I’ve always been a night hawk, but this year I’ve gotten up before dawn more days than not and ventured to Griffith woods park. Griffith woods is a new discovery for me, and a nature oasis on the outskirts of Calgary. Its trails sneak alongside the Elbow river, through wettlands and white spruce forest, all home to so many woodland friends.
On summer walks I have seen or heard over forty species of birds, including sandpipers (with their gorgeous lanky legs), purple green swallows and the low pitched hoot of the resident great horned owl (who apparently nests there every Spring). A pelican once surprised me, swooping out of hidden wetlands and flying so low overhead that I instinctively ducked! A couple of mornings I watched a female moose wade slowly, drinking, framed by the first light of dawn, the movement of water as she walked like gentle healing music.
At the beginning of each walk I’d invite all forest creatures to join me if they want to, including the fairies and other mystical forest dwellers. And some days I would hear so many songs and calls suddenly, and see what seemed like a hundred birds all at once appearing around me, seemingly all communicating and connected by what felt like a magical force. My friend Marcia calls it bird mind, a term that I just love! Whenever I was lucky enough to feel a part of it I would stand still for as long as I could, or until the party of birds went on there way as suddenly as they appeared.
Some days I’d rush home just dying to show what I experienced and what bird or animal (or gigantic bright moon descending) that I saw, through art. Much of the art that I created and posted here this past year started from these impulses.
Below is a small selection of the art that I created, all in my galleries and available as limited edition prints.
