Of a Feather: Birds in Art

May 25-August 26, 2018

13481 Dowell Road
Dowell MD. 20629

Reception
May 25, 2018
5-8PM

11 x 8
Gouache on Watercolor Paper
Original: $200
Reproductions Available

The male ospreys arrive on St. Patty’s Day, a month or so before the females, with the sole purpose of creating a nest for their offspring. Some of them are very diligent in this regard. Others, however, fool around fishing and cavorting until their mate arrives and there is a whole lot of unpleasantness brought on by lackadaisical nest-making! It is quite fun to watch these large birds and their babies all summer and we miss them when they migrate – males to one winter location, females to another.

18 x 18
Oil on Canvas
Original: $575
Reproductions Available

Back to oils and the local birds. This is a snowy white egret that nests in the marsh grasses nearby. I never see more than a few snowy whites at a time but I see a fledgling now and again, so I know there are at least a couple of pairs. They must be very shy and who can blame them with the eagles and ospreys nearby?

18 x 18
Oil on Canvas
Reproductions Available

When we were visiting my in-laws in Florida, we were standing on a dock watching fishermen clean their catch. The pelicans were very interested in any scraps that might be left unattended. This one bird landed just in front of the dock, turned to look at me as if to say, “So, what’s happening?”

16 x 20
Oil on Canvas
Original: $575
Reproductions Available 

Loving herons as I do, I simply had to paint another one. This one is of a more mature great blue than Great Blue Heron No.1, as evidenced by the full chest ruff of long blue feathers.

34 x 30
Oil on Canvas
Original: $1500
Reproductions Available 

“Fledgling” was, I think, the first baby bird I ever painted. It reminds me of the vulnerability of children as well as of the beauty of life itself no matter how new.

40 x 26
Oil on Canvas
Reproductions Available 

Many great blue herons nest in the marsh next door so I see them all year round, but especially in the winter, and I always marvel at their beauty. In the summer the osprey chase the great blues away from their nests so heron sightings are fewer, but I still see at least one everyday. Their beauty however is diminished as soon as they reveal their “call” as the sound they make is most unpleasant to the ears.