Red Winged Blackbird

American Songbird Series.

As a lifelong city dweller songbirds are by far the most regular birds I see and I can't overstate how precious these encounters are, an absolute delight to both eye and ear and a lifting of my spirit out of the everyday and into the skies. I guess I should have started with a series of British Birds but the stunning colours (and fab hairdos!) of their American cousins was a temptation I could not resist.

This Red Winged Blackbird has been painted in Gouache and colour pencil on a watercolour background carefully chosen to best compliment the Inky hues of the Blackbird.

Watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper, 11 x 14 inches.

Silver Lining Sketches

This series of Silver Lining Sketches started its life in the early weeks of the Coronavirus lockdown here in the UK. These pieces were a ray of sunshine for me during that dark and worrying time as working on my beloved birds in charcoal had been high on my ‘to do’ list for many a year but until that time there just never seemed to be enough hours in a day to indulge in experimentations in a new medium.

I chose to start this series with Raptors, their strength and dignity were qualities that I wanted to hold close in that difficult time. So far I’ve chosen birds that are fairly common in the UK or America and as the series progresses I plan to widen my net to add birds from all corners of the world, a global series of strong wings to carry us through these strange days.

Northern Cardinal

American Songbird Series.

As a lifelong city dweller songbirds are by far the most regular birds I see and I can't overstate how precious these encounters are, an absolute delight to both eye and ear and a lifting of my spirit out of the everyday and into the skies. I guess I should have started with a series of British Birds but the stunning colours (and fab hairdos!) of their American cousins was a temptation I could not resist.

This Northern Cardinal has been painted in Gouache and colour pencil on a watercolour background carefully chosen to best compliment the rosy hues of the Cardinal.

Watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper, 11 x 14 inches.

Minnesota Killing Season Series

Minnesota Killing Season Series.

This pieces were created as part of a series exploring the dark and deadly side of nature by pairing up each of my native Minnesotan Raptors with deadly plants. This series was created especially for the inaugural VACVVM show at their Minnesota Gallery space.