Conversations in Avian Art and Ornithology

Hummer GV-E, Green Violet-ear Hummingbird

I have spent a great deal of time working closely with birds as a biologist.  Most of the time I was not in a position to photograph the birds.  Conducting educational programs with an eagle, hawk, owl, vulture, raven or falcon on my gloved arm make it hard for me to take a snap shot of the bird.  Equally difficult is getting that perfect shot of a bird in the field doing an interesting behavior when I am busy counting the number of birds and identifying their species during a survey of a certain area in a specific amount of time.  That is how I have spent most of my life and that is a lot of missed reference photo opportunities for creating paintings.  

Since I started painting birds, I have collected nearly 40,000 digital images of birds.  Every opportunity to travel and get out into nature or visit a zoo or aquarium, we have our cameras ready.  After a trip or outing, I go through the images and my analytical scientific mind organizes the bird images into their family groups and all are labeled with their full species name.  I also copy certain images into art files as potential paintings.  Of those 40,000 images, only about 1000 caught my eye as possible paintings.  What am I looking for in a reference photo?  What is my intent behind my painting?

My artistic focus is to spark an interest in birds with you, the viewer of my art.  I feel that we will truly only fight for those things that we strongly like or dislike.  My goal is to cultivate enthusiasm towards birds through my paintings, bird classes and birding trips.  If you are interested in birds, then hopefully that will translate into helping to conserve the habitat and natural resources that birds need to survive.

I want to get you up close and personal with the birds in my art.  I prefer to paint portraits so I can focus on the bird and the special attributes that I am communicating to you.  I want you to stop and think "Wow, that bird is stunning" or "I didn't know the feathers looked like that" or maybe "Look at the intelligence in those eyes".  I want you to be awed by birds, because birds are highly intelligent, infinitely curious, and magnificently beautiful and we need them in our lives.

Let me give some examples of my intent behind my paintings and see if you agree.  First, I have to get your attention.  Hummer GV-E is a blatant crowd stopper.  It is a 30 x 24 inch bust of a hummingbird on a bright red background.  The head of this hummer is larger than yours.  The contrasting colors and image that fills most of the canvas forces you to notice the painting.  Once you stop to look, you can revel in the detail of how iridescence is manifested in the physical structure of the individual feathers.  Or how the iridescent color changes due to the exposure of light on the feathers.  I am intrigued by iridescent plumage and the play of light on feathers as shown in Prime Time, In the Garden with Snowcap, or All American.

I spend a great deal of time trying to paint the eyes of my birds.  It is amazing how a small brush stroke this way versus that way can change the eye from giving a sense of dull and stupid to alive and intelligent.  Look at the eyes of Harpy Eagle or A Hole with a View.

   Coming of Age, Gyrfalcon

An important part of human communication is to look someone directly in their eyes.  This non-verbal communication tells us a lot about the person, their feelings or motivation.  Since my birds cannot talk to you, I want you to strike up a non-verbal conversation through the art.  I often have my birds looking directly out of the painting to catch your eye.  Once Patiently Waiting, Half Revealed or Coming of Age has made eye contact, then you are allowed to explore the details of that bird.  Maybe this will foster wonder in the life of the bird or make a personal connection with that individual bird.

Other non-verbal communication occurs through the use of body postures, feather placement, facial expressions and even the colors I choose for the background.  These can communicate certain feelings to you that convey my message.  The title of the painting may help give definition to those emotions, such as Sensuous Neckline, Seductive or Finally, Sun!  

Art is extremely personal.  Each piece will speak to you differently.  One painting may stir deep feelings in you, but not even warrant notice with someone else.  Going with your gut feeling is often how art is purchased.  You may not even know why you feel for a certain work of art.  Art is not a copy of a reference photo or what the artist sees in nature, it is the artist's manipulation of what we see and the message we want to convey.  Let me know your interpretation of my art or the feelings my art expresses on you.  Thank you, Kim