Listening to Acoustic Alchemy and painting Summertime

 It's ages since I got in the mood to do a painting

Been too busy working! 

 

 

 

Amanecer is one of my favourite tunes by Acoustic Alchemy

"Summertime"

24"x36" oil painting on canvas

You can call it Abalone or Pāua, I'm cooking it

You can call it sea ears, muttonshells, ormer, abalone, paua or whatever you like

 Today, I'm cooking it the easiest way I know

These are from New Zealand

  

Cleaning them carefully

 

 

What a beautiful shell.

I collect these and have used them to make among other things

Exotic knife handle inlays!

Slice thin, and marinate in soy sauce for several hours

Stir-frying in ghee!

That's stir-fried abalone

 

 

This recipe is with whole abalone marinated with soy sauce and crushed dried red chillies

Love the iridescence of the shell!

I stared at the wood panel, and saw a leopard

 Found an old wood panel while doing some spring cleaning yesterday.

This panel must be at least fifteen years old.

This painting is special to me because, 

I actually saw this elusive leopard, and took photos

In the deep jungles of India. Read about it here

 

After spotting the leopard, it vanished in about 20 seconds

 

 

 

 

Indian Leopard at Kabini

16"x35" oil painting on wood panel

Painting Wild Indian Peacock in the Jungle

 My mind is away in the jungles of India

Of all the birds I've seen in nearly fifty seven years in three continents,

Including the twenty plus species that visit our backyard

The Peacock is one of the most beautiful

We saw many peafowl, peahen and jungle fowl in the jungle

(I had to abandon the painting for an hour and go out to buy new firm brushes)

 

"Wild Indian Peacock in the Jungle"

12"x16" oil painting on wood panel

Watching Goldeneye and Long-Tailed Ducks enjoying the icy waters of Lake Ontario

Yesterday it was -30 degrees C when I went for a short walk.

Saw lots of Canada Geese having an arctic blast.

 Today it's warmer.

Goldeneye and Long-tailed Ducks are enjoying the icy waters of Lake Ontario!

Notice the shape of the head of the Goldeneye / Bufflehead. 

The genus name Bucephala is derived from the Greek word boukephalos 

meaning 'bullheaded' or 'bull head'
 

Long-tailed Ducks breed in the tundra and taiga regions of the Arctic

Compared to other ducks, the Long-Tailed Duck is the only duck that uses its wings to dive

So they can dive deeper, as deep as 400 feet!

This duck species is considered as vulnerable.

 

 Happy Winter!

 

Listening to Jethro Tull and painting Tigress at Dawn

One of several videos I took recently
 

I needed a paintbrush with a finer tip than the 000

So I had to trim it 

But minutes later the brush broke, and i had to fix it with electrical tape 😁

 

 

The music of Jethro Tull has always influenced me while painting, especially landscapes

Here's Hunting Girl from Jethro Tull's 1977 album, Songs from the Wood

 

 

Tigress at Dawn

16"x 20" oil painting on wood panel