Art Out and About

A few days ago we started a little project: taking art supplies to a destination and creating art inspired by what we saw when we got there. We’re pretty excited about the idea. Our first trip was to Chester Bowl, where we plunked ourselves down on a picnic table. The Banana created a lovely whimsical watercolor of a bridge over the creek. Mr. TOF and I worked on some collaborative art that involved yellow tansy flowers and large pine trees on the other side of the soccer field.

But of course my artistic strong suit is unfortunately not drawing or painting (although if I actually did it regularly I’d probably get a lot better at it). I brought along my camera and did a little nature exploring nearby while my artists created.

We discovered a troop of cedar waxwings down by the creek. I hadn’t really ever encountered these super social, engaging birds before, and since I am far from a bird expert and my resident bird expert was not with me, I had to look up what kind of birds I was watching when I got home.

However, cedar waxwings are definitely the most entertaining birds I’ve ever watched. They are busy and curious and up to something all the time: splashing in the water, swooping about from a rock to a tree to the grass and back again, always watching what is going on and telling all of their friends about it.

I especially get a kick out of their “superhero mask.”

We are excited for our next Art Out and About adventure.