Pages

Sunday 3 March 2013

Barn Owls and meeting Mr Cool!


Barn Owl from a photo by Angeline Rijkeboer
© Sharon Whitley

Barn Owl from a photo by Barry Haines
© Sharon Whitley

February's loose watercolour painting challenge hosted by Judith Farnworth over on Paint my Photo was a Barn owl and as I love barn owls I just had to have a go - for the first one I used a wonderful photo from PMP by Angeline Rijkeboer - I wasn't over keen although the real thing looks a little better than the photo.  I then tried a looser version which took a fraction of the time, and I think I prefer it, more spontaneous and I enjoyed painting it more than the first which is probably why I like it more!

So what else have I been up to?
If you don't recognise the gentleman below it's Kenton Cool!  Gary and I went to see him speak on Friday night.  He climbed Everest last year for the tenth time  - sponsored by Samsung to take an Olympic Gold Medal to the top of the world - what a guy!  He was lovely to talk to too!


and on Saturday Gary, Holly and I climbed our own little 'Everest' - and what weather we had - just look at that blue sky over the majestic Mount Snowdon. Love it there,  Gary's much better photos of the day will soon be on Two Pairs of Boots.  Holly had a wonderful time swimming in the lakes on the way up - and down!


Hope you're all having a fab weekend
Sharon

9 comments:

  1. I like both of these Sharon, no wonder you paint nature so beautifully your connection with it shines through into your art

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the owls, think I prefer the second one too. But I'd be happy to paint either. Interesting meeting you had with another intrepid mountaineer, glad you enjoyed his company.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like both owls but do prefer the looser one - gives it more energy, I think. Now to check out Gary's posting and photos...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Two lovely pieces, difficult to pick a favourite.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the looseness in the second one ..however, I like both of these paintings.. Well done!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Both owls are good, I like the blue on the first one. An exciting weekend, looks like you had fun!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Id be happy with either Sharon but the stance on the second is more appealing to my eyes. Wonderful as ever

    ReplyDelete
  8. Holly swam in the lakes? That one looks frozen! Yikes! Love the owl pieces but also like the second version a bit more. Have to admit the eye has it in piece one though! Both are wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm loving all your wonderful birds Sharon!

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from you, thank you so much for leaving a comment - I will always try to leave a reply and pop over to visit your blog if you have one - although sometimes I may be slower than others, have a wonderful day xx