Just An Ordinary Day

Just an ordinary day … a pretty scarlet cardinal stopping by the old wooden bird feeder grabbing a hearty birdie breakfast of black oiler sunflower seeds. On a snowy, frigid winter’s morning such as this one was, he knew where his morning meal would be served.

I call this image “Just An Ordinary Day” for a bit of a sentimental reason. I captured this on January 2 of 2014 … less than two months shy of 2 years ago. In the intervening time we’ve moved to a different state … and although I’ve got a brand new bird-feeder hanging on my new deck, the only birdies I’ve seen so far are finches. (Not that there’s anything wrong with finches.)  But not a single cardinal yet in sight.

So what may be an ordinary morning only an hour’s drive away, could turn into something quite extraordinary here at our new house … if the cardinals ever do find me again.

So, while I wait … I decided to paint. Just an ordinary scene on an ordinary day.

As I played with this image, my thoughts went to two extraordinarily … anything but ordinary … talented artist friends who’ve both taken the final steps of their earthly journey and begun another one that we’ll all make some day.  Both gone within the past week.  Both with hearts big and warm, both giving and caring women, and both the type who would understand about the magic and beauty and importance of the ordinary.  Both of them knew how to “see” … as artists, a decidedly rare and precious skill … but also as human beings.

So.  Try to find something ordinary during your day, today … something ordinary that you truly see … and that you truly appreciate.

Original photographic image captured with the Nikon D7000 and the 70-300mm vr Nikkor lens. Fully, digitally hand-painted in Corel Painter 2015 after some tweaking in Photoshop CS6.

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As always, a click on the image takes you to my website for lots of wall art options as well as gift products, if you’re interested. The holidays are coming, ya know!!  Thanks for stopping by … and if you can think of something ordinary that you appreciated today … tell us about it!!!