Goldfinches on Thistle — Framed Piece Landscapes surrounded by fireweed and aspen

surrounded by fireweed and aspen leaves

and Spring Beauty all bloom together before the canopy closes

rendered in the warm autumn palette that suits foxes so well

Glen rendered this tree the way it deserves to be seen: alone in an open field

Goldfinches on Thistle — Framed Piece Landscapes surrounded by fireweed and aspenThree goldfinches work through a thistle patch a male feeding on a spent seedhead at left, a second male perched on the right, a female arriving from above with wings still open. The thistle is rendered with the botanical precision Glen brought to all his plant subjects: the spiny bracts, the purple bloom, the white plumed seeds drifting into the composition from the milkweed at left. This 1988 watercolour is more complex than the earlier single bird