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I read the hummingbird symbolizes happiness, joy and all good things that exist. It appears out of nowhere spreading happiness and joy to those it passes.   I hope this JoyEful Party Animals painting spreads happiness and joy to you. 

A view from the JoyEful Party Animals studio.  The prickly pear and ocotillos are blooming.  The colorful hummingbirds are busy with the flowers. It is always a rush to encounter a bobcat! I get excited seeing a little hummingbird and bobcat, I don’t always stop to grab my camera to get a photo of them!  Thank you to two very talented photographers, Connie Tucker (hummingbird) and Gillian Lang (bobcat) for letting me use their beautiful photographs as painting references for this painting to recreate the scene. 

This painting took a long time to paint.  Lots of layers to build up the texture in the fur, cactus needles and blooms.  It was a challenge to get the lighting and shadows to compliment the story.  Bobcats are masters at blending in  with their surroundings.  The hummingbirds are so small and fast, it is easy to miss them.  I wanted to portray the delicate details of the cacti in the shadows without taking away from the main characters. 

Fun bobcat and hummingbird facts:

-Famous Arizona Bobcat - Baxter the Arizona Diamondbacks mascot

-A bobcat will change their shelter on a daily basis.    

-A female with kittens will have servers dens and move the kittens around with her.  

-Hummingbirds can flu forward and backwards. The can fly sideways, upside down and hover in mid-air. 

-Hummingbirds diet is nectar and flying insects.  They eat twice their weight every day. 

-Hummingbird heart is 5 times bigger than a human’s heart in proportion to it’s body.