Tag Archives: bird

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Watch this oil painting of a bird in a forest come to life in about 2 minutes (time lapse)

You might remember when I first shared this painting when I finished it in April? Here we are, five months later, and I’m guessing you are feeling a lot of the same emotions that I am. When spring came upon us, I felt hopeful that the change of seasons would bring positive developments along with the blooming trees and sunny skies. Then we slipped into summer, and my optimism waned. Now we are entering autumn. With fall leaves changing, soon we’ll be hibernating again in a deadened world of shorter days, longer darkness, bare trees, and the emotions that come with the reflections and reminiscing that ring in the holiday season.

I don’t have extended family who visits, nor do I visit anyone, but I enjoy the time I spend with my own little family (my husband and kids). I’ve shopped early this year and their presents are already stashed away, long before Christmas. I want to make sure that we can celebrate so brightly that our happiness and gratefulness outshines anything dark that may be upon us in December. I’m also investing in new baking projects and food ideas, party plans (even though it’s just us, we are a party!), and of course the big holiday show that I’ll be sharing with all of you. I want to encourage you to think ahead about how you want to spend your holiday season and prepare for it in a way that is bigger and brighter than you’ve ever done before, even if it’s just you alone.

I will be here with you, same as always. I am committed to blogging every day. So even if it seems that “no one” is around, someone always is. Stay strong, stay positive, and plan for happiness.

Must See, Funny & Weird!

First, my oil painting of a blue heron. I believe this is a “little” blue heron. 1 minute time lapse to watch me paint the art…

Next, see the funny and weird bird that I saw tonight. It looks like it might be a type of big heron. Make sure you see the ending. It was like a silent movie comedy show that the bird was starring in. I added music and voila! A star is born.

See What Happened Today!!!

I shared my sunflower oil painting with you before (2 minute time-lapse video above to watch me paint this). Well, now I have my own sunflowers growing on the patio. I planted them from seed and they are now in bloom. See what happened today when I noticed a cardinal near my new sunflowers and I thought it would make a pretty picture. Have you ever seen a cardinal in a swing before?

You might remember that this swing was marketed for hummingbirds, and that’s why we bought it (I shared a hummingbird in swing video on a previous blog post). But the juvenile cardinals like it too! It’s so fun to watch them play and swing, and this time I finally was quick enough to capture it with both still photography (the first part of the video), and then I switched over to video mode, but he was nearly done by then. I was amazed at how long he was swinging. He seems to like the attention and looks for me!

New Painting – AND MORE!

Watch my new oil painting come to life! “Cardinal on a Tree Branch“, my latest painting that features a cardinal; a bird that is spiritually meaningful to many people and is simply delightful in nature, a truly peaceful and beautiful bird.

This painting will be the featured art in my new book and displayed on the cover. The book is now FINISHED! It is ahead of schedule by several months! The 2021 collection “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by Nature” is available as free time lapse videos, prints to buy, and soon a published book. It follows two previous collections (2019 “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by Savannah, Georgia” and 2020 “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by my Christian Faith“.

I also offer some fashion inspired by art from the previous collections. I plan to add some new designs from the 2021 Nature collection, and I’ll definitely include this cardinal. I know that some of you love cardinals and have been hoping for a new one. I understand because I love cardinals too, and they mean something personal to me and my family.

So the “and MORE” is the celebration that my 2021 art collection is FINISHED! WOOT!!! This feels awesome! I also wanted to announce that I’ll soon have the book and fashion parts of it done. But, I’ll hold back on the reveal of what the new collection for 2022 will be. I’ll be starting on the first painting of that series soon, so stay tuned!

Thank you for being a part of this journey. One more set of 50 done toward my lifetime goal of 1k finished paintings!

“Cardinal on a Tree Branch”

Watch Natalie paint this cardinal in 2 minutes (time lapse)

“Cardinal on a Tree Branch” is featured in the collection “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by Nature“.

Session 1
Session 2
Final Finished Painting
“Cardinal on a Tree Branch” oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas

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“Bird in Forest”

Watch Natalie paint this art in about 2 minutes (time lapse)

“Bird in Forest” is included in the collection “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by Nature“. It is a free-painting project, meaning that Natalie didn’t look at a reference or plan this art, but simply painted whatever came to mind while listening to music. This is an exercise that is good therapy for anyone to try. It frees creativity for any type of profession, but especially of course for professional artists, as the reliance on project goals is removed and the artist must paint like a child does- from the heart and imagination. Doing this brings out emotion, passion, and unexpected outcomes that are slightly skewed, not quite real, and dream-like in quality.

“Bird in Forest” oil painting by artist Natalie Buske Thomas

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“Painted Bunting”

“A gorgeous bird appeared on our patio. I thought maybe a neighbor’s tropical pet bird had escaped. I’d never seen anything like this in the wild. I looked at a bird identification guide for Savannah. This is a migratory bird who visits our coastal area, called a ‘Painted Bunting’. Well, of course I had to paint it! My family gave me a tower bird feeder to attract this type of bird. I look forward to the spring return of painted buntings.”

Painted Bunting oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas

“Hummingbird at the Feeder”

Watch Natalie paint this art, and all 50 oil paintings in this collection (menu below)

“This is a little guy that visits our patio feeder regularly. I get so much joy from seeing birds. It’s hard to explain why it would even matter to see these tiny creatures, but it feels like a gift every time. 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.

We have several varieties of hummingbirds and sometimes they fight. I call their battles “HummingWars” because their flight patterns and the whoosh/zoom noise they make reminds me of Star Wars’ special effects. Sometimes one of them will blitz by our heads if we are in their flight path.

It’s a privilege when the hummingbirds interact with us. When they’re just peeking inside the glass to beg for their feeder to be filled, it’s not a high quality conversation, but there have been rare occasions when they’ve communicated with us without apparent self-serving motive. I was sitting on the swing one evening with my husband. We were quietly talking, when a hummingbird appeared. He looked directly at me, and then zipped toward my head, and hovered only a few inches from my face. It was a bit unnerving, as we made unwavering eye contact for several seconds. Then, I guess his curiosity was satisfied because he left. I could exhale again, whew! I thought he might have tried pecking at my nose for nectar.”

Hummingbird oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas

List of Oil Paintings in this Collection, linking to their pages here on the site, and also citing physical pages in the hardcover book:

  1. City of Savannah
    1.1 “City of Savannah” page 6-7
    1.2 “Natalie at the Fountain” page 8-11
    1.3 “House in Savannah” page 12-13
    1.4 “Guardian Lion” page 14-15
    1.5 “Autumn Angel” page 16-17
    1.6 “Steamship Savannah” page 18-19
    1.7 “Boiled Peanuts for Sale” page 20-21
    1.8 “Bulldog” page 22-23
    1.9 “Serenity Piano” page 24-25
    1.10 “Painting Colors” page 26-27
  2. Tybee Island
    2.1 “I Love Life” page 30-31
    2.2 “Living Sand Dollar” page 32-33
    2.3 “Matthew the Sea Turtle” page 34-35
    2.4 “Fungie the Dolphin” page36-37
    2.5 “Angel Releasing Dove” page 38-39
    2.6 “Flag on Tybee Island” page 40-41
    2.7 “My Kids at the Beach” page 42-43
    2.8 “Lighthouse near Tybee Island” page 44-45
  3. Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians
    3.1 “Gator and Snake” page 48-49
    3.2 “Tree Frog” page 50-51
    3.3 “Lizard” page 52-53
    3.4 “Blue Heron” page 54-55
    3.5 “Hummingbird” page 56-57
    3.6 “Painted Bunting” page 58-59
  4. Flowers and Trees
    4.1 “Pink Flower” page 62-63
    4.2 “Porch Flowers” page 64-65
    4.3 “Clover” page 66-67
    4.4 “Butterfly Tree Flowers” page 68-69
    4.5 “Savannah Tree” page 70-71
    4.6 “Dancer in a Floral Forest” page 72-73
    4.7 “Come to the Garden” page 74-77
    4.8 “Cherokee Rose” page 78-79
  5. Faith and Food
    5.1 “Floral Cross” page 82-83
    5.2 “Lenten Flower” page 84-85
    5.3 “Celtic Cross” page 86-87
    5.4 “Mary of God’s Favor” page 88-89
    5.5 “Lion and the Lamb” page 90-91
    5.6 “Breakfast with Friends” page 92-93
    5.7 “Peaches in a Bowl” page 94-95
    5.8 “Peach Cookies” page 96-97
    5.9 “Peach Pie” page 98-99
  6. Seasons and Weather
    6.1 “Pumpkins and Mums” page 102-103
    6.2 “Autumn Cottage” page 104-105
    6.3 “Spring Lambs” page 106-107
    6.4 “Peach Tree Hurricane” page 108-109
    6.5 “Eye of the Storm” page 110-111
    6.6 “God’s Promise” page 112-113
    6.7 “We Gather Together” page 114-115
    6.8 “Savannah Snow” page 116-117
    6.9 “I Believe in Santa” page 118-119

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“Blue Heron”

“A strikingly beautiful blue heron appeared at the lagoon one day. I quickly took its picture to paint later. This is a different style from how I usually paint. It looks like a watercolor because I was trying to get away with using cheap paints that turned out to be watery and hard to work with. This was a happy accident, because the watercolor-like effect captured the mood.

He has only made one more appearance that I know of, but I hope he will return next spring. On the day he arrived, he just happened to be standing at the water’s edge when the light reflected the colors of the trees in a streaky wave of color. He was all alone, with no other birds or creatures in sight, which only added to his mysterious presence.”

Blue Heron oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas

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