In Flight and Song

This series is a return to my roots. In my twenties, I spent many years as a natural history interpreter in provincial parks in Canada. I led bird tours and hikes, painted informative signage, and drew guide pamphlets describing the flora and fauna of different habitats in the park. I joined experienced bird watchers on their hikes and spent copious hours listening to and watching this magnificent wildlife.  

 

While my job no longer lends me hours in the wilderness, my heart is still there, tromping through the underbrush with binoculars and ears tuned to the sounds in the treetops. 

 

Each painting is the spirit and the feeling of that bird, their song, their movement, and the emotions that seeing and watching them brings up in me. They are little moments in nature – moments with the landscape and with wildlife that are beyond the purely visual. The abstraction allows me to integrate my emotion, energy, and some of the magic that is experienced in nature or outdoor spaces. 

 

Let this be some small insight into the thoughts and feelings behind this series – take it or leave it. I want my paintings to have their own life, and if you connect with them differently, and read your own experiences in them, all the better.

 

Maybe you have an affinity for a particular bird that I haven't painted - this would be the perfect instance to commission a custom painting! Check out the easy process on my commission page.