Category Archives: birds

Articles on travel, Articles on travel, birds, blogging, exploring, nature, nature photos, photographer, photography, review, road trip, social media, teaching

A Return to the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center: Rekindling My Love of Nature

September 6, 2026 artiststevel

I went to the Raptor Center in Lucas yesterday. It was the first time in a long while I made it for the bird display. The Texas heat still played a large factor in reminding me why I tend to isolate during this season.

I went minimalist this time, just my I Phone-not with the telephoto opportunities I had previously, but this trip was more about being present rather than photography.

I listened to the presentation and was excited to see so many people, young and old appreciating nature and the birds did not disappoint even in the heat.

Mississipi Kites In North Texas

A Mississipi Kite sunned itself during the presentation, he really enjoyed the heat. I learned something- a Mississippi Kite usually has bright red eyes and it’s because of the red insects they eat in South America, since this one does not, it’s eyes lack the red tint. This is much like the flamingos that pass through South America, they are extra pink from the shrimp they feed on.

There is always something to learn on these trips, no matter what you think you know, there is so much more to discover.

The Vulture is Petunia and what a wonderful character she is, I had met her before but it was fun to watch her antics.

The Center is named after the Blackland Prairie- a shrinking treasure that they are in the process of conserving. It is important to get young children involved, to learn about their environment, to grow their passion for the planet.

Despite the heat, I took an opportunity to walk along the path and take just a moment to enjoy nature and an unspoiled landscape.

Thistle, Partridge Pea and Euphorbia, all elements of the landscape made for striking images, even just using my phone.

I have been to the center on several other occassions, please check out the previous trips.

Visiting the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center

Nature photography – Blackland Prairie Raptor Center birds of prey

Another exciting project I am embarking on is a series of raptor images from the all the trips to this wonderful place in Lucas, Texas. I will be creating a series of small notecards on the species and will donate the images for them to use however they see fit.

art, artbygordon, Articles on travel, Articles on travel, birds, blogging, clarity, creativity, emotion, emotional, exploring, inspiration, learning, marketing, nature, nature photos

Birds-Finding peace in nature.

February 6, 2022 artiststevel

Birds-Seeking Peace and Purpose: Finding peace in nature. — Cat and Bird

Birds-Finding peace in nature

Out of the cold, the remnants of melting snow,
The crackling of ice on pavement
a familiar sound of birds…

I was seeking peace,
doves above me, rise and fall
the sound of morning
and all I needed was peace

A Snowy Day with the Birds

I have been isolated for the last four days. I feel like my whole life is a reboot with snow and ice as the catalyst.

It’s embarrassing, a comparison of New York in the snow versus Texas, but this isolation is everything I needed to recreate myself or maybe, more like get back to the person lost in the turmoil of daily life.

The sound of toil on a telephone pole
the incessant builder,
digging a hole.

I was seeking purpose
nothing stops in nature, every Machine
says its so, I was desperate for purpose
with no specific place to go

How often do you listen to the sound of nature, the cracking of snow, the sound of birds, it is a simple, easy and yet so difficult for most of us. Our lives are filled with things that need to be done.

Sometimes the greatest accomplishment is simply stopping long enough to listen, to hear our inner child. This is something I’ve been struggling with for many months.

Birds-Seeking Peace & Purpose: Finding peace in nature.

Birds-Finding peace in nature: Poetry

The richness of red in a winter landscape
remembered as a child, they call them a soul
seeking attention,

a high pitched chip as I walk home
the realization of joy, is knowing
we’re never alone
so why do we feel so, alone

I’ve been fighting depression for all my life, in the last few months, it’s been a constant. Even while I was doing what I love, going places and exploring the road, depression kept a hold on me.

This morning, the chore of walking the dog introduced me to my young self, a need I might have overlooked, the simple act of listening to the birds finds peace. The next obstacle or summit is probably joy-that has more to do with God than nature.

I was seeking silence,
I was wanting joy, a familiar soul
in the sounds of birds among the trees
a small child I used to know

art, artbygordon, Articles on travel, birds, blogging, clarity, creativity, emotion, emotional, emotional, exploring, inspiration

Back to the Canvas

August 22, 2021 artiststevel

Back to the Canvas

Today I remember why it’s difficult to pick up painting. Many of the images I’m working on are from a while ago, they’ve been slowly forming and the original inspiration is a bit foreign at the moment. Today I got back to the canvas.

I tend to start painting by pushing paint instead of painting from inspiration, it is obvious to my subconscious when I am not painting from the right place.

An image becomes clearer when my strokes become autonomous, I don’t have to think about what goes where. Compositions tend to create themselves.

Today, was hit or miss for a while and I fell in and out of the zone. I worked on several paintings and finally got my stride but I realize I have to have my space in order before I start, getting into that subconscious state is interrupted by chaos and disorder, something my writing often benefits from.

I am continually exploring and learning about the creative experience and how the brain processes. As long as I’ve been doing this, it always intrigues me with periods of block and then intense inspiration.

art, artbygordon, Articles on travel, artwork, birds, blogging, emotional, exploring, learning, marketing, Nature, nature

From a Canvas: Getting Back to Painting

July 5, 2021 artiststevel

Getting Back to the Canvas

A Disturbance of Birds

A painting about a suicide in a field. I wanted the sudden disturbance of the birds to be a warning. I am still working on finishing this piece.

From a Canvas: Back to Painting – I wouldn’t trade being creative for anything but there are parts that can be a curse. If you approach it with the wrong attitude, it can be frustrating. I am writing a book about the process of finding happiness and contentment when brain chemistry has a mind of its own.

My biggest obstacle is knowing where to start. Do you write poetry, prose, paint something or go disappear and photograph for a while. The problem is the desire to do which doesn’t always align with inspiration.

Pastels Just Beginning Again

Sometimes the image happens. There isn’t always a clear and perfect image in mind and that’s okay. This pastel is of the city at early evening. I wanted the lights reflecting in Lake Ray Hubbard to show movement.

Creating without inspiration is like painting a wall. Push the paint back and forth, end up with a solid color with no intricate shadows and detail; not exactly creative.

When the inspiration meets the desire, suddenly the paint does its own thing, you can be in another room if it weren’t for the hand being your vehicle for painting. The photograph finds its own light and models itself a composition that was already in place before you found it.

This painting sat on my easel for quite a while. I just recently finished it and it will be a news item soon. I have had a very intense and productive pastel series in recent months.

Even more interesting is how words create their own, without thinking of the right word or seeking a rhyme-it just writes itself. The feeling is euphoric and being unable to get into that feeling is where depression, mental block and so much frustration begins.

Allow the Inspiration to Grow

The way I handle this process is to realize you are exactly where you need to be at any given time, what needs to be written, painted, etc. has not formed yet. The panic you feel is you’ll never have that amazing feeling again and a hopelessness grows.

Realize depression, anxiety and frustration are all part of the process of discovering the next work and it will be already developed because through all the empty moments, it was slowly developing itself.

If you consider yourself just a lightning rod to the inspiration and a humble steward to explain that which might be as simple as a flower or something that could potentially change the world or at least the world of an audience that receives it, you may find hope in the darkness.

I believe creativity is a great burden that we are given to explain things in a different way-there goes my humility, but I do feel we have a responsibility to be true to the vision, honest with its execution and without preconceive intention.

That which we create is no longer ours, it is the property of the viewer. The audience, will discover it and make it their own from their own experiences, I don’t believe the creative needs to explain their intention unless the viewer wants more background, art is in the viewers eyes.

It’s been a long time, I feel like I’ve been knocked down, floundering on a canvas, this is my moment of getting back, picking up my tools and describing what has been developing for far too long.

2018 Photography and Art in Review, adobe, art, art, artbygordon, Articles on travel, Articles on travel, artwork, believe, birds, blogging, clarity, creative design, creativity, design, emotion, emotional, emotional, exploring, gardening, graphics, hope, illustration, illustration, illustrator, inspiration, marketing, Nature, nature, nature photos, oil painting, oils, painiting, photographer, photography, relaxation, review, skills, social media, travel, understanding

The Artist’s WIndow: Isolating Light

January 28, 2019 artiststevel

Honeybee on winter jasmine: Original Photography by Artbygordon 2019

Isolating Light – Light separated glistening white blooms of winter jasmine this morning. The image was beautiful as a whole but it was difficult to simplify and accentuate details that could explain what originally inspired me.

Finding light amidst darkness and chaos is a privilege I never take lightly.
Artbygordon 2019

This is a problem the artist often has with separating the ordinary from the extraordinary. We are bombarded with details and often a beautiful image of nature can be quite overwhelming to the viewer.

It is the artist’s job to separate light and shape from the background where the viewer is often left with a chaotic mass of line, form and color. The essence of beauty is often just simplification of the whole.

I have always been a landscape artist but often a flat afternoon light does not offer anything dramatic, this is why I have learned to not only see light but to isolate it and allow it to be the main focus in my photography and art.

As a painter, in the past, I was more impressed with the whole or the peripherals to evoke mood. Now I tend to see shapes and how light accentuates them creating drama.

Light becomes its own object in an artwork and much like you don’t paint water, you must paint that which interacts with the clarity of water, light is not easily defined, it is more it’s reaction with objects that is important.

Because of a growing passion for photography, I have learned more about seeing objects and painting objects. Much like writing teaches us how to think and explain our experience such is photography to the artist, it teaches us how to see and describe the intangible.

Yesterday I made a trip to Daingerfield Lake; it was a wonderful trip with my brother and nephew. Lately I miss the electric hour and either capture the sunset or afternoon light but we had two things, time and shared interest.

I haven’t enjoyed photographing quite like it, it’s amazing to share seeing with others, I love the solitude and introspection but having family to share that passion was an incredible experience for me.

The light as the sun dipped into the horizon created a spectacle on the landscape. The blues were cold and rich, the green reflections were charged with depth and intense green color.

Almost 400 photographs later, I was able to capture Lake Daingerfield in a way I’ve never seen it before. Usually we kayak and fish but this time it was solely a photography trip and a memorable one at that.

To complete the perfect trip, my son called from Oklahoma, although I wished he were with us, it was the next best thing. We will definitely get back for more photography and kayaking, it is truly a beautiful lake to visit.

Daingerfield State Park is 150 miles east of Dallas. Texas. It is a small intimate lake for kayaking and offer a wide variety of fishing opportunities including pickerel which is what we go for.

It is quiet and perfect for the get away from the city without feeling too far remote. For more information go to https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/daingerfield

art, Articles on travel, Articles on travel, believe, birds, broken, clarity, creativity, critique, emotion, emotional, emotional, exploring, hope, inspiration, learning, nature, Nature, nature photos, photographer, photography, relaxation, review, skills, teaching new, travel, understanding

Creative photography: Finding Inspiration

December 23, 2018 artiststevel

Creative photography- There are several elements that lend themselves to a mood photography. Previously, I would look for abstract patterns but my final image never added up to my passion or interest.

You can’t fake the inspired image but you create inspiration with textures, composition, colors and shapes. If the photographer has no interest in his or her subject neither will the viewer.

There are several elements that always find themselves into my work, whether it is painting, photography or even writing.

Dragonfly on Zinnia *Artbygordon Original Photography*

Creative photography:

Nature: Always the center for most of my work, nature is where I get my peace and inspiration from. Nature has always been a comfort and my strength.
Recently, I have learned not only to find beauty and peace but also the isolation of light and the abstract patterns that continues to interest me.

For more on abstract images for home and office go to https://artbygordon.com/?page_id=1006
Photograph of Redtip Photino-Abstract image *Artbygordon Original Photography*
To see what other prints are available https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/steven-linebaugh.html

Creative photography: Abstract Patterns:

This is a recent motivation for my art and photography. I’m continuing to seek light as it creates patterns or abstract images from nature.

I’m learning to find light in the midst of a flat landscape. I isolate nature at it’s simplest form.

Duck at Sunset Artbygordon *Original Photography*

My intention is to keep the image simple and as iconic as possible while still saying something about the subject.
The clean empty space is what creates the atmosphere of solitude.

Florida during a storm: Artbygordon *Original Photography*

*The Artist Window Series: Artbygordon Original Photography*

Simplicity:

Isolating nature has become the style my most recent images. In addition, I’m planning on expanding with still life.

2018 Photography and Art in Review, Articles on travel, birds, flowers, gardening, gardens, nature, nature photos, plants

Texas Gardening Part 3-Candlestick Plant: A winner in the Texas Garden

March 13, 2018 artiststevel

Candlestick Plant: A winner in the Texas Garden

Why I Grow Candlestick Plants

Besides my love of nature, I am an artist and the four winners in Texas have definitely got a lot of opportunities for art and photography. The Candlestick Plant is not only beautiful, it is a winner in the Texas Garden. It is important for the sulphur and similar butterflies to feed their young.

The are also easily grown from seed and will grow with very little attention. They love the heat.

Candlestick Plant: A winner in the Texas Garden

Spectacle of – Senna Alata: This plant has a strange and dramatic flower and is a host plant for several sulphur butterflies. You will need to give it some room because it grows out of its boundaries but the display is stunning. No questioning why they call it a candlestick plant as the blooms look like tall yellow candlesticks.

Another aspect of this plant is that it’s so easy to grow, very little watering and I’ve never fertilized any of my plants. After the flowers are exhausted, the seeds are very abundant. You will see many seedlings the next season or two.

Spectacle of Candlestick Plants - Sulphur Caterpillar — Spectacle of Candlestick Plants – Sulphur Caterpillar

Wildlife Gardening Importance

This is the visitor you can expect, the caterpillar of the cloudless sulphur. Every year I get a few of them and I’ve had this plant in my garden every year for probably the last ten years.

Another senna that looks much like the candlestick plant is the Popcorn Senna (Cassia didymobotrya). This plant also attracts the sulphur butterflies and looks like a paler version of the candlestick plant but it also smells like its name suggests.

Spectacle of Candlestick Plants - Sulphur Caterpillar and buds — Spectacle of Candlestick Plants – Sulphur Caterpillar and buds

Makes great photographs.

Candlestick plants love the heat and I don’t think I have ever watered them. In the evening they close up their large mimosa like leaves and the whole plant looks like its praying. I will always have them in my garden and am in the process of selling their seeds as well.

The whole reason I started wildlife gardening was to attract wildlife. I have been able to photograph the cloudless sulphurs, clouded sulfurs and several cabbage whites that come for the nasturtium and lay their eggs on siennas as well. My work has been rewarded and I love to be able to photograph and paint the plants and butterflies as well.

For More Photography From the Garden

artbygordon, Articles on travel, Articles on travel, birds, blogging, clarity, creativity, emotion, emotional, emotional, exploring, inspiration, learning, nature, nature photos, outdoors, photographer, photography, plants, relaxation, review, road trip, teaching, travel

The Prairie in Blue Ridge

January 17, 2018 artiststevel

Parkhill Prairie – I got lost in the long flowing stalks of bluestem grasses, the great blue sky looming above where hawks dance in slow spirals. I sat on the cold, moist ground and listened to what it might have been like when bison and Indians roamed the backland prairie.

The clouds drifted with a calm indifference, the wind breathed and than exhaled followed by a ritual silence. Meadowlarks flew in patterns from fences and crows called out breaking the stillness, it is like going back in time.

I guess the fact that the winter chill that settled in my spine and slapped my exposed skin with pins and needles would be a good incentive not to go to the prairie. I assume that’s why both times I’ve gone there has been no one there but I consider it my oasis of silence.

I am comfortable sitting on the cold ground. My breath is still, my senses charged with the sounds as I try not to miss anything. I can hear cattle in the background and even a truck in the far distance but for the most part all is consumed with the rush of the wind through the grasses.

All that moves is the grasses, swaying back and forth as if haunted and the clouds marching passively across the plane, I am in awe of the silence and calm.

I have been dwarfed by mountains, the ocean but never by a huge open field. I have images of our history and it’s inhabitants that made a life out here and imagine the distant cows that cry out now were probably the sounds of wagon trains and troops of coyotes, maybe even the bison.

The coyotes are still here, I see their tracks and scat but the bison are long gone. There hawks of all kinds, the red tail, the kestrels and the prairie falcon, their mood is pensive with a mission. They rise and fall in the golden field as it should be.

I learned about this place from a trail guide at the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center and I have been back twice. Yet another great place I learned about from the Blackland Prairie Raptor center, great people and wonderful birds with lots of knowledge, if you haven’t gotten a chance to go on the first Saturday of the month, I would highly suggest going.

art, artbygordon, Articles on travel, Articles on travel, birds, blogging, creativity, emotional, exploring, learning

Photographing Raptors – Blackland Prairie Raptor Center:

January 7, 2018 artiststevel

Barred Owl from the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center Photo by Artbygordon

Photographing Raptors – Protecting wildlife starts with saving habitat, maintaining native plants and fauna and protecting animals that have become injured or can not compete in their natural world. These animals become ambassadors to show our future stewards of the environment why they are so important and what makes them special.

Barn Owl from the Blackland Prairie Nature Center photo by artbygordon

Blackland Prairie Raptor Center is doing all of these important aspects of wildlife preservation. I visited their first Saturday of the month, it’s the only time they’re open to the public and they show the birds that pass through their center.

They keep the birds as wild as they can be, even the imprinted birds that haven’t learned to live in the wild are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. It is quite an impressive operation and much of what I have learned about the Blackland Prairie is from talking with the naturalists there.

They take the time to show you each bird they have and explain their unique situations. I was impressed with how much the children knew about the birds and the difference between nocturnal and diurnal.

Preregrine Falcon from the Blackland Prairie Nature Center photo by artbygordon

Every time I go to the center I learn something I didn’t know. Here is a list of some more things I’ve learned from my visit today.

1. A flock of Kites is a kettle. The mississippi kite is expanding its range southward. With age comes the more grey plumage and it feeds on mostly insects.

2. I’ve never heard a barn owl hiss up close. They also shriek and it can be quite piercing to the ear.

3. The tuffs of feathers on the head of the owls break up their round shape and make them harder to see in the wild.

4. A barn owls ears are so intense they can hear a heartbeat and they can actually attack a mouse under the snow without even seeing them.

Screech Owl from the Blackland Prairie Nature Center photo by artbygordon

5. Owls have tubular eyes that are more fixed than other animals and therefore they need to swivel their heads to see.

After the bird show we took a hike on the trails and we learned about blue stem grasses, native grass and invasive non-native species. I learned about another place I had never heard of before today and I very much enjoyed my visit, the park is the Parkhill Prairie near Blue Ridge and it was an amazing visit where I saw hawks and vultures flying in their environment.