Nonhumans

I have a particular fondness for swallows. I had a recording of "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde when I was a child. The imagery of far off lands described in the story, and the love and dedication that the swallow demonstrated to the prince was inspiring and an example of how I felt the world should be. It was as if the swallow were the incarnation of love.

One day I began a sketch of a bobcat, drawing from my memory of seeing one a few years before. As I was drawing I wished that I could see one again, so that I could really get the feeling of the cat. Later that morning as I was driving down my driveway a bib bobcat crossed the road and ran up the hill. I stopped the car to get a good look at him, and he stopped and looked directly at me. It was a thrilling moment. Now I could begin the painting. During the time that I was working on this painting the bobcat took to hunting in the apple orchard outside my window. I would see him almost every day. The day that I finished the painting I met the bobcat in the same spot on the driveway, and we looked at each other again. After that I never saw the bobcat on the property again. It was a mysterious and wonderful experience, and this painting was inspired and informed by the beauty and spirit of the bobcat.

I really got into birdwatching when I lived in Bodega Bay, a seaside town right on the migratory trail of a great variety of birds. I took long walks on the beach and around the wetlands, binoculars in hand, and had great “oh, look!” moments. One day I saw a falcon fly overhead that I didn’t recognize, I later found out it was a Merlin. Such a beautiful bird had to be celebrated, and so this painting came to be.

This is a painting of a small garden sculpture that caught my eye at a friend's house in Kauai.