The Noble Guardians; Florida Sandhill Cranes

Noble Guardians; Florida Sandhill Cranes

I am the first to admit how very lucky I am to live in a place that many people visit on vacation.
I'm a wand-wielding Potterhead and pass-holding Space Center nerd with golden brown flip flop tan tines.

My 1st neighbor, day 1 in FL!

While I do enjoy the theme parks and beaches that tourists flock south to, it's the wildlife and lush surroundings that feed my soul. My daily encounters with animals, including endangered and threatened species, are typical yet so very special to me.

Since the very first day I moved to Sunshine State, the Florida Sandhill Crane has played a part in this chapter of my life. These birds are stunning to say the least. Their long, elegant lines and deliberate and graceful movements are mesmerizing, and their trumpeting calls are very distinct.

(That same call can also be incredibly heartbreaking to listen to when one crane is calling for a mate for seeming days on end, but that leads me to the next reason I love them so.)

Sandhill cranes mate for life and stay in family groups. You'll often see groups of 2 or 3. The female usually lays two eggs, and if both eggs in the clutch hatch and survive, you'll see a family of four. Juveniles stay with the parents up to 10 months. Families of four make me especially happy, because they are currently a threatened species due to destruction of habitat. The Florida Sandhill Crane, or Grus canadensis pratensis, is a non-migratory sub-species of the sandhill crane family that only numbers around 3,000-4,000.  You might see numbers increase during winter months, but those are actually the migratory cranes, Grus canadensis, from northern states.

(So buy a house that's empty, guys. We need our wetlands!)


The sandhill crane is very secretive, selective, and protective of its nest location. This is another reason that habitat conservation is so vital. While it might seem like they are plentiful because we see them roaming neighborhoods, it's very important not to feed them. Habituation to humans can lead to dependence, aggression, property destruction, as well as an increase in roadway deaths.

My Sandhill Cranes coming to life in the studio.

In the wild, these birds can live up to 20+ years. Let's keep it that way. :)

My husband and I  have a special place for them in our life. He used to say with a huge smile, "Bird family!", every time we saw a specific crane group when we started dating, as they walked around the neighborhood where I lived.

Now, we are visited daily by families of cranes in a home where we live as a married couple.

 Another incredible sight to see is the crane dance. These birds have a beautiful dance that they use for mating, social bonding, educating their young, and some scientist think at times it may even be play.

If you follow my art, you know I like to also look to the historic esoteric symbolism and qualities attributed to animals.

Some say Sandhill Cranes are totems of privacy and keeping your own counsel, protection of family, longevity, balance, grace, and the "dance of life". For me, they are a symbol of knowing what is important to you and guarding it with all of your heart while remaining upright and balanced. This is not an easy task, but when we call out to those that love us, we will prevail, and we will dance in the process.

To learn more about Florida Sandhill Cranes, visit the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Florida Sandhill Cranes; Noble Guardians

*Update- The original crane painting was exhibited and purchased during Arts for Education at The University Club.*

To order a reproduction of the cranes, click here.

Passion Flowers

 My entire life, it seems like I've been made to feel guilty for my gusto.
When I am particularly "on fire" for something, it's inevitable that someone will make a negative comment on my feistiness regarding said subject or cause, and trust me, there are lots of them:

The special needs population (intellectual and physical disabilities)
poverty, sexism, gay rights, military personnel, animal rights, animal rescue, ecological preservation, (this list can go on, and on, and on...)


 People that feel deeply are used to being told how "sensitive" they are.

Passion Flower work-in-progress

It's perceived to be a bad thing. But think about it, most often when people are chiding someone for being sensitive, it's a way of dismissing the "sensitive" person's feelings or reactions to justify their own actions or to subdue the "sensitive" person.
Any time someone criticizes (or praises!) someone else, it's usually their shit that they are addressing.

 Therefore, I don't bristle (too much) anymore when someone comments on how sensitive I am or how focused I can get on something. Most of the time, I take it as a compliment.

 But just yesterday, insights on my facebook page  told me that someone took the time to
 click "hide all posts" after I shared this photo and link.

Driving with Colleen

So, um, whoever did that... really?

Seriously?

I'm still posting fundraiser things in memory of someone's dead mother to help cancer patients.

I do not care if you like it. It's my page, and you are a stick-in-the-mud. 

 I post all kinds of stuff on my art page that isn't exactly my art, but it's all stuff that I'm passionate about. Because that's what my art is about. 

 I am also able to be a passion empath. I can take the energy of someone else and amplify it into something even brighter and louder.

I am able to share my knowledge and help their passion and enthusiasm make it out into the world. I am proud to be passionate about something that totally deserves to be lauded and have the ever-loving light shared out of it.

There's a reason your heart skips a beat when you come upon an awesome inspiration.

You were meant to live your passion.

I came across wild passion flowers on my trail run one morning and was so overcome by them I had to stop and marvel at their strange beauty.

While the name comes from Christian missionaries, I feel the untamed coronal filaments mimic actual human passion so well. They can curl and crawl every which way but they radiate out from the center and work to nourish the flower as a whole organism. 

Passion flowers have been used as a calming remedy in folk medicine. For the creative, getting into your “flow” does just that. Chasing your passion actually is a kind of zen.

Look for your passion flower. Let it drive you to great things. It will bloom where you are needed.

Passion Flower

Yes, passion can be a messy business.

It's a sloppy, wet thing that's taxing and sometimes crude, but sometimes it's the only thing that keeps us going. 

Passion changes the world.

What's yours?