Aaaah! Time Crunch!

So sorry for the late-ish nature of this blog post. I'm up here in Grand Junction this weekend for a two-day track meet, and things have been hectic.

SO... I am currently in the last-minute stages of finishing up my body of work, "Still Life" for install on May 11th. I was back at the museum this past Friday to photograph more bird specimens, and my plans changed slightly while I was there. As many of you may remember, I was originally planning on only showcasing Colorado species. However, I realized that in my statement, I talk a lot about biodiversity and the range of species that are showcased in these kinds of collections. I decided instead to opt out of JUST local birds and instead depict species from other regions as well. It seems to go hand-in-hand with the mission of the collection anyhow.
     As you may remember, I was planning on doing some larger birds for this next piece, pending I could find a piece of cradled basswood panel that was large enough for the bird I was doing... Two factors changed that decision for me: Number 1, I can't find anything larger than an 18" x 24" panel, with 2" side depth. I would probably have to make one if I wanted to mimic the parameters set in the other paintings, and that's just not something I have time for at this point. Number 2, almost all of the large birds in the collection were a little bit odd looking... due to storage reasons a lot of them were simply folded up or straightened out and were not as interesting as I had hoped. Because of this, I decided to go back to what some of you originally said in our critique last week - to do multiple birds as they are viewed int he drawer. I decided to use up one of my panels for a row of Coppery Headed Emerald hummingbirds from Costa Rica. I think the result is actually quite stunning and I'm really pleased with how it's turning out. My goal from now until the 11th is to get as many paintings done as possible... I'm considering doing a small series of either eggs or nests as they appear in the museum's collection, to create a bit of a juxtaposition between life and death in the series. For now, I'll leave you with a (really crappy) picture of my newest piece...