Yes, this will be Final Friday

Hard to believe it's almost Final Friday again but I spent most of the day clearning and rearranging the studio in preparation for March 26.

Work on the new Krippendorf Lodge painting for the Cincinnati Nature Center benefit April 30 is progressing nicely.

Today, I laid down the shadow layer in oils over my pencil drawing and tomorrow will begin lifting out light with a kneaded eraser. Many thanks to C. F. Payne for demonstrating some of these multimedia techniques.

With the success of the Laurel Court painting, I'm encouraged to do more of this style work.

Last Friday night, I was captivated by DeVere Burt's presentation on John James Audubon. I had no idea JJ was the first director of what is now the Cincinnati Historical Museum. Nor did I know his original Birds of America was about 2 x 3 ft. and sold for $1,000.

But I was glad to learn Cincinnati has one and that it's on display in the downtown Public Library. DeVere told the Cincinnati Art Club that every day they turn a page so you can see a different one of the 400+ illustrations. So I decided that whenever I'm downtown, I'm going to pop in and see Audubon's "bird of the day." Today it was a yellow breasted warbler; beautiful!

Kind of interesting that at the same time I'm learning this info, I'm also out hiking and bird-watching myself for the first time; hmmm.