BIRDS

My interest in feathered friends began in grade school after meeting my cousin’s parrot. While my siblings were splashing away in the pool, I was walking along the cage of this majestic bird trying to figure out how the feathers were arranged, what words it could say, and how many crayons I would need to recreate this bird on paper. One of the first paintings I ever did as a child was of a robin sitting by a nest of blue eggs.

As an adult, my obsession with birds exploded with each time I encountered a peacock. Some of my most memorable moments were with a peacock in Jamaica who was determined to have a taste of my breakfast. I also spent hours waddling on my knees trying to take photos of a pair of peacocks who had wondered into the Fountain of Youth exhibit in St. Augustine, Florida. Another favorite of mine are hummingbirds. I once stood still as a statue for two hours on top of a stepladder next to a bird feeder in the backyard of my mother-in-law’s house in Arizona. The reward was getting to photograph a handful of hummingbirds in mid flight. Birds are my muse and one of my most favorite things to paint.