The purpose of my art is to inspire us to collectively develop a deeper admiration and curiosity for our natural world. My bird paintings are infused with passion, delight, and playfulness. I stage familiar bird species to tell stories of their lives that are metaphors for our own.
Seeing a bird from below as it flies, silhouetted against the sky above, is a memorable impression that we adapt to at a very young age. In an attempt to reconnect us with nature, I've created these paintings as a way to blend our own lives with that of the birds via metaphoric and lyrical representations of common occurrences.
These paintings celebrate diversity by posing a variety of owl species in close proximity to each other on the same canvas, as if in audience of the world outside of their own. The predominate color of the series draws from the indigo hues of late dusk and early dawn when owls are most active.
This series of paintings were inspired by my visits to the town of Marblemount, Washington during the annual bald eagle migration in January. The cold, blustery, and foggy landscape of winter on the upper Skagit River silhouettes the trees and birds in a photographic manner in these works.
One of the biggest changes from living in a condo in downtown Seattle, has been raising 11 orphaned chickens. Chickens were domesticated approximately 8,000 years ago in Asia and have an acute awareness of their surroundings. They can sense helpful versus harmful intent. Once re-socialized on the farm, their individual characters begin to shine back through. In daily life, chickens are a bit done up and obnoxiously engaging. These paintings celebrate their funky colors and borderline unbearable personalities.
This collection of paintings highlight a variety of recent singular works from my studios in Skagit and Seattle. Each piece shown here, has its own power as an individual painting, but given time, I could certainly see myself growing the ideas into their own series.
