Inspired by Color

Almost all the time, my wildlife paintings are inspired by seeing a species in the wild. I watch their movements, listen to their sounds, and yes, take in the landscape as a possible backdrop. This time is different.

On my way home from the NatureWorks show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, we diverted to see the sandhill crane spring migration along the Platte River in Nebraska. I have been there on my own when the count was over 120,000 cranes. Their ancient calls echoed from the river and spent corn fields. With this year's current count at 17,000 (a cold winter meant they would be arriving later) my expectations were quite modest.

We arrived in the late afternoon - just in time to stop by the Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center. They generously told us where the main group was, only 5 miles away. The cranes were a bit far from the road, but we could watch and hear them. Driving up and down the snow-covered farm roads we spotted other groups in the last couple of hours of sunshine. As we passed one farmhouse and silo, I asked my husband to stop. There was a group of sandhill cranes but it wasn't the birds which caught my eye. The blue of the shadowed snow against the golden light on the corn stalks was breathtaking. I couldn't take my eyes off it. My inspiration for this next painting.

Check out the wonderful work of the Crane Trust at www.cranetrust.org
It is an organization I enthusiastically support.