Santa Marta Bush-tyrant
The organization Artists for Conservation partnered with the International Ornithological Congress to create a mural that would represent all the endangered birds of the world during the IOCongress to take place on August of 2018 in Vancouver, Canada.
The mural consists of artwork size 8 x 8” of each individual bird. As a member of the Artists for Conservation, to be able to participate, I had to start a search on the internet of photos or reference of the birds listed as endangered in the red list of the IUCN. Of this list, once a member of the Artists for Conservation has chosen a bird, this bird would not be available to be represented by another artist. This way, all of these birds (over 600) would be represented in the mural.
For my artwork, I try to only use my own photos. But I did not have any photos of endangered birds, so I had to search somewhere else. To find reference of these birds was not easy, because for me to use others’ photography/reference I must have permission of the author/photographer to be able to use it. First, birds had to be identified as still available in the list; then, find the photos; next, find some information of the author, and then try to contact him/her. So, I spent a lot of time searching and sending emails. I was fortunate that two people, with whom I was able to communicate and who showed a lot of enthusiasm for this project, gave me permission to use their photos.
Richard Fray of Arizona provided me with the photo of the blue-headed quail-dove. Frabrice Schmitt of France provided me with the photos of the recurvebill bushbird, the white-winged nightjar and the Santa Marta bush-tyrant. Both photographers are internationals bird watching guides and of great passion for nature! I am very grateful to both for their support. I could have not been able to participate in this project without their help!
To buy original or a print go to: https://festival.artistsforconservation.org/project/silent-skies