Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Macaw at Simon's Seed and Garden Center

I've been stuck on this for the last couple of days.  I made the mistake of trying to "plan" a layout investing way too much time in thinking rather than doing.  I think I do much better when I just let everything happen on its own as I work.

This guy is at the Simons Seed and Garden Center in Leesburg.  In fact there were three cages of birds.........one with doves, the macaw, and not sure what kind of bird was in the third cage.  Another very colorful and beautiful bird I hope to paint.

I sent an email to the shop asking if I could get some information on their Macaw (like name, age, male/female, temperament, etc.) but I haven't heard back from them.  So I just looked up information from various sources and made a list about the species in general.

Update:  I was back at their shop this morning (Thurs Feb 23rd), and was able to get information on this beauty.  

This is a Blue Gold Macaw who is 22 years old.  His or her name (they are not sure but think it's a female) is Mango and has been with the shop owners for about 8 years.  Mango is a rescued bird who had/has special needs.  One is due to a deformity of the beak probably caused by incorrect hand raising.  Also had or has a limp due to a broken foot.  Although Mango might have these issues, it wasn't apparent to me and is quite a beautiful bird.

I had the pleasure of being near Mango while out of her cage and also witnessed her giving herself a shower.  That was fun to watch.

Hand sewn journal with Fabriano Artistico wc paper
Beaumont Fountain pen with Lexington Gray Ink (that wanted to smear on me after I thought it was dry)


3 comments:

Annie said...

Hi Susan, I like your Macaw! I have had the same thing happen with Lexington Gray and not my other inks. Do you think it takes longer than other inks to dry? What stitch do you use for your hand stitched journals? I enjoy your posts and have linked to you from my blog: annieglacken.com. Pop on over some time!

Annie said...

Oops--just saw your January post about making your journal!

Susan Bronsak said...

Thanks you Annie!! Normally I don't have problems with Noodler's Lexington Gray......at least with the fountain pens I normally use. With the Lamy Safari and the Platinum Fountain desk pen, the feed is not as wet....probably due to the super fine nibs. The Beaumont is a Fine nib and ink flows a little heavier. Type of paper influences how inks dry as well...even the water proof inks. If heavily sized, the ink will sit on top of the surface taking longer to dry. I just have to remember that before moving forward......lol.

Just checked out your site/blog (plan to spend more time there). Thank you for linking to my blog. :-)