Images from my Algonquin Park show.

These are some shots from on set-up day at the Algonquin Park's Visitor Centre at km marker 43.

Algonquin Park Art Show - Tranquility Aug 26 to Sept 28, 2011

Madly preparing for my Tranquility Art show in Algonquin Park - opening August 26 at the Visitor Centre at km marker 43.

There will be lots of new originals and prints available for purchase with 25 % of all proceeds going to the Friends of Algonquin Park.

Please come see the exhibition and at the same time enjoy Algonquin Park at one of the best viewing times for moose.

This is one of the new originals: "The Calling"

Barred Owlet at the Hope for Wildlife facility in Nova Scotia - Facebook Auction

As you may know I have partnered with The Hope for Wildlife facility in Seaforth, Nova Scotia not too far from Halifax and Dartmouth. A couple of weeks ago a little Barred owlet arrived at the facility and "stole" everyone's heart.

I decided to do a drawing to help raise some funds and do a facebook auction for the original piece. The piece measures approximately 9 inches wide by 13 inches high and is done in graphite. Retail value for this piece would be $ 325.00.

The auction will start at $ 100.00 with all proceeds going to HFW and bidding will be in $ 10.00 increments. The auction will remain open until July 1st at midnight ( Eastern Standard Time ) and the highest bidder will receive the original artwork ready for framing once the winning bid amount is received by HFW. Bidding can take place on facebook at the Stuart Arnett - Wildlife Conservation Artist facebook page or directly via email at stuart@stuartarnett.com

Limited edition prints are available as well for $ 125.00 ( shipping included ) and 40 % or $ 50.00 will go to the HFW facility to help care for their animals and birds.

New Algonquin Park Artistic cartography piece now available.

This is a new version of a popular original that I did some time ago however with the addition of my new Epson Stylus Pro 7900 giclee printer, I can now offer prints and prints/originals with a twist. Limited edition prints will be available along with the original of course and I will also be offering giclee prints with original watercolour additions to match your favourite canoe. Colours and canoe insignia can be included. 

The original is done in graphite and Staedtler Marker on a topographical map of Algonquin Park. If the original is still available in August, it will be framed and exhibited in my "Tranquility" show to be held at the Algonquin Park's Visitor Centre between August 26th and September 28. Several "watercoloured giclees" will be available throughout the show as well.
So if you have canoed through Algonquin Park and and would like to "see" your canoe in this image, email with the particulars and we can see what we can do.

Week 3 of beekeeping - dealing with comb in the wrong location.

Checked the bees on the weekend to see if they were building comb on the frames in the brood chamber and not on the feeder. The last time it was the Blue Hive that was building o the feeder. This time it was the purple hive. Unfortunately, I lost about two weeks of build time. When I lifted off the feeder to the Purple Hive there was a lot of comb attached to it and the Queen was crawling around on it and not in the Brood Chamber where she was suppose to be. It took a little bit of effort to get her back in the Chamber.

The Queen can be seen in the lower left corner of the picture. Unfortunately, there was some larvae already in this comb.

Once all the excess comb was scrapped off the feeder onto the top of the Brood Chamber frames, I carefully checked all of the comb looking for the Queen. I couldn't find the Queen so I kept an eye on the feeder and the Queen crawled out of the bottom of the feeder slot. I decided to use my bee brush and I gently brushed the Queen onto the top of the Brood Chamber and she quickly disappeared into the main frame system.

Once I knew the Queen was back where she should have been I gently placed the excess comb back in front of the entrance so that the bees could enter the hive. You can see them starting to crawl up the landing pad to the entrance.

You can see the bees lining up to get in the entrance. I came back after a couple of hours and most of the bees had gone back in the hive and the entrance set on the wider opening.

Will check again in 3 or 4 days.

Honey Bees and Pollinators

We have decided to become new beekeepers for several reasons, the enjoyment of the hobby, they are fascinating creatures and they are declining in nature.

Pollinators are essential to our environment. The ecological service they provide is necessary for the reproduction of nearly 70 percent of the world’s flowering plants, including more than two-thirds of the world’s crop species. The United States alone grows more than one hundred crops that either need or benefit from pollinators, and the economic value of these native pollinators is estimated at $3 billion per year in the U.S. Beyond agriculture, pollinators are keystone species in most terrestrial ecosystems. Fruits and seeds derived from insect pollination are a major part of the diet of approximately 25 percent of all birds, and of mammals ranging from red-backed voles to grizzly bears. In many places, the essential service of pollination is at risk from habitat loss, pesticide use, and introduced diseases. ( ©Xerces Society )

Below are pictures of our two hives ( our initial start-up apiary ).

Red Knot Companion 2 - stage 3

Here is the next stage of the drawing - almost finished!

Cooper's Hawk it is!

I was able to get a few more photos of the Hawk and with the tail feathers in view, the female Cooper's Hawk is easily identifiable.

Red Knot Companion 2

Here are the first two stages of the second companion piece that will go with the larger beach scene.

Red Tailed Hawk nest.

I spotted this nest when we were out for a walk the other day ( actually the Hike for Hospice ) and I went back today to try and figure out who was at home. Check it out - I think it's a Red Tailed Hawk.

You can just see its beak and a bit of colour. The nest is situated quite high in a tree but fortunately beside a ravine so I am almost level with the nest - hopefully I'll be able to get some more photos before the new foliage completely hides the nest from view.

Final Step of first companion piece

This is the final step for the first of two companion pieces. This series is to help bring attention to the endangered Red Knot.  The Red Knot as mentioned is truly an amazing bird with its annual migratory flight, however it's population has dropped significantly due to overfishing of the Horseshoe Crab in the Delaware Bay area. The Red Knot stops at Delaware Bay on its route north to refuel on Horseshoe Crab eggs before it continues north to its Arctic breeding grounds. Without this vital source of food to re-energize, the Red Knot will not make the trip to the breeding grounds.

Step 3 of the Red Knot companion piece.

Here is the third step - the eye has just been finished and now it's time to work on a bit of the beach sand.

Red Knot - an endangered Canadian shorebird

Another new piece - this will become a "Companion" piece to a larger scene - this is a Red Knot - an endangered shorebird that breeds in the Canadian Arctic and winters on the southern most tip of Argentina. They stock up on Horseshoe Crab eggs in the Delaware Bay before returning to the Arctic making their annual roundtrip flight of 26,000 kms one of the longest of any bird species.


 Below is the first step:

Here is a second step - a few hours later

Too Big to Hide - Step two

Working from left to right since I'm right-handed I've started to fill in the back ground . The concept of this piece is to try to demonstrate the way that these beautiful animals can blend into their surroundings, however as hard as they try sometimes they just can't hide, primarily due to their sheer size.

Bull Moose can weigh up to 750 kgs or roughly 1500 lbs and their antlers can span 5 to 6 feet across. Moose are also extremely active foragers since a full grown adult needs to consume approximately 9500 calories per day to maintain it's weight.

Too Big to Hide

Started a new piece last Friday and worked quite a bit on the Moose.

Overall the piece is smaller than what I have been working on - it will roughly be 8" X 20" when it is done. The moose is only 3" X 4" however there is probably about 5 hours of layering into it so far.

I'll start working on the main trees now and gradually fill in the background. This piece is from one of my favourite moose photos that I have taken.

Owl Woods on Amherst Island.

Well there were no owls to be seen. I think it was a little too late with the warmer weather that we have been having lately and I'm afraid that perhaps the higher volume of visitors during the Family Day weekend may have scared some away. There were lots of pellets present but unfortunately no owls.

There were lots of Chickadees, Nuthatches and Downey Woodpeckers.






While I was there I also saw three Ring-Necked Pheasants ( one male and two female ) but they were too quick to photograph.

I thought since I was able to find any owls that I would list the wildlife that I saw while travelling to and from Amherst Island just to show how much wildlife is out there if you look for it ( even while you are driving).

Heading to Amherst Island:

Three Coyotes - between Prescott and Kingston.
One immature Bald Eagle or Golden Eagle - just west of Brockville.
Several Red Tail Hawks - along the 416 & the 401 corridors.

Returning Home:

Three Canada Geese that had decided to stay in Canada for the winter.
Fifty or so Herring Gulls - adults and various stages of juveniles.
Two White Tail Deer - both does - along County Road 4 to Millhaven
One Pileated Woodpecker - north on 416.

Maybe next year I`ll see some owls too!

Amherst Island - The Owl Woods

I'm heading to Amherst Island tomorrow which is just west and south of Kingston. Amherst Island is becoming quite famous for it's owls.

Hopefully I can get a few photographs that I can use for my art.

"Clean" - Brown Pelican

This new piece was just finished - hope you like it. It is done from a few photos that I took last winter while I was in Tampa, Florida. The Brown Pelican is a beautiful bird to watch especially when it is performing it's aerial dives in pursuit of fish. I chose this image though to bring attention to the fact that there were a lot less Brown Pelicans able to preen themselves last season due to the BP oil spill.

This piece will retail for $ 2500.00 framed and measures 14" wide by 20 " high.

Le Nichoir launches their new site!

Le Nichoir, the wild bird rehabilitation centre that I have partnered with has just launched their brand new website. You should check it out - lots of new videos and information concerning their new Conservation Centre. Le Nichoir at: www.lenichoir.org

Algonquin Park Visitor Centre Art Exhibition

This coming Fall, I will be exhibiting at the Algonquin Park Visitor Centre. The exhibit titled "Tranquility" will run from Friday, August 26th through to Wednesday, September 28th at the Algonquin Room in the main Visitor Centre near the East Gate along Highway 60.

The "Tranquility" Show will occupy half of the room and will feature my art representative of the flora and fauna of the Park, as well as scenes representative of Algonquin Park. I am co-exhibiting as well with Photographer Frank Parhizgar which should make for a very exciting show, especially in the height of the Fall colour season and the moose rut!

"Tranquility" is just one of the many feelings achieved while:

"Exploring the Park, one experiences a connection to their environmental surroundings, one is attune to nature through all of their senses - there is a feeling of tranquility that settles over you."


As art is further developed for this show it will be added to this blog and my other sites.

Second Stage of Brown Pelican work

This image shows a bit more work on the Pelican itself - I've started to build up the feather base of the bill and the feathers on the back of the bird - eventually there will be approximately 4 layers of graphite on the pelican.