Birdbath Adventures

Birdbath Silhouette photography by Meera Rao

We had to take down our birdfeeders a few years ago. During Covid pandemic stay home days we installed a simple bird bath, It has given us so much pleasure ! Some birds fly in and out taking quick sips of water.  Red winged black birds love to dip and shake vigorously. Mourning doves like to linger in small groups. Chickadees and Cardinals are always busy and don't stay long. This year January has been very cold and the water often freezes. I started to heat water indoors in my kitchen and then pour hot water to loosen and thaw the frozen water. I then check to make sure water is not hot. Usually in a matter of minutes the birds seem to notice and happily visit to sip! This photo was taken the first time I did it this year when the I saw the steam rising and a silhouetted bird against the early light from the sunrise.

Its a fine morning

oh the glorious sunrise

and water for birds

~haiku by Meera Rao~

Bidding Good Bye to 2022

Sunset Photography by Meera Rao 

“For last year’s words 

belong to last year’s language. 

And next year’s words 

await another voice.

 And to make an end 

is to make a beginning.” 

~T.S. Eliot~

Natural Instincts

Mallard journal page graphite and color pencil by Meera Rao 

Last month at one point there were three duck nests with eggs in our yard - one by the back door tucked under a boxwood, one at the end of driveway hidden by the iris plants and the third one under an azalea bush near the front entrance to the house. Before nesting the Mallard pairs walked around the yard scouting for an ideal spot.  They even tested out deck corners and planters. 

We routinely got spooked by the female duck who flew off from her hidden nest every time we stepped out the door.  We went out of the way to not walk by the driveway, walkway, anywhere near the nests. I did take a quick photo of the eggs once when the duck flew off the nest. We would check routinely to make sure the eggs were ok and the birds came back to incubate.  The females often left the nests - I am guessing to feed.  

Then one day I saw an egg rolled on to the driveway and there were no eggs nor duck anywhere near the nest by the irises. The nest under the azalea was empty couple of days later. I saw bits of egg shells and no sign of the female.  I was hoping the last one would make it but unfortunately a day later, we spied a healthy black rat snake slithering away from the nest up a tree close by :(  I also know that there are other egg devouring critters in the neighborhood as well !  

So instead of a duck and its brood, after all those weeks of waiting and watching, the final sketch on the journal page ended up that of a black snake!  I guess we have to respect nature and natural food cycles.  

Couple of days ago there was another pair looking for a nesting spot.  I don't know if they were successful. I am praying and hoping I will  see a brood in a few weeks like we have seen in the years past.  

Fiddleheads and Frost : Nature photography

Fiddleheads photography by Meera Rao 

The above photograph was taken earlier in the year.  I saw the  beautiful Cinnamon Fern Fiddleheads at the Nature Conservancy site at Piney Groove Preserve in Waverly, VA during a field trip for the Virginia Master Naturalist class.  We had gone to see the successful restoration of the Long Leaf Pine forest and come back from near extinction of the Red Cockaded Woodpecker.

Frost photography by Meera Rao 

The frosty leaves were in my backyard glistening in the morning light when they caught my eye early in spring.  

The Fiddleheads was the winner of the Plants and Fungi category and Frost in the Macro and Night Category in The Peninsula Master Naturalist Photography Contest in July -August 2019.  It was an honor to have these photographs voted as the winners!  

Leafing Through

Meera Rao

Leafing Through Photograph by Meera Rao

This month I have my art on exhibit at three different galleries: 'Sunrise In The City'  in watercolor in the Capitol Hill Art League Juried exhibition at the Hill Center Galleries in Washington DC; three of my mixed media experiments in 'Small Works and Miniatures By Tidewater Artists' at the Charles Taylor Art Center in Hampton, Va; and my photograph 'Leafing Through'  in the  Capitol Hill Art League's 'Artists' Choice'. 

Sunrise in The City  By Meera Rao  at  Hill Center Galleries, Washington DC

Sunrise in The City , watercolor By Meera Rao

I am often told "you work in different media!" which makes me wonder if I should concentrate my efforts on one medium. Over the years as I play and experiment, I feel, to quote Alfred Stieglitz " The goal of art was the vital expression of self."  For me, it is as if each piece has its own distinct personality that seeks to expresses itself through me.  And somehow each medium lends to the understanding and use of another.  Dabbling in different things keeps me unstuck and for that I am grateful.  Thats permission enough.  

Gratitude  ink on handmade paper by Meera Rao

on exhibit at Charles Taylor Art Center, Hampton Va

Last Stop (NYC Rabbit Hole) mixed media on NYC Metro card By Meera Rao

on exhibit at Charles Taylor Art Center, Hampton Va

Exuberance mixed media on photograph by Meera Rao 

on exhibit at Charles Taylor Art Center, Hampton Va

“Here’s to freedom, cheers to art. Here’s to having an excellent adventure and may the stopping never start.” 

― Jason Mraz

Mixing Up Media

Exuberance mixed media 7x5" by Meera Rao

A couple of months ago, I was the lucky recipient of a book giveaway from a fellow artist, author and blogger Paula Guhin at Mixed Media Manic . The book "Painting with Mixed Media"  by Paula Guhin and Geri Greenman is filled with ideas, step by step techniques and full color Portfolios of art. It has chapters on working with different media -acrylics, watercolors, oil paints, pastels and Tempera. Each chapter highlights a different painting medium, exploring the 'funky ways' it can be combined with other materials, and ends with 'Float your boat further' suggestions that challenges the artist to continue experimenting. The pages are sprinkled with 'Painting Pointers' -artistic advice and helpful hints,  'Savvy Substitutions'  - exactly that  and 'Green scene' - Eco friendly recommendations. 

I decided I needed to try out Alcohol inks with my watercolors and made a trip to the art store to buy a couple of small bottles.  Needless to say, I got lost in the aisles, and ended up buying a Pebeo Mixed media Discovery kit with Fantasy Prisme, Moon and Vitrail paints (6 bottles)  along with Pinata alcohol inks in 3 colors. The Pebeo kit promised "opalescent reactive paints that create an array of infinite designs and textured finishes." and I was seduced :) 

Back home I did a marathon session of You tube videos on Pebeo paints as I had never heard of them before.  Between the videos and the book I had receved, I was full of ideas but no plan. That meant I went off in a completely different and a totally experimental path :) I decided to use old out of focus photographs (double prints!) from long ago (when cameras used film and did not have digital previews) that I had saved because I could not bear to throw away something I had paid good money for. 

I used white gel pen, Pebeo Moon and Prisme paints for wonderful textures to paint on a photo of poinsettias.  Not a drastic change but enough with  more texture  and personality. I have the before and after shots below. 

Fire and Ice  Mixed media  5x7" by Meera Rao

poinsettia photo before 

'Exuberance'  on the very top of the blog is transformation of the photo below.  Here I used  Pebeo Prisme, Moon, and Ceramic paints, Pinata Alcohol Inks, and casein paint.  Pebeo recommends one to pour large quantities of Moon and Prisme (I am yet to try Vitrail) but I used droppers and toothpicks for what I wanted to do. I will use Krylon sealer when the piece is completely dry.  I am very pleased with my experimenting and  really like the results !  

Exuberance mixed media 7x5" by Meera Rao

the photo for "Exuberance"

Exuberance  Mixed media 7x5" by Meera Rao

Fire and Ice  Mixed media 5x7" by Meera Rao 

A Most Powerful Declaration!

Filigree Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture  

Photography by Meera Rao

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Photography by Meera Rao  

Collage of Photos by Meera Rao 

The new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is a must see for all ! Last week after a day spent at the museum,  my worries for the future feels differently in light of the faith, hope and resilience that is packed in the deeply moving exhibits. As the New York times article filled with photos of the museum eloquently puts it  : "In the spirit of Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too,” their message is a powerful declaration: The African-American story is an American story, as central to the country’s narrative as any other, and understanding black history and culture is essential to understanding American history and culture."  

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed--

I, too, am America. 

Langston Hughes

What I See Depends on What I Look For

What I Saw 1 photography by Meera Rao

What I saw 2 Photography by Meera Rao

What I Saw 3 Photography by Meera Rao

A Welcome Retreat

Shade Shack  Photography by Meera Rao

 A green canopy

majestic silent elegant 

no hot sun 

no cold rain

the little blue shack

a welcome retreat.

~Meera Rao~

Lone Starling

Lone Starling photography by Meera Rao


a lone starling
no murmuration no aerial ballet 
etched with gold
 white sparkles
 shimmering iridiscent
watching
waiting 

~Meera Rao~
\

Nature's Calligraphy

Nature's Calligraphy Photography by Meera Rao 

nature's calligraphy 

  brushed with morning glow 

glazed by soft mist

whispering 

a veiled secret

~Meera Rao~  

Endings and Beginnings

Photography by Meera Rao 

While considered by the ancient Aztecs to be symbols of purity,

 in today's language of flowers

 red, white or pink poinsettias, the December  flower, 

symbolize good cheer and success

and are said to bring wishes of mirth and celebration. 

So here's to endings and beginnings !

Adjust the Tension

Adjust the Tension  Photography by Meera Rao

I am excited that my  photograph Adjust The Tension was selected to the  2014 Juried Photography Competition by Juror Jim Jones for the York County Public Library.  It is on display along with other selections at  the York County Public Library- Tabb Branch till July 11 2014. If you are in that neck of the woods please do stop by and check out the exhibit! 

Unrealistic Desire

Wilting Daffodil  Photography by Meera Rao 

Wilting flowers do not cause suffering;

It is the unrealistic desire 

that flowers not wilt

that causes suffering

~Thich Nhat Hahn~

Tangled Shadows

Tangled shadows Photography by Meera Rao 

“Art does not in fact prove anything. What it does do is record one of those brief times, such as we each have and then each forget, when we are allowed to understand that the Creation is whole.”

Robert Adams

Season's Greetings to All!

Christmas Cactus Photography by Meera Rao

From A Spider's Web

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.

~ Pablo Picasso

Five Years!

Just Grass Photography by Meera Rao

Five Years of blogging :)  To each and everyone who has visited or followed my blog, left comments, and given me your support --  a very big heartfelt THANK YOU! As I say in my 'comments' section, viewers complete the cycle of creating art. I am always grateful for your comments, critiques, shout outs or suggestions :) 

Unspooling Beauty and Mystique

Photography By Meera Rao 

"Clouds come floating into my life,

no longer to carry rain or usher storm,

But to add color to my sunset sky."

Rabindranath Tagore,  'Stray Birds' 

Always Remember

Parade photography by Meera Rao 

I think on this day, one way to honor the sacrifices of thousands of brave soldiers is to make sure we never call them to give up their lives without just cause.  

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism"

George Washington