Rain Birds

Rain Birds

“It’s raining in January!” a rufous night heron exclaims.

What an unusual event!  Steady rain in Fremantle in January.  And what is more, it is forecast again for tomorrow.   What do the seabirds think of this?  I will head down to the river to see.

Pondering the situation…

“Yes I can”

On the other side of the great leap

A good spot to contemplate rain (and food sources) at East Fremantle

Further up the river a pelican meditates.

Up close and personal with a juvenile rufous (otherwise known as ‘nankeen’) night heron.

A pied cormorant poses elegantly for me.

“Which is my best side, do you think?”

Sadly in the world of seabirds, fishing line is a curse. If only I could have cut this tangled line off the poor little leg.

I had a beautiful morning down at the port.  For a while I forgot about the human world and relished the bird world; blessings bestowed by birds.

And now it’s time to fly…

 

Rain Bird

Rain Bird

“Rain Bird”
a crested tern at Fremantle.
195 x 240 mm. January 2017.

Do you remember that a few weeks ago I showed you a drawing of a flying tern?  I called the drawing “Liberation“.  Back when I drew that bird, I also began another drawing of  him (or her), standing on a post seconds before take-off.  The barely-begun drawing was interrupted by my trip to France so it sat in a folder until this week when I felt like returning to it.

Though it was pouring when I took the source photos, I hadn’t made any suggestion of rain drops in “Liberation”.  Also in that drawing I decided to leave out the post completely.  This time the rain drops and post are in.

Alternative titles for the two drawings could have been…

Tern On

Tern Off

“Liberation” had already sold so I couldn’t compare the colours of the two drawings – until now – when I am viewing these two images together.  I wonder if all those Paris drawings done in between these two bird drawings had any influence on my treatment of “Rain Bird”?

I have so many source photos for Paris but I miss my birds AND Kyoto.  My various subject matters are going to have to take terns (I mean turns) so that I don’t mourn their absence from my drawing life.

On the Road

On the Road

“On the Road”
rue de Rivoli (looking south) on a Friday night.
200 x 262 cm in coloured pencils. January 2017.

On this night I stood on the edge of the footpath – camera poised – waiting for action.  Into my frame he swooped; a cyclist rushing southwards.

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Good Morning Paris

Good Morning Paris

“Good Morning Paris”
rue Saint Denis on a Tuesday morning in October.
Drawn in January 2017

Rue Saint Denis is one of those Paris streets I am regularly drawn to.  It is a street full of life.  People walk all over the road itself as if it is a pedestrian mall but cars drive down it so one must watch out.  Supposedly I moved out of the way of this car after I took the photo – as I’m still alive.

There are shops selling cheap junk, sex shops, cafés, dodgy-looking men hanging about who you don’t want to make eye-contact with, and homeless people propped up with their bags.  Standing sentry over the street is Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles de Paris, a Catholic church which takes it upon itself to minister to the homeless.  The Gothic church has two spires, one of which you can see in my drawing.

Oddly enough I feel comforted by this composition.  The spire is a beautiful shape and I like the proportion of sky to buildings.  I feel a warmth towards the church with its helpful people right in there among the colourful characters and the down-and-out.

When so many people are upset by world events as 2017 begins, I am determined to keep seeking out scenes which make my heart feel glad, and make drawings of them.  There is so much in life which is good.