Creating from Mother Nature's Inspiration!

This week I went in search of inspiring ideas that I could bring home and place on paper!  On this day I ventured down into Dale Hodges Park.  I am thankful to have places like this to go to that are almost city centre yet gives you that feeling of escaping from reality.  I descended the trail and when I reached the bottom, I was hit with a slice of reality when I found the wetlands were completely dry.  It may be because of construction in another section of the park but it could also be due to the lack of moisture we have received in the past number of months.  The river that runs through the city is at its lowest level in one hundred years.  We remain under mandatory water restrictions which have been in place since mid August.  

What I did find very appealing though, the autumn shades were vibrant.  I liked this look of the hill formations framed on the bottom by the colourful vegetation.  This gave me inspiration!

I liked this look too!  The clouds looked like they were exploding from the tree tops!

After exploring the wetlands and seeing no wet, I veered off into the bushes.  Another slice of reality came my way.  Yes, with a big city comes big city problems.  As I was venturing in, a gentleman and his dog were hiking my way, he recommended not to go in as there was unsavoury activity taking place.  He suggested another trail to try.  

I took his advice and found that trail which is one I had not been on before.  It is mainly for mountain bikers so I needed to be careful at the blind corners.  This was near the beginning of the trail and already this early on, I was inspired by what I was seeing.  

Then I reached this point on the trail and I knew this was what I came here for!  

I continued further west along the trail and snapped many shots.  For the hike back, I crossed to the hills on the north side and followed those back to the wetlands.  I took no photos of where the water should be at the wetlands as those places were not pretty sights.  I thought this kind of shot of the wetland area was pretty.  

This was the view looking back after ascending along the trail back to where I started.  

Here is the outcome from the collection of this day's inspirations!  This creation was done in a new smaller sketchbook journal.  The painting measures 4" x 6.5".  I like this size for this type of project.  It takes less time and I can compete it to include in my blog post on a timely basis.  

These were the three photographs I used as my references.  

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With a motive in mind, one day this week, I hiked up Nose Hill with a plan to be higher up before the sun came up.  I wanted to capture photos of the sun as it peeked above the horizon, giving off rays and creating the bokeh effect.  I wanted that look as my inspiration for another watercolour creation.  I got all those in a few photos and this was my favourite.  With already accomplishing my main reason for coming here, it was now time to cover some kilometres enjoying everything else there is to enjoy up on The Hill.  

a split shadow shot as I ascended higher

It was a bird off in the trees that drew my attention, until a quick loud movement beside me made my heart skip a beat!  It must have been snoozing curled up in the grass.  I did not see it, but I must have woken it and startled it.   It got out of there in one direction just as quick as I got out of there in the opposite direction.  A male deer is not an encounter I care to make at this time of year, which is rutting season.  This is a zoomed in shot that I grabbed when it stopped further away.  

This was the bird that I had been focused on.  It is a Northern Shrike.  Instead of migrating to warmer climates in the winter, they migrate to colder climates.  The Northern Shrike is a tiny bit bigger than a Robin but oh so vicious.  You can see the hooked beak, it is a bird of prey and can do damage!

a Merlin, another bird of prey, don't be fooled by the cute fluffy look

On this visit to Nose Hill instead of hiking back down the hills,  I descended into the ravine to follow that winding, tree-lined trail back to where I started the day.  This is a video of a section of that trail that gave me inspiration for a creation.  

Instead of creating a painting showing the sun peeking above the horizon at sunrise time, I created this painting.  It has the sun peeking out from behind the tree, it shows the rays and I also added the bokeh effect.  Once again, this is a smaller painting and I was able to complete it in a timely fashion.  

These are the three photos I used as references.  I took these while hiking in the ravine.