“During the first AFC Flag Expedition I was fortunate to spend time under an active Harpy Eagle’s nest. The mother would fly in, and each time I would only catch partial glimpses of her traveling through the canopy. In this painting, I tried to replicate that feeling by purposefully withholding some of the image. I preferred to focus the viewer’s attention on the most powerful bird of prey’s talons – the larger being as long as a grizzly bear’s claw – which it uses to sever the spine of its victims to immobilize them. I wanted to keep the background simple but, in the spirit of experimentation, I added a second Harpy Eagle as an ‘echo’ of the first. As an apex creature, the Harpy Eagle is dependent on a healthy ecosystem, which must include a large expanse of forest and an abundance of food. Therefore, I also included a grouping of six of the Harpy Eagle’s preferred prey items.”