Last year on our annual pilgrimage to Crane Creek, Ohio, one of the big treats was seeing a Great Horned Owlet in its nest cavity and getting photos and video of the little “Furby.” This painting is based on those photos but departs a lot from the reference images that I took. In my effort to work outside my comfort zones, I thought I’d try to keep this looser than I normally work. Additionally, I tend to avoid white backgrounds as much as possible. This one approaches white but has a super light wash of a tan color that fades to white at the edges. In the past twenty years I think I’ve only chosen white a few times.
Owls are exciting birds. Even folks that aren’t normally “bird people” get revved up when an owl is around. I grew up on the edge of a small town in western New York. Our house was next to a big woodlot where my brothers and I spent a ton of time. One year a great big owl started frequenting a Goliath dead tree near our house. A few years later my father found an Eastern Screech Owl nest cavity deeper in the same woods. The adorable little owl stayed around that hole most of the summer and fall.
Seeing an owl isn’t that uncommon, but there is still something special about any owl encounter. Over the years our yard has hosted Barred, Great Horned and Eastern Screech Owls at different times. Mostly we have heard them calling rather than seen them, which is a little less thrilling but still great fun.
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