Sweetness and light...


Well, that's what we'll start with, anyway. 

I was in a park near work collecting leaves for a project, when I came upon this man feeding peanuts to the squirrels. I must have taken 20 or 30 pictures of this scene. I mean check out the squirrels! Those black blurs are squirrels coming and going - in the few minutes I stood there, snapping away, he must have individually fed 20 or 30 squirrels!  
 
I was really just trying to get a good picture of the squirrels, but when I got home, after looking at two or three of these pictures, I completely forgot about the squirrels. I kind of fell in love with this man as a subject. 
 
I mean, wow. 

There's a species of resignation in his face that reads as a quiet kind of sadness despite the fact that the squirrels were coming and taking the peanuts directly from his hands and the fact that he must find pleasure in this activity. Seeing the lush foliage around him that is nevertheless in an early stage of decay... as I looked at the photos, a story about him fell into place.  

I was quite taken with the aptness of it's being fall in this little scene - and suddenly, I realized, I'd captured something much more than I had intended. 

I think this will be one of the pieces I work on over the winter.

But back to what I'm working on right now...





Do you see a problem in the shoulder area?  This was one of the "subtleties" I was talking about the other day that I need to fix. To me, it's so glaring, that I can't believe I didn't notice it before.  It may as well have a big red arrow pointing at it!




See? There's no symmetry in those wings! I need to fill in that area with some more feathers and even them out.


So back to work for me...

Have a great weekend!

Kit 120

Kit Lang

9 comments:

  1. That man lives everyday with a great but quiet grief. I really look forward to his story Kit.

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  2. Yes,,,the squirrel feeder will be a lovely piece. Tricky to separate out the background and put it back together again just enough...just enough. May it go well!

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  3. I think maybe feeding the squirrels feeds something deep inside him - but not enough. Beautiful and sad. xx

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  4. I love that you have arms hanging on your wall. Great photos from the park!

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  5. What a touching post....it certainly reminds us to take the time to really look at what we are seeing!!!

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  6. I'm not sure my first comment went through....so here it is again....... Your post was such a good reminder for us to take the time to look....and really see! Thank you Kit.....

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  7. Love the gut with the squirrels and I had never seen a black squirrel til I went to Toronto! Call me crazy but I like the wings the way they are - almost like he is turned slightly!

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  8. I am thoroughly enchanted by the images of the squirrel moments you shared. :)

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  9. A really touching post. I look forward to seeing what you do with this over the winter.

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