GREAT BLUE HERON

“GREAT BLUE HERON”

It’s one of those mid-August mornings. You had been awakened during the night for a brief moment, by the nearby thunder of a rogue storm cell that passed through your area.

You’re up earlier than normal the next morning and the sun is bright and warm, so you decide to venture out and experience what appears to be the start of a perfect day.

As you walk along the well-worn path, you stop in front of a quaint little white cottage with its storybook shutters. At the picket fence, you stoop down to smell a group of flowers. They are planted each year by the person who, so mysteriously, is never outside when you pass, to accept your intended compliments.

As you continue on, the same small birds are at the same well-maintained feeders, the same squirrels are running up and down the same old gnarled trees.

Unlike most artists… with Ron’s masterful talent…

No matter how close you get…

The detail is clear!

But wait; as you go around the bend you happen to notice a movement in the mist, behind the next group of trees over by the marsh. Slowly and silently you move toward the trees from which you intend to do a little spying. As you enter the shadows of your new hiding place, you catch the eerie smooth movement of a Great Blue Heron.

It moves through the water so gracefully it barely makes a ripple on the glassy surface. The trees are still dripping from last night’s downpour and the air is alive with the earthy smells of the humid yet comfortable summer day. You then realize that you are being offered a rare opportunity to experience the huge bird, in close detail, in a way that few people ever get the chance. You feel privileged to know that nature is allowing only you to watch the Heron and its slow enchanting dance if only for a few precious moments in time.

Ahhhhh…life couldn’t be more perfect!

You may purchase “Great Blue Heron” on its own or receive it as a free gift from Ronald Suchiu with every purchase of a “Metamorphosis” s/n print, artist proof, or press proof with the matching number.

“SO, WHY IS THE GREAT BLUE HERON BLUE?”

When preparing to do this painting I decided to take advantage of the simple yet absolute beauty of the Heron itself. I wished to show its majesty, without hidden meaning and in its favored environment.

After, establishing the exact scene the Heron would inhabit, I set out to find the proper palette for an art piece that would portray such a graceful and fragile subject.

The search for my colors would ultimately lead me back to “Metamorphosis”, the painting I had done of my friend our famous Eco-hero Dr. David Suzuki. Ironically this piece held a full array of tints and tones necessary to represent the world of the Great Blue Heron. I noticed that mixed into the background scenery of the painting was all the colors of the Heron’s actual plumage.

Well doesn’t that make sense! I guess that, up until then, I had never really considered exactly why its coat of feathers was a powdery blue-gray. Even a day with the slightest touch of humidity would produce these colors in the distance. It was easy to see that the gentle blue and taupe of the Heron would undoubtedly melt into its surroundings, especially when it entered into areas of tall marsh grasses or fallen trees that hug the misty morning shores of small rivers and creeks.

In conclusion, the colors of the scenery are in many ways the same as the subject of the painting, which is one of nature’s very best camouflages.

I have also noticed over the years that most people don’t see real colors all of the time and I include myself in this group.

Let me explain…you see many things through the day that you have seen a thousand times before. You may not realize it but your mind memorizes the colors of millions of common things such as the rich green of leaves of trees, the medium gray of a telephone pole, the white fence at the neighbor’s house, etc. But, what you may not realize is that the colors you think you’re seeing are only through your mind’s eye. Take a moment sometime and concentrate on the actual colors you see when looking at a distant forest on a hazy day and you’ll find that unless the air is absolutely clear and unless the sunlight is at the perfect time of day the colors you perceive are substantially altered by such things as humidity, pollution or even just because the sun is low in the sky.

Just for fun, ask a few adults in a candid manner what color a tree’s bark is and you’ll be told brown. Yet, very few trees in the entire world have brown trunks!

Allow yourself the privilege someday to catch your mind playing tricks on you; it’s harmless but I bet it will spark your interest in seeing more of the unique colors of the world.

And another art lesson comes to an end!