This weekend is the RSPB's annual Big Garden Birdwatch. There are events across the country but you can also just sit by the window for an hour and make a note of the highest number of each species that lands in your garden at any one time (or local park). That is what I'll be doing with a cup of tea (or three) and a sketchbook.
This is the 30th year, with half a million people taking part and providing an invaluable 'snapshot' of the birds in each region: "We've lost more than half our house sparrows, and three-quarters of our starlings, and your results have certainly helped highlight these dramatic declines.These surveys, therefore, help us spot problems, but more importantly, are also the first step to help aid a species recovery. But we mustn't forget that Big Garden Birdwatch is also fun, easy and only takes an hour." Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
It was great fun to return to meerkats for this latest miniature, they are such cute subjects and I particularly enjoyed painting all the fur. Its very theraputic :)
This weekend sees the opening of the Miniature Art Society of Florida (MASF) 35th Annual Exhibition at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs, Florida. This is one of the largest international shows of miniature art with around 850 works selected from artists all over the world. The show is a major highlight of the year and I would love the chance to see it in person some day! Above are the entries I sent and I was delighted to receive an award for The Lambing Shed (third place in opaque watercolour). I'll hopefully be able to post some links to pictures and videos of the event soon but first reports are that sales are very brisk and the atmosphere wonderful.
If you have the opportunity to visit the show you will be in for a treat and it runs through until February 7th with most work on display for sale, regular demonstrations from artists and also the chance to see the Society's Permanent Collection of over 100 works.
Walking back along the shore a few weeks ago I was joined by a Redshank. Usually these birds protest loudly and fly off when you go anywhere near them (which is not very near at all) but this one just scurried alongside me for nearly a mile before finally deciding I was rotten company and taking to the air. It was lovely while it lasted :)
The resulting painting from this encounter is shown above (with a penny for scale) but the thing I couldn't work out how to convey was what Tim Dean (in The Orkney Book of Birds) describes rather well as the 'neurotic squat thrusts' they like to indulge in. So here's a little video of it instead - with apologies for the poor light, sound and general unsteadiness of the clip...it was grey, cold and very windy that day!
I am a watercolour artist in Scotland and I paint nature in detail. Everything from flowers to wildlife, via illustration and licensing with detours into miniature art whenever I can. Please visit my website for more information or to buy prints, cards and originals. I hope you enjoy this diary and feel free to ask questions or leave a comment.
This weekend is the RSPB's annual Big Garden Birdwatch. There are events across the country but you can also just sit by the window for an hour and make a note of the highest number of each species that lands in your garden at any one time (or local park). That is what I'll be doing with a cup of tea (or three) and a sketchbook. 
