a wren in the hand. . .

The wren, in hand, is a squirmy, slippery beastie.  Something about it allows it to slip out of even the most experienced bird bander’s grasp.  It’s happened to anybody that works with wrens: you think you have a good hold on the bird, and then the bird is flying off.

So goes life, so goes watercolor painting.  You think you have a good hold on what’s happening, then something slips (or runs).  You just kind of have to shrug and roll with it, and it’s honestly what makes watercolor so fun and challenging.  You can’t force beauty to happen.  The paint does what it does.

I paint in part to have something tangible for my work; as a recent graduate, being in grad school much of the work you do is thinking (and thinking is sometimes very hard), and nobody reads your work, anyway, except for your thesis committee and dear patient friends.  My art is a way to engage the world, to do something that’s pleasing to me and other people visually, and perhaps have a dialogue about it.

I’d also like to, in my art, to nudge people toward looking, really looking, at the way a bird looks  while perched, and in flight.  Birds make some incredibly beautiful shapes, especially while flying, and I try to make a point of that.

I’ll be posting birds similar to these in my etsy shop soon.  I’ll make a post as soon as my etsy shop is live.  I got a little burnt out with the output that I was producing earlier this summer, but I have a feeling that I’ll soon get back to painting.  So stick with me and I’ll have some new art to post soon!