I'm back and I've got some exciting news...

Hi Folks! I hope you all had a great summer,

and are enjoying the beautiful fall season!

In my part of the world, the tress have begun 

to turn into their glorious autumn colours.

We put on sweaters, drink more tea

and marvel at the beauty and colours around us 

as we witness the seasons change once again.

Life has been very full for us,

and change continues in our lives as well.

Over the summer, I took a blogging hiatus 

so that I could focus on other parts of my life,

and chip away at some of my art goals.

I'm really excited to let you know that I have been invited 

to participate in an upcoming art show 

which will be held right downtown in our nation's capital!

The show, which is hosed by Roger TV's Barbara Laurenstin,

 is called Art in Fashion 613

{because "Art can be Fashion and Fashion can be Art"}

You can find me in one of the booths,

selling my art.

A bit about my art:

One of the things I have been really enjoying doing 

for the past two years or so,

is painting whimsical girls.

I often scan through fashion sites, magazines and Pinterest

for inspiration for my girls' outfits.

Here is a peak at some of the art I'll be selling:

 

Some of my art will also be sold as prints in various forms. 

Here are a few examples of the accent cushions I'll be selling:

 

 If you are in, or near, Ottawa I'd love for you to come on out to the show!

Tickets are available here.

Silvia

my bird love

If you've followed my blog for a while

you probably know that I love birds.

My art journals pretty much

always have some bird pages in them. 

They usually aren't detailed pieces of artwork, 

but quick sketches and doodles

that capture my love of birds.

Is there something that captures you? 
Something you tend to find yourself drawn to over and over again?
I'd love to hear what that is!

Here are a few of my bird pages...

Silvia

exciting news!!

Whew! Its been a busy few months, 

but I did it!

In a few days we are heading out on a 4 week ministry trip/vacation.

{I'm very excited!}
And I had set some goals for myself,
somethings I wanted to accomplish before we left...

I wanted:

 • to get 7-9 paintings completed,

• open up shop in a few on-line art stores

{sorry Esty, you didn't make the cut this time}

• and put some effort into having my art displayed locally.

Whoo-hoo!

I'm so excited to announce that 

I did it!!

I will be displaying my art at 

Oh So Good Dessert & Coffee House

{downtown, on York St)

during December and January!

Please stop by to see it

{and get one of their incredible desserts}

And, you can now buy my art on-line at:

Fine Art of America

and

Society6.

{check out the link to Society6 to the right of this text}

I have hashtaged on instagram

#meetinggoalsfeelsgood
It really does feel good!

If you would like to follow me on instagram

{and see lots of pictures of our upcoming adventure!}

I am silviaklassen

Here is a sample of what you will find for sale in my on-line stores.

I will update it regularly.

Thanks for being a part of this exciting journey with me!

Silvia

This was so much fun!!

I recently tried something new!

I don't think I have ever done anything like this ... well, not exactly like this anyhow. 

And this was most definitely a lot of fun!

I had one last assignment from one of my summer courses that I wanted to complete {I have begun some new courses since then!}  If you know me at all, or have followed my blog, you know I love birds - so this assignment was right up my alley. 

I know, they aren't perfect, I can see lots of things I will do differently next time {and there will be a next time!}, but I quite like them.

I like the challenge of trying something new; I love learning new skills and seeing my world open up in bits and pieces, and when it happens, in leaps and bounds.  

As Walt Disney said, " We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

Here are my new little creations...

 

 

May you and I never stop moving forward, learning and trying something new!

Silvia

Banded Babies

I am always looking for unique opportunities for my family to interact with nature. Several years ago I discovered the world of bird banding and (because of our love of birds around here) ever since we then we have been hooked. Bird banding is described as “The practice of catching birds, marking them with an identifying band around the leg, and then releasing them.”  Scientists rely on banding to learn about bird behavior, migration patterns, etc.

Twice in July (in Ottawa) the public is welcome to be a part of banding Purple Martins, Canada's largest swallow. Purple Martins are community birds and there are two very large Martin bird houses by the Ottawa River that were built by a man named Peter who cares for the birds and bands them with the Innis Point Bird Observatory (see their facebook page here). This morning two of my kids & I ventured out to be a part of the action and we were delighted to see, hold and feed some new born baby Purple Martins.  Here is our story in pictures, and a few words...

We arrived and watched the parents go to and fro from their nests which are located in these homes (the male is the darker bird):

Peter lowered the first house down to have access to the baby birds:

As he opened each door, we were able to see the amazing treasures that were hidden inside:

We saw babies at all stages of development.  These little guys were only two days old!

They were so tiny and could not even yet see, but if you look closely you can see their feathers beginning (look at the head and the "wing")...

These were a few days older, still bunched up in their nests:

This one was almost ready to leave the nest:

It was amazing to watch as Peter fed the tiny birds ... he gave the one below a dragonfly that was nearly half its size & it had no trouble eating it!

And a little bit of water to wash down their meal:

 We were able to hold and handle the babies.  Here my son is trying to feed one of them:

We watched as he carefully banded the older babies:

Here Peter was checking its size to correctly assess the age:

We learned about some of their challenges ... blowflies lay their eggs in the nests and the larvae suck the baby birds' blood for food.  Peter checks each nest several times a week and cleans out all the larvae.

 Once the whole house was cleaned and the babies were cared for and banded, Peter raised it back up to its full height and the parents happily returned home:

Thanks so much to the IPBO for a great experience this morning! If this interests you, there is likely a bird observatory near you that you could get involved with.

Silvia
follow me on instagram at silviaklassen 

Because I love birds...

I just had to put up one more post about the many gorgeous birds we saw while in Florida. It was so much fun to watch my family get excited when we spotted a new bird.  I think they have caught my bird-fever!

If you are a bird-lover, you will enjoy this one!!

We saw a number of different herons either right at the mainland dock that we used or on the beach.

Black-crowned Night Heron - they normally stand hunched, but extend their neck like this one when hunting.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron - apparently these may wander into the lower Great Lakes or Ontario after breeding season!

Snowy Egret - we often saw one or two of these on the beach.  I love the yellow feet!

On the right is a Great Egret shown pictured here with a Snowy.  The Great Egret is larger than the Snowy and it has a yellow beak and black feet which is reversed in the Snowy Egret.  They are both so elegant in flight and while standing!

This is a Little Blue Heron. It is not actually little, but a bit smaller than the Great Blue Heron which is pictured next.

Great Blue Heron 

Green Heron - one of the smallest in the heron family.  It let us get very close before it jumped over to the other rope.

This is a Reddish Egret. (Actually, they are more brownish & greyish!)  This was a treat to see as there are only about 2000 pairs of them in the United States and most are in Texas.

These are Willets and we saw them feeding daily on the beach at Little Gasparilla Island.

The Double-Breasted Cormorant was a common sight on the bay side of the island.

The Osprey are nesting and this one was not too happy about how close our boat was to the pole it had made its nest on (neither was I - but that is another story).  

The next picture shows two Osprey parents in their large nest.  We saw several of these on the Island, and many in Florida in general.  At times we would see the Osprey circling about us with a large fish in its mouth - it appeared to be "showing off" its catch before it took it back to the nest.

Osprey in their nest.

Laughing Gull - they really do sound like they are laughing!

The beautiful White Ibis - there was a large group of these around a small pond on the Island.

This is a juvenile White Ibis - it still has its more camouflage colours.

The Least Tern - Florida's smallest tern.  It was difficult to get a photo of them as they are skittish. But I was able to photo one of their nests well:

Amazingly, the Least Tern just lays its egg on some shells on the beach. We took our boat over to the Island beside ours, and there we met a man who was looking for their nests in order to rope them off to protect the eggs.  We likely would not have noticed the camouflaged eggs if he hadn't first pointed them out to us.

Common Moorhen - these birds were in the same pond that the White Ibis were gathered around.

This is a Red-bellied Woodpecker. Its belly is only a little bit red, but apparently the name "Red-headed woodpecker" was already taken.  :)

Roseate Spoonbill - this was perhaps my most exciting spotting.  We had hoped to see them while in Florida and only saw them on our way out, at a stop at Myakka River State Park.  Here is another picture of this unique pink bird:

 A Roseate Spoonbill feeding - they swish their heads back and forth with their spoon-shaped beaks open, searching for food.

This is a Limpkin - in North America they are only found in Florida.  

A Wood Stork - another Myakka treat (aside from the alligators that we also saw):

I know - it's not a bird, but I thought I'd throw it in anyhow.  This one really kept his eye on us, and we returned the favour!

And lastly:

We saw these Black Skimmers (a family, I think) in South Carolina on a little drive to the Atlantic.  It was an unexpected treat as I had been thinking the day before that I wished I had seen them!

Silvia