MY PAINTINGS OF BIRDS 2- Chirasri Jayaweera Bandara
Chira is helping to keep the Blog alive by sending a
fresh crop of paintings. As we have come to expect from her, they are true works
of art. Like her first collection, these meticulous paintings of birds are vibrant and
colourful as befits the wonderful avians they represent.
There is no accompanying text...just enjoy looking at
them. If you are curious (as you should be!), all you have to do is google!
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets -Wikipedia
Mahendra "Speedy" Gonsalkorale.
Just a reminder that you can click on a picture and you will see a bigger and clearer one. Mini-images of all appear at the bottom of the screen and you can click on any of them for a bigger view, When you finish, just click on the top-right little box with cross and you will revert to the post.
Mahendra
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for posting my paintings of birds 2.
Let me also thank you for your account of birds which makes it more interesting.
Chira
Hi Chira, once again you have treated us to a feast for our eyes by your beautiful paintings. The patience, attention to detail, and accurate interpretation that you display in your paintings surely are skills that made you the great surgeon you are. Congratulations !
ReplyDeleteAgree with you completely Suri. I hope this might rekindle interest in the Blog which is so quiet at the moment.
DeleteSuri
DeleteThankyou very much for your lovely comment. I appreciate greatly. I enjoy painting and it gives me a lot of pleasure when others appreciate my paintings.
Chira
Mahendra
DeleteThankyou. I too hope this might rekindle interest in the blog which is so quiet at the moment.
Chira
Chira
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful paintings bringing to life those lovely birds. I appreciate the care you have taken to include the intricate details. You indeed have the wonderful ability to select the appropriate background to enhance the appearance of the birds. Chira you must have a huge collection of your work now. Do share your genius at an exhibition of your paintings. This will be a welcome change from the hard times many of my countrymen sadly face. Thank you
Nihal
ReplyDeleteThankyou very much for appreciating my paintings. I value it greatly coming from a great portrait painter.
127 paintings of mine have been published in our Blog. I don't think that they are upto the mark for me to hold an exhibition.
Chira
You have shown again how excellent you are Chira . The paintings are wonderful . As Nihal says you should show them to the world. Sri Lanka has great Talent but the world doesn’t know unless they are made visible so do please think of publishing them or having an exhibition . You have such great talent. Good luck with everything. . Manil Katugampola
ReplyDeleteManil
ReplyDeleteThankyou very much for appreciating my paintings. I value it as it gives me a lot of pleasure.
As for having an exhibition I frankly feel that my paintings are not so great for me to have an exhibition. My batchmates appreciating my paintings is quite enough for my satisfaction.
Any way thanks for your suggestion.
Chira
Yet another series of exquisite artwork! Thank you Chira for giving us the pleasure of viewing these beautiful paintings which brings joy that is most welcome amidst these troubled times. Mahendra your introduction to the avian species is much appreciated and brings back a flood of memories ‘cramming’ to get these facts correct for the university entrance examination. I was not aware of the now extinct wingless birds and it was fascinating to learn more on them on the web.
ReplyDeleteManel (Owli)
ReplyDeleteThankyou very much for the appreciation shown by your comment. I value it a lot and it also helps our Blog to survive as the responses are poor these days.
Let's all get together and help Mahendra who is taking a great effort to keep the blog alive.
Chira
I consider myself immensely fortunate to have grown up in a peaceful Ceylon. My father being a servant of the government I moved around with them every 4 years in what was euphemistically called transfers. We saw much of the country on government expense. I had the great opportunity to experience life in the green hill country, arid dry zone and the seaside resorts. I had a great affection for our avian friends all through those years and never had them caged. My parents fed them and there were times they flew into our house. They built nests in our garden and enjoyed seeing the young being fed by the parents and finally flying the nest.
ReplyDeleteBirds of the feathered kind bring us joy throughout our lives. From the dawn chorus to the murmuration’s of the starlings against the orange evening sky they embellish our lives. The non-feathered kind give us a spectrum of emotions from agony to ecstasy all through our lives. We men do subscribe to the joy and grief, the thrills and spills, in no small measure.
Some allude to the size of the brain of birds and speak of those lovely creatures in derogatory terms. When a person is not very clever, they say he/she has a bird brain. Actually birds are clever in their own ways. They learn brilliantly to imitate noises and voices. Pigeons have the amazing ability to remember places and return to them. Their fabulous feats of migrations avoiding the winters need such careful thought and planning.
Nihal
ReplyDeleteI gather that you have avian friends and thank you very much for your comment.
It is lovely to see these beautiful birds.
We see a lot of Kondayas in and out of our house both upstairs and downstairs.
The Kondayas build nests in our chandelliers as they have easy access through our pergola and we have to keep them covered.
We have a large balcony with bird 'mutti' with a hole and bird bath.
We see Demalitcha, Mayinah, Kondayas, Polkitchas and several other birds enjoy bathing in our birth bath. There are small birds with curved beaks that come and suckle the flowers in our balcony.
I was thrilled to see a beautiful red woodpecker perched on our balcony wall a couple of days ago.
From our balcony we see Parrots, Kingfishers, Wood peckers, Kohas and even Yellow Canary birds.
I enjoy seeing these lovely birds and I enjoy painting them.
Chira
Demalitcha or the yellow billed babbler is social bird seen in groups of 7-10. They make a din in the early mornings and late evenings. They love bird baths. They are ubiquitous in SL. I see many Robin red-breasts near my home. They are very friendly and people train them to feed from their hands. Lots of black birds and starlings are seen. Flocks of parrots come over from Spain to Regents Park and make a screeching noise. The magpies (polkichcha) the UK variety are huge and pretty aggressive towards other birds. The woodpeckers here are differently coloured to the ones back home. They too are more aggressive attacking the young of other birds. While in Scotland we saw many swallows nesting. They have travelled from South Africa and North Africa.
DeleteMy recollection of birds is very much tied up with milesrones in my life. Polkitchas and Demalitchas, and crows take me back to childhood. Mynahs always fascinated me by their perfect mimicry. Ducks and swans reminds me of my early days in England. Eagles take me to Scotland and the beautiful groups of Pelicans remind me of my visits to California. Likewise, Ostrichs remind me of my visits to Australia. Like Nihal says, the insultng term "bird brain" , meaning a stupid person appears to have been based purely on the fact that the size of a bird brain is small. But as we all know now "size is not everything".! I found this useful information about bird brains on the Web.---"Birds demonstrate extraordinary cognitive and emotional capabilities. The majority of these performances are most likely supported by their developed cerebrum. Birds, as well as mammals, have a much larger cerebrum compared to reptiles, given a similar body size. Since the common ancestral reptiles of birds and mammals had a relatively small brain according to paleobiological evidence, birds and mammals must have evolved to expand their brains independently after they diverged into different lineages. In the lineage leading to modern birds, brain expansion occurred multiple times, possibly in response to different selective pressures. Important selection factors to trigger the brain expansion. Acquisition of powered flight and endothermic metabolism are proposed as the main contributing factors of cerebral expansion in modern birds".
ReplyDeleteFROM PUVANA
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent submission from Chira .The details are so clear.I am not sure if the depth of colurs used and hue are matching nature,but then who can reflect nature's creation.
Looking forward to your next addition to the collection
Thanks Chira for sharing the results of your passion .
Puvana
Puvana
ReplyDeleteThankyou very much for your comment. I appreciate greatly and enjoy your comment.
You will be able to see my paintings of birds 3 in the near future. This may be my last submission. There will be 12 paintings including 2 landscapes. With the paintings of birds 3 the total number of paintings of birds will be 30. Altogether the total number of my paintings published in our Blog will be 141 including the 2 greetings cards, published at the end of December 2021 and 2020.
Chira
Chira,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for taking so long to write a comment on your beautiful collection of bird paintings. As usual you have given us a feast for our. eyes, with your detailed colorful paintings. Of the birds that you have painted, the only ones that I see in my yard in Connecticut are the northern cardinals and the great blue herons. The male cardinal stands out brightly against the green (brown these days!) background of the lawns and shrubs. I see the blue herons now and then when I am out walking near a stream or pond.
We see a fair variety of birds in the summer months, finches, mourning doves, robins, red-winged blackbirds, ruby throated hummingbirds, sparrows etc. My birdbath and hummingbird feeder keep me entertained all summer long!
We are advised not to leave bird feeders out between April and October or so, because it attracts the black bears! I have had a few roaming outside my home, although they have not been spotted this summer! (The Department of Environmental Protection sometimes captures and relocates them to wooded areas in the state.) I have read that black bears can cover about 30 miles a day in search of berries and fruit. They also ransack garbage cans and leave a mess. They do not attack humans if we leave them alone. It is interesting to live among these critters. Then in the winter, the bears hibernate, most of the birds fly away to warmer climes, and the outdoor entertainment ceases to exist!
Srianee
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comment appreciating my paintings. I value it a lot. I am happy when others enjoy seeing my paintings. Better late than never!
Like myself I noticed that you enjoy seeing birds. If you saw my reply to Nihal you will gather how much I enjoy seeing then and painting them. I am glad I painted the Northern Cardinal and the Blue Herons you see often over there. Be careful of the bears ! Hope you are enjoying the summer.
Chira