Green Heron
Ink, watercolor, gouache & graphite. On the inside of an antiqued book cover.
The inspiration behind this painting...a beautiful summer day,
lunch by a small pond near a large body of water,
and an observant companion who pointed out the difficult to spot,
almost motionless, small, stocky bird wading along the shoreline,
waiting for a small fish or frog to approach within striking range.
I thought of naturalists like John James Audubon and Mark Catesby
and how they too had observed these birds stalking prey
along the wetlands in colonial America.
Hence, my calligraphic notations and marginalia
depicting anatomical references, as well as additional observational sketches.
The dragonfly, the cattails, the nest, bring together
the character of the species as well as a cohesion of age
thus fulfilling my desire to create each painting
with the appearance of having an historical past
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