Like nature and art? You need to attend this exhibition! Photography, paintings, drawings, jewelry... all with a reference to the aesthetics of the natural world! Three of my bird paintings will be exhibited in the show for the first time next to these other great artists:

Jennifer Hines - www.jenniferhines.net - ink and pencil drawings - botanical and abstract

Robert Lait - www.robertlait.com - oil on canvas - rivers and trees

Maggie Puckett - www.maggiepuckett.com - mixed media, bookmaking

Kim Hoffman - www.madebykim.com - collage and paintings - silhouette botanicals

Debbie Beller - no website provided - photography - butterflies and flowers

Kari McDonald (The Paper Button) - www.thepaperbutton.com - printmaking and jewelry - vintage buttons

Kristen Gosselin (Red Peacock Designs) - www.redpeacockdesigns.com - jewelry - deconstructed watches

Cindy Kennedy - www.cindykennedyphotography.com - photography - landscapes

Laura Krause - no website provided -  photography - wild animals

nikki hollander (duck and cover shop) - www.http://www.etsy.com/shop/DuckandCoverShop?ref=ss_profile - jewelry and paintings - vintage inspired

Be sure to check out the Swell Gallery website and Facebook page as well!

Hello! I'm new to the whole blogging world, but I'm very excited to preview my paintings, show some of the "behind-the-scenes" sketches, drawings, paintings, sculptures, etc, and meet other blogger/ artists. 

I've recently started to take my desire to create accurate, detailed images of my extinct bird species to the next step. While I can observe most currently-existing species from life, I do not have the opportunity to see the extinct species as living, moving creatures. Luckily, institutions like the Field Museum of Natural History are very accommodating to researchers and artists like me. I now have an extensive library of birds skins, skeletons, and eggs to use for research and visual study.

While these are not my first paintings from the Field Museum Birds Collection, it gives a little preview of my upcoming painting on the Carolina Parakeet (Conurosis carolinensis). Thumbnails and sketches of the large piece are still to come, but this shows the preliminary stages of my process. I mostly want to just get a feel of the general shapes, lines, and masses of the body, as well as try to capture an accurate color reference. Unfortunately for these, I only had three hours to draw and paint...never enough time! I'm planning for another trip soon before I start the main painting. 

More paintings and details to come soon!