not much has changed." 

Chapter 20 of John Vaillant's fine book "Fire Weather" summarizes the science, corporate greed and pitiful, pandering politicians seeking profit and power. The hypocritical deeds of those in control closed the window of climate change opportunity. Vailllant's 25 pages accurately cover the back story of what I described above. 

The planet is almost a quarter of the way into the Century of Fire and the threshold of "OnePointFive-Celsius" - perhaps even achievable in 2024. Meanwhile, Canada charges full steam ahead in the Petrocene racing Russia to be recognized as the worst climate laggards within the environmental community. 

The cost of these actions is becoming painfully clear as current record-warm weather integrates into the record-warm climate. The planet is entering a whole new climate and weather world with atmospheric carbon levels that have not been seen in more than 3 million years ago, during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period. 

I was still thinking of the birds of prey and the countless other species that call this portion of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere home as I painted. There are between 1,500 and 3,000 feathers in general on small songbirds. Art can keep me very busy but there is still time to get out and see real nature every day in the Singleton Sanctuary. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2841 "Blue Bird of Paradise"

#2841 "Blue Bird of Paradise"
14 X 18 inches oils on stretched canvas.
Started Saturday, February 17th, 2024 

I have constructed several hundred Peterson Blue Bird houses in my time. There were always construction scraps to turn into something useful. Waste not and want not. The northwest corner of King Township and the Greenbelt has most of those boxes but there are still a hundred within the Singleton Sanctuary. All varieties of birds enjoy the Peterson Blue Birdhouse design. (https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/build-a-bluebird-house/) When my workshop was functional, there would be twenty or more Peterson boxes in construction. There were jigs set up to make every cut perfect. The reward was to see several broods emerge from each Peterson Blue Birdhouse every summer. With climate change, the bluebirds are now year-round residents at Singleton Lake and seem to survive on the cones of red cedars. Bluebirds have been known to live for a decade so the birds that inhabit the sanctuary know us well. 

Blue Bird is supposed to be one word but the two words in the title ensure that the name of this painting is unique. I used a photo taken by my friend John Verburg for this painting. The bluebird sparkled against the autumn colours of the edge of the forest.

By the 1970s, bluebird numbers had declined by estimates ranging to 70 percent. The widespread use of pesticides was certainly a cause. However, unsuccessful competition with invasive species such as house sparrows and starlings is also cited. These birds all compete for nesting cavities. The unspoken elephant in the room is the widespread and serious decline in habitat both in amount and quality. An upsurge in bluebird numbers starting in the 1990s can be attributed largely to a movement of volunteers establishing and maintaining bluebird trails. Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology reports bluebird sightings across the southern U.S. as part of its yearly Backyard Bird Count, something that we participate in at Singleton Lake. 

Right to the brush... on the Studio easel

I was thinking of the countless other species that call this portion of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere home as I painted. We are very fortunate to witness nature every day in the Singleton Sanctuary. 

The bluebird is also the inspiration for many songs - not just paintings. "Bluebird of Happiness" is a song composed in 1934. "Bluebird" is another song written by Stephen Stills and recorded by the rock band Buffalo Springfield in 1967. It contains the lyrics "There she sits aloft at perch. Strangest colour blue." 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2840 "Cooper's Glare"

#2840 "Cooper's Glare"
20 (height) X 16 (width) inches by 3/4 (plus) in depth (inches).
Started 11 am Thursday, February 1st, 2024.

The best way to not over-work a painting is to start another canvas. I was getting to that stage with #2839 "American Kestrel". There was some dabbing of unnecessary details going on. Time to step away from that easel at least for a while. 

My friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer had a wonderful image of a Cooper's hawk. That striking picture had been in my mind for several weeks. The hawk displayed an extreme attitude while nestled within the interlaced branches of an autumn oak. John encourages me to paint from his art and this one begged to be in oils. I display the photo on an old TV and go right to the brush. 

This bird also reminded me of #0554 "Sharp Stare!". That sharp-shinned hawk also had a lot of rapt demeanour in those eyes. The word "rapt" is very apt and defined as "completely fascinated by what one is seeing or hearing." A raptor is also defined as a bird of prey such as an eagle, hawk, falcon, or owl. The English language and the history of these words can be fascinating! 

I wanted to have a similar name for this painting, kindred of #0554. The word "glare" came immediately to mind: "stare in an angry or fierce way". The meaning of the word glare perfectly fits the intent displayed in the Cooper's Hawk's eyes. I had to get those orbs perfect.- without being fussy with the brush strokes.

#2840 "Cooper's Glare" about halfway to completion within the Singleton Sanctuary

The Cooper's is a medium-sized hawk of the woodlands. They really enjoy the Singleton Sanctuary. They feed mostly on birds and small mammals and hunt by stealth, approaching their prey through dense cover and then pouncing with a rapid, powerful flight. Of the three bird-eating accipiter hawks, Cooper's is the mid-sized species and the most widespread as a nesting bird south of Canada. 

I have constructed shelters for the smaller creatures to encourage their numbers within the Singleton Sanctuary. They are also vital inhabitants, but I am careful not to tell them that they are the base of the food chain. The raptors appreciate those efforts but so do the small creatures. Everyone is happy. 

As I painted, I was thinking of the birds of prey and the countless other species that call this portion of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere home. We are very fortunate to see all kinds of nature every day in the Singleton Sanctuary. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2839 "American Kestrel"

#2839 "American Kestrel" 16x20 inches oils on stretched canvas. 
Started at 10 am Tuesday January 30th, 2024 in the Singleton Studio

My friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer took this image of an American kestrel - the smallest of falcons. John encourages me to paint from his art. 

I display the photo on an old TV and go right to the brush. I still needed to give #2833 "The Sun of Whiskey Jack Bay" a break. The paint is very thick on that 3 by 4 footer canvas and that requires time to cure - "thick on thin" is the oil painter's adage... All things take time. 

The slender American Kestrel is roughly the size and shape of a Mourning Dove. The kestrel does have a larger head; longer, narrow wings; and a long, square-tipped tail. In flight, the wings are often bent and the wingtips swept back like a fighter jet.  

The American kestrel (Falco sparverius), also called the sparrow hawk, is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. It also ranges to South America and is a well-established species that has evolved into 17 subspecies adapted to different environments and habitats throughout the Americas. It exhibits sexual dimorphism in size (females being moderately larger) and plumage, although both sexes have a rufous back with noticeable barring. Its plumage is colorful and attractive, and juveniles are similar in plumage to adults. The American kestrel usually hunts in energy-conserving fashion by perching and scanning the ground for prey to ambush, though it also hunts from the air. It sometimes hovers in the air with rapid wing beats while homing in on prey. Its diet typically consists of grasshoppers and other insects, lizards, mice, and small birds. This broad diet has contributed to its wide success as a species. It nests in cavities in trees, cliffs, buildings, and other structures. The female lays three to seven eggs, which both sexes help to incubate. 

Physically, American kestrels are leaner and less muscular than larger falcons. The pectoral flight muscles of the American kestrel make up only about 12% of its body weight, as compared to about 20% for the strongest flying falcons such as the peregrine. The wings are moderately long, fairly narrow, and taper to a point. 

I was still listening to the Best of the Statler Brothers CDs. My Brother Jim has been acquiring hundreds of CDs while the rest of the world was shifting to streaming Spotify. We also enjoy Spotify now that StarLink provides faster internet to very rural areas. However, the old CDs are classic. There are several lifetimes of music left to listen to again. 

The world needs more art whether it be music, dance or paintings. Creativity needs to return to the education system. It is impossible to feel bad or to harm anything with a paintbrush in your hand. Just my thoughts of course... but I was still thinking them as I painted the birds I see every day in the Singleton Sanctuary. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2837 "January Barred Owl"

#2837 "January Barred Owl"
20x16 inches oils on gallery-wrapped canvas
Started January 10th, 2024 

I love barred owls. We hear and enjoy them all year within the Singleton Sanctuary. Slightly smaller than a Great Horned Owl, a Barred Owl has a well-developed facial disk with very dark eyes. Barred Owls are common in the United States and central and northern Ontario, however, they are extremely rare in parts of southwestern Ontario. Barred Owls roost quietly in forest trees during the day, though they can occasionally be heard calling in daylight hours. At night they hunt small animals, especially rodents, and give an instantly recognizable "Who, Who cooks for you?" call. 

My friend John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer took this image of the owl and allows me to paint from his art. I display the photo on an old TV and go right to the brush. #2833 "The Sun of Whiskey Jack Bay" is the 3 by 4 foot canvas on my studio easel behind "January Barred Owl". The barred owl is 20x16 inches in size and just the subject I needed while "The Sun of Whiskey Jack Bay" rested on the Studio easel. The large painting needed to cure before I worked on it again. I intended to paint the owl as a warm and curious subject against a cool tangle of branches and an overcast sky. 

The eyes are the soul of this majestic bird. Get those right and nothing else matters much. Those eyes needed to be quizzical and not threatening. Painting is work and I was exhausted after a morning of the intense concentration required to get this painting right. It is easy to get lost in the nuances of the feathers. There were heart-shaped shadows to find in the underside of the owl tail feathers along with countless variations in tone and colour. The goal was to make the owl come alive without killing it with several thousand, unnecessary brush strokes. I wanted the owl to be able to swoop silently off the canvas but before that could happen, the viewer and the owl needed to lock eyes. 

I wanted the same kind of communication that happens when someone views #0554 "Sharp Stare!". The owl eyes are much larger than those of the sharp-shinned hawk so one would think that eye-lock would be easier to achieve. The owl's eyes were very dark and the details to make them "see" were subtle. Communication needs to be a two-way street and it took considerable thought and some precise strokes to make that happen. Then it was time to stop... step away from the easel. If you look there is so much to see and one can always find more. I had to stop looking... 

These incredible birds deserve our respect and stewardship. 

I was listening to the Best of the Statler Brothers CDs. My Brother Jim has been acquiring hundreds of CDs while the rest of the world was shifting to streaming Spotify. We too have Spotify now that StarLink provides faster internet to very rural areas. However, the old CDs are classic. There are several lifetimes of music left to listen to again. 

The world needs more classic art whether it be music, dance or paintings. Creativity needs to return to the education system. It is impossible to feel bad or to harm anything with a paintbrush in your hand. Just my thoughts of course...

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2838 "30 Long Reach Lane"

#2838 "30 Long Reach Lane"
8x10 oils on canvas panel
9:30 am Monday, January 22nd, 2024.

Even though it was a Monday morning, I felt inclined to paint outside. I wanted to paint the stratocumulus skidding across the sky but the wind picked up as expected - but before I wanted it to develop. In addition, a dozen or more trumpeter swans were enjoying the open water of Jim Day Rapids. I did not wish to disturb them. 

Instead, I sought shelter from the wind in the forest. I headed to a protected spot on Long Reach Lane. Even there the wind chill was significant. The sound of the wind was pleasing as it whispered through the firs and hemlocks that towered above me. I had to paint rather quickly with a minimal palette of colours. And before my hands felt the cold. 

The goal was to lay the oils in and leave them alone. The white of the cloudy sky was poking through the foliage of the forest. The snow was packed down by the truck traffic leading into a new home that our neighbour was building at 30 Long Reach Lane (this explains the otherwise obscure title). Tractors leave a distinct tread pattern in the ice. The colour of packed snow and ice is subtly different from that of the fluffier stuff in the forest. 

A beech tree was still hanging on to the leaves from the summer of 2023. There was a sign attached to a tree leading to the building site. It was going to be a gorgeous place to enjoy nature. My friends, the barred owls kept me company. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick