Sunday, December 4, 2011

Chenoa the owl

If you ever find yourself in the university town of Eugene, Oregon, I would highly recommend spending some time at Cascades Raptor Center. My husband and I were really excited about visiting that wildlife hospital specializing in raptor rehabilitation and release. A lot of birds of different species found their loving foster home there after being orphaned or injured. And each one of them has a personal story.
For me, the most surprising resident was a magpie named Miri, which had been illegally raised and imprinted on humans. Unable to survive in the wild, that cute little bird is totally socialized to people. Every time we happened to be around her big cage, she tried to get as close to us as she could. It was so touching and sad at the same time.
And of course, it's impossible not to mention about amazing owls, which are very plenty at CRC. As soon as I saw beautiful and mysterious Chenoa, a Northern Spotted owl, I decided to make her an object for my watercolor painting.
16''x12'' on Arches watercolor paper

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11 comments:

  1. SadamiDecember 4, 2011 at 10:05 PM

    Dear Maria,
    I've been waiting for your update. Beatuiful work and an interesting post!
    ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ·.•*•♫°•♫·.•ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ
    Cheers,Sadami

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  2. PatDecember 5, 2011 at 12:32 AM

    She's a real beauty, Maria. Great painting xx

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  3. JudyDecember 5, 2011 at 12:39 AM

    Beautiful, Maria!

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  4. UnknownDecember 5, 2011 at 4:16 AM

    Ooh, this is so soft and sweet and just mesmerizing! I would love that hanging on my wall!

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  5. Jutta SmarsinskiDecember 5, 2011 at 6:01 AM

    A beautiful loose painting! Love the eyes!

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  6. Maria's WatercolorDecember 5, 2011 at 7:07 AM

    Wonderful, soft and sensitive painting, I worked in a wildlife rehab program when I was in school, and the owls were such impressive animals. Such a lovely painting.

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  7. Manuel MoyanoDecember 5, 2011 at 10:44 AM

    Una preciosa acuarela y buenos colores.Un saludo

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  8. Cobalt VioletDecember 23, 2011 at 11:38 AM

    Oh, I would love to go there. What a lovely loose watercolor! So gorgeous!

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  9. JANE MINTERDecember 23, 2011 at 12:48 PM

    soft and beautiful maria ...wishing you a very happy christmas and 2012

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  10. JaneJanuary 17, 2012 at 4:24 AM

    Gorgeous portrait...you gave the owl such a sweet expression, and the colors are wonderful!

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  11. MariaJanuary 17, 2012 at 5:58 PM

    Thank you my friends!:)

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