Well, well, well... look what we have here.
Coming out of nowhere like the musical notes of a bright red Northern Cardinal buried in the bushes, a POST to the long-stagnant bird jar!
Life, messy icky life, got in the way for the past couple years. I actually have been doing quite a bit of drawing all this time. Mostly life drawing and portraits (for which I started another blog). But a few birds now and again.
Re-opening the Bird Jar is an emotional test for me, now that it's been over a year and I am no longer married to my birdwatching partner. Birding was OUR THING. The birds are so intricately tied in my mind with our life together. Do I even have a right to continue to watch, let alone draw, them? I don't know. I feel guilty and weepy when I try to do either. Just pulling up this pastel piece of a male Northern Cardinal, in fact, makes me cry because it used to hang in my husband's classroom. He left it, without a word, on the seat of my car when we split up.
Maybe I just need to learn how to re-claim my birding as well as my drawing. If I start drawing them again, maybe I will build up enough courage to raise my head and start looking at the birds some day. But for now, I will dig up some of my old drawings I've done and post them here. Baby steps.
Sweet to see you posting again. I slept through the alarm. Mike
ReplyDeleteAgain, I know this was posted ages ago. Really, Susan I can't wait for you to reclaim your birding. It's so very strange (serendipitous) that you've become a cheerleader for me and birds have become/are a very big part of my surroundings and do on occasion provide symbolism for me. There's lots of bird stories with my mum, anyway, this picture of the cardinal is beautiful. He/she appears youthful, optimistic and is there a wee hint of a smile there. This made me smile! Thanks
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