[Blog] Let’s Ruffle Some Feathers

Last month I had the opportunity to exhibit at Hapa Sushi and Sake Bar in Boulder. It was my second solo show graciously provided by Jarred of 1/1 Magazine who coordinated the initial show at Crimson Hilt Tattoo.

On the last week of the show a group of my work colleagues gathered for happy hour and sushi to check it out. While walking through, I found myself rattling off a variety of stories related to the process of gathering the images for the prints on display. Our team lead “W” said to me “It’s funny how you have a story for every one of these prints; I hope people get to hear these somewhere.”

At first, I thought nothing of the comment and then it dawned on me: this is not the first time an artist was told this. No, even JJ Audubon had the same realization.

As I’ve worked through building these prints, I have been using JJ Audubon’s book Ornithological biography volume 1(Title shortened as its 4 lines long). Contained in its pages is documentation about the habits of the birds he painted as well as personal stories. JJ Audubon encountered these species on an intimate and personal level. He kept a Kestrel as a pet and told stories about nearly drowning to get closer to shorebird species. Despite the outdated writing, they’re pretty entertaining. The University of Pittsburgh has the entire book on their website should you need a rainy day read.

Audubon’s prints stand on their own as works of art, but taking the time to read these anecdotes about the work only enriches the viewing experience. It shows his passion with documenting these beautiful creatures in a way no other naturalist of his time did. He didn’t just gather specimens, he spent time watching them which gave him the information necessary to present them doing the things birds do in the wild.

While my personal experiences with these creatures is not nearly as rich, its entertaining. Thus I present to you “Ruffled Feathers” I will present a variety of stories detailing my charades and adventures behind assembling my pieces. My hope is they will enrich the viewing experience and give insight to my work flow as an artist.

Enjoy!