Learn to Look All Around…
:You never know what you might see...
Yesterday, was a peak day for me. Four wildlife crossings in only 35 minutes, all in Southampton, MA. The first was some type of pin-tail duck with 14 adolecent ducklings scampering behind across the road. Later, two slinky black squirrels minutes apart. Then, an eagle flying toward my windshield on East Street. I noticed the wing tip feathers curled up. Ahh! Not an eagle I surmised. It settled down on the road to attack some recent road kill. It was a young red-tailed hawk. Brilliant! Omens...?
So...omens in my heart and mind...I drove this morning...OK, late morm...to the Hitchcock Center for the Environment safely nestled in Hampshire College surroundings. Our Gallery Exhibitor and Workshop Participant Anne E. Ely has a splendid exhibit of her nature artwork on their walls. Looking around the room...well, that's nearly the title of the exhibit..I saw what she sees frame by frame. Learn to Look Around. Anne is a very special individual, generous, full of life and determination absorbing much that this universe has to offer.
Anne has had well over 100 of her nature images published under The Floyd Gallery's umbrella in the Daily Hampshire Gazette's weekly Valley Views feature, every Saturday. Thousands of readers know her fine seeing and good heart. Images are a reflection of the artist and one only has to know Anne to firmly believe this is a valid truism.
The exhibit is up for a few more days. Then, Anne is off to western Canada to horse back ride a different trail a day in its wilderness. I cannot keep up with her. When she returns, Anne will join yours truly to deliver a nature photo workshop in Amherst along the bike trail greenway. Maybe I'll slink back into the assembled group and continue to admire her up close...and, yes...Learn to Look Around more.
Image: "Anne E Ely artwork" © Robert Floyd, 2018
About the Author: Robert Floyd is a naturalist, photojournalist, and photo gallery owner. You can usually find him, when he’s not in The Floyd Photo Gallery, leading field trips from late morning to early evening in the beautiful Pioneer Valley, Cape Cod, Cape May, Newport, Manhattan, and Canada. Follow him here and on FACEBOOK.
