My first love is painting birds.  Maybe it's because I'm a musician and therefore very sensitive to sound, but I find total peace in listening to them call and sing, going about the daily business of being a bird. When watching them, I find my heart rate automatically drops as I become entirely absorbed in the observation of their behavior and interaction.

I have been asked if, on occasion I use a dead, frozen or mounted specimen for reference, but I seem to feel repelled by the absence of Life. I take a lot of reference photos but there is absolutely no substitute for time spent observing my subjects, absorbing the atmosphere on multiple levels.  Whether I am painting a bird, a mouse or a landscape, I am responding to the Life before me, Depicting the habitat in which my subjects are found is also a source of great joy for me.  I find bark, leaves, moss and lichen fascinating and that is probably a very good thing, considering the fact that I live near the Oregon coast!  When watching a bird or any form of wildlife, not only function but thrive in an in-tact environment, I feel a tremendous sense of peace. I just want to share my appreciation of the amazing and beautiful world in which we live and to express the joy I find in nature.