I am a watercolor artist who begins in the field, usually a local park, and I draw on my observations, photographs, and design sensibility to create intimate ecological portraits of native birds and their flora. Birds are harbingers of seasons, and hallmarks of place. They are adorable, stunning, bizarre, and grotesque. Through them, I can tell a story of a moment in time, in a place that persists beyond me. My attention becomes an act of love, and my rendering an act of homage. 

Moments of wild observation can be fleeting, but their impressions are lasting. Seeing a heron take flight, or an eagle holding vigil, or a wren singing on a branch, takes me out of myself, and propels me into the vastness we call nature. I become more attuned to the seasons, and the signs that they bring to my mid-Atlantic home. Warblers and flycatchers in the spring; hooded mergansers and white-throated sparrows in the autumn. This cyclical experience of time can be a comfort.  I feel a refuge here, where my cares are quieted. This is what I try to honor in my paintings, and what I hope to give to those who view them.

Watercolor is an ideal medium for my work because it has a fluid, elemental immediacy that mirrors my experiences in nature. It provides great flexibility, traveling between the field and the studio seamlessly. There is a long tradition here as well. I like to feel that I’m continuing the lineage of artist-naturalists who found this medium to be a trusted friend in capturing the wonder of their wild spaces. In my ecological portraits, I aim to maintain a painterly quality, and make the special properties of watercolor as apparent as the subject. Granulation, gradation, and glazing are visible throughout my work. 

In a world full of noise and distraction, I offer quiet and attention. In the midst of chaotic movement, I offer stillness. In a time when meaning seems confused and incoherent, I offer the dignity of birds.