Hummingbird Swing

I hope you had a joyous and spiritually restful Easter weekend. Now that my Easter art posts are finished, “Stories that Inspire my Art” series is back on track here on the blog. You’ll feel warm and fuzzy when you see the amazing real life video update to the story! But first, here’s a 1 minute time lapse to watch me paint a hummingbird.

Watch me paint Hummingbird in a minute (time lapse)

“We bought the hummingbirds a bird swing that advertised the claim that hummingbirds will use it. They’ve not tried it once. But oddly, a couple of other larger birds did, including a silly young cardinal.”

– from the book “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by Savannah, Georgia” by artist Natalie Buske Thomas

Update to the above story…

I was astonished and delighted to find a tiny hummingbird leisurely swinging on the swing we bought for him and his friends! I took this short video from inside the house. I was convinced that he was making the swing move, but as you can see there was a bit of a breeze, so I may have been wrong about that.

Regardless, he was clearly staying on the swing because it amused him or interested him in some way. Hummingbirds don’t usually stay in one place for long and it’s rare to see one so relaxed. It looks like he’s lost in thought, doesn’t it?

When you watch this little bird swing, how do you feel? Simple creatures eat, drink, interact socially, and even try new adventures, such as sitting in this swing. Is he resting, relaxing, contemplating, or merely satisfying his curiosity about this unusual branch of the tree? We are far from simple, but perhaps a hummingbird can inspire us humans with all of our complexity.

Sometimes it’s better not to overthink an unexpected opportunity that suddenly appears in our flight path. Take a seat, enjoy the ride, let your spirit rest. Maybe the swing was left there especially for you.