Soaring on Feathered Wings and Wings Aflutter

It's been a downright busy year so far, but I've been trying to ensure that I make time for personal projects and hobbies along the way. I'm finding that every ounce of effort I put into such things has been time well-spent beyond words (especially the projects that get me outside and into nature)!

Soar

Soar - Completed on April 18th, 2014

This sketch started as a lunchtime doodle that I revisited a handful of times in order to try to capture the emotion I was striving to convey. It's rather low resolution, and I opted to keep it that way so that I could focus on the piece as a whole rather than minute details of feather and fur. I had a lot of fun (and challenge!) trying to figure out how to back-light a white creature and incorporate some sense of perspective, but on the whole I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out.

I watched to capture the feeling of soaring, and of the peace that comes from letting go of all your worries and inhibitions and just allowing yourself to "be." While I'd not originally planned to show stars up in the sky (since the gryphon might need to borrow an astronaut's helmet if she was really THAT high up), I felt compelled to put them in there as my mind was drawn to think about some of the people I've lost over the years, and the continued way they impact my life and inspire me through the light of their own lives. In a way, it's really wonderful to think of how many lives we touch along the way.

In any case, the gryphon featured here is a longtime original character of mine and is not fan art. You can see three other pieces of her here from 2012, 2009, and 2003: here.

Here are some of steps along the way:

 

 

 

Raising Monarch Butterflies

In addition to being incredibly active with beautifying my garden, I've also been raising new generations of Monarch butterflies this year! In a future update I'm hoping to share additional photos and information about them, as well as hopefully some videos of the incredible life cycle of these migratory winged wonders!

 

Have you been up to an exciting new hobbies or adventures this year thus far?