PAINTING AND BIRDS INTERTWINE THROUGHOUT MY LIFE

In my youth I was mesmerized by Monet’s Rouen Cathedral oil paintings dissolving into abstraction as I stepped closer to the paintings. The emotive effect of Monet's complex layers influenced my paintings in high school. The power, flow or subtlety of expressive brushmarks in service of the mood of the motif is a constant in my work to this day.

My lifelong attraction to birds progressed into serious birding in the 1980’s. Chasing and listing birds is fun yet I craved a deeper connection. Drawing and painting birds from life, immersing myself in their world, achieves this desire. 

Merging my fascination with art with my desire to paint birds, I completed a second BFA, 1985 - 1990. While studying figure drawing and painting in oil at the University of Utah, I simultaneously taught myself to draw and paint birds from life. During these interactions, albeit primarily one-sided, preferably away from human influence, I strive to capture the dynamics of birds as they move elegantly through their lives. Some paintings I complete in the presence of the birds, others I compose from a combination of paintings or drawings from life and photographs.

Although I trained primarily in oil I do not medically tolerate pure drying oils. This forced me into an exploratory transition from oil to egg tempera to watercolor. My form of expression evolved from layering complex, dragged strokes in oil to painting with pigments ground in gum arabic and honey utilizing an array of wash techniques. The challenge of watercolor with my preferred techniques is achieving fresh, expressive marks in the fewest layers. Watercolor washed, dashed and dragged across a gorgeous white watercolor sheet results in a brilliance capable of capturing the visual effect of the light of nature. 

MATERIALS

It is important that the work I do for birds and their environment — our environment — involves little negative impact. In attempting to bring awareness and requests to please notice and change what we are doing to the birds, how many species, as well as, individual birds we are loosing at an incredibly troubling rate, I do not want to add to the toxicity. 1

I am witness; my health is directly affected by toxins. 

I spent years searching worldwide for watercolor papers created with the least amount of environmental impact. I continually work at selecting the safest palette of pigments.

ARCHIVAL

All of my paintings are created on archival, 100 % cotton papers, selected for their minimal environmental impact. I will note when the cotton is organic. The pigments I choose are lightfast. I only frame paintings with UV protective glass or UV protective acrylic.

PERMANENCE OF WATERCOLOR 

There is a misconception of the permanence of watercolors. Ralph Mayer, author of The Artist’s Handbook of Materials and Techniques, states, “When permanent colors are used on pure rag watercolor paper and the picture is kept under the same normal conditions of preservation as are accorded other objects of art, the technique is as permanent as any other. It is not true that the colors are liable to be faded by daylight because they are exposed in such thin films; only the semipermanent or borderline pigments are likely to fade; they will be affected in the same way when used in oil or tempera, though such change may be somewhat less noticeable in those colors liable to be faded by daylight because they are exposed in such thin films; only the semipermanent or borderline pigments are likely to fade; they will be affected in the same way when used in oil or tempera, though such change may be somewhat less noticeable in those techniques on account of the larger volume of color employed.” 2

1 Weidensaul, Scott; A WORLD ON THE WING, The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds, 2021, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., Chapter 4: Big Data, Big Trouble

2 Mayer, Ralph; THE ARTIST’S HANDBOOK OF MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES, 1991, page 328, 5th ed. / 1991

PAINTING ON BANNER

NUMMY ISLAND, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, 2009, watercolor on Arches paper, private collection

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