Grandma's hummers

Grandma loved hummingbirds - she would diligently fill her bird feeders everyday. She had to. There were so many of those ruby-throated gems visiting her kitchen window that they'd drink an entire feeder's contents in one day! I remember counting 20 of them darting, fighting for a turn at the perch. There was also an ancient trumpet vine climbing up some utility wires to the top of the telephone pole - another hummingbird favorite. Grandma's passed on now, and new owners are in the house...trumpet vine torn down and bird feeders removed. Kind of sad, but I can't help but smile and think of Grandma whenever I see a hummingbird.

I think Grandma would've enjoyed this painting!! It's my second attempt at getting everything right - sizes, colors, textures. I'm still figuring out how to translate what is in my head onto the canvas without getting sidetracked. :) 

An armful of hummingbird books came home with me from the library. I wanted to study their shape and coloring better. Did you know hummingbirds only live in the Americas? Lucky us! Most are in the tropics, but some range as far north as Alaska. And the fact I found most interesting: they cannot walk. Guess you don't need to walk much when you can dance in the air so beautifully!

Free spirited fuschia flowers - my other Grandma often had baskets of these hanging at her lake house. I had fun making the background textures: I stenciled paper doilies, stamped with corrugated cardboard, and made random dots with the end of my paint brush.

Ah, Grandma, this one's for you! (I got choked up writing that just now).

Don't you think it should hang next to the painting of Grandpa's tractor, Big Blue? 

I'll be leading a sip and paint style class tomorrow night featuring this painting and can't wait to see how my students do! Wish us luck!