I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to share that my oil painting ‘Zephyr’ has been selected for the upcoming ‘Birds in Art’ exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin @woodsonart
This annual exhibition showcases the very best in avian art and has been of endless inspiration to me and my work for many, many years. The standard of work is always incredible and so many of my favourite bird artists are in this beautiful show regularly. To say it’s an honour to be included this year is an understatement, I had to read the email several times to be sure I had it right and am still pinching myself!
Very grateful thanks to my friends that have encouraged me along the way and to @woodsonart for the opportunity to show my work in your beautiful museum.
#birdsinart2026 #leighyawkeywoodsonartmuseum #oilpainting #birdartist
Very slight crop of my piece ‘The Patient Hunter’ for the exciting new CARBON, INK & ASH show at @jawbone_gallery opening this Saturday 6-8.
I wanted to capture my Great Blue Heron in a moment of self contained calm, perfectly at ease with himself and unbothered by the outside world. Almost every bird I’ve ever portrayed holds something that I feel lacking in at that moment in time, this fellow brought with him a great tranquility to my studio and I am so grateful for my time with him.
The line up for this show is absolutely out of this world (see second slide) and the preview is now live on Jawbones website.
Finally putting down the brushes and backing away slowly (with my eyes closed so I don’t see anything else I need to fix/adjust/fiddle with) from this Barn Owl.
I realise it probably looks almost exactly the same as the image of this fellow I posted last week 🤦🏻♀️ but I’ve worked on him another 35+ hours to get to this point with the tiniest brushes and the squintiest eyes! I do worry that all that extra work may not be noticed but every brushstroke I make on my birds is done with so much love and attention, and really too much of that can never be a bad thing 🤍
Working on a fun little project with interesting size and surface requirements, neither of which I’ve worked in or on before … it seems like a job for a Northern Pygmy Owl! I’ve portrayed this fellow a couple of times before, he’s an adorable favourite, and was just the fellow do guide me along 🖤
As a side note to fellow artists the new surface I’m working on is Bristol Board and it’s an absolute dream to use graphite with. I realise I’m probably late to the party on this, but if you’ve never tried it then I highly recommend it!
The magnificently beaked Amazon Kingfisher is the latest in my ongoing series of Kingfishers of the world.
This series started as a way for me to really hone my watercolour skills after years of having the loveliest collection of palettes (I can never leave an art shop empty handed!) and being scared to use them. So I wanted to start off with a small bird I was incredibly familiar with, the common kingfisher being a perfect and beautiful choice.
As my confidence has grown with the series so has the collection, and what a joy and privilege it has been to get to know this bird family so well as I’ve worked with them.
This definitely seems to be the week for posting grumpy and judgemental birds! This tiny dinosaur is the latest in my Kingfisher Project, the Laughing Kookaburra.
This series is shaping up to be one of my favourite series to date! So far I’ve only worked on kingfishers I’ve portrayed before. Being quite nervous in my new way of working I wanted to stay in my comfort zone with familiar friends. But after building my confidence a little I’m ready to step out into untamed new territories and see what feathered treasures I can find there!
My oil painting of a Blyth’s Hornbill from 2020 and the sketch that inspired it (second image)
One of the reasons I chose this bird was for the expression on his face, I couldn’t decide if he was looking mildly judgemental or that he had a brilliant secret that he absolutely won’t tell. Of course I also chose him for his fantastically coloured and styled feathers, such a dandy!
Belted Kingfisher in watercolour and colour pencils. Really starting to get the hang of mixing those two mediums and having so much fun. Although I’m always having fun when I’m painting kingfishers!
I’m planning on continuing this series working my way across the globe in kingfishers. There are many strangely stunning birds in this family so it will be a real treat to be able to portray as many as I can over the next few months.
I plan to have all the little treasures available at my next studio sale around late August.
I always spend a huge amount of time researching birds before I start working on their portraits. I’m looking for that unique defining characteristic, the thing that particular bird has that sets them beautifully apart.
I thought it was pretty easy with this Short Eared Owl, this fellow was all about those black rimmed eyes, job done and get to drawing surely! Until I saw that magnificent swoop of striped wing feathers and knew I had to find a way to show them off too.
This fellow was such a joy, the first full Short Eared Owl I’ve portrayed and for the most lovely long time collector. I’m always very grateful, and know how lucky I am, to be able to do this as my full time job but some days I feel extra blessed, today is one of those days 🥹
Spent the day experimenting with layering colour pencil over watercolour on this fellow. Being so outrageously mixed media is a bit out of my comfort zone 😆 so I decided to portray one of my beloved, and very ‘comfort zone’, birds while I experimented.
I really wanted to keep the beautiful glow of watercolour paint but add in some extra fine details that I can get with super sharp pencils. It was a fun (and messy- see second pic) experience, I’m keen to keep the series going and I’ll probably take the kingfishers along with me!
Miniature Wood Duck portrait, oil on circular panel.
I created a small series of these mini duck portraits last year to spend some time getting to know the weirder and more wonderful of our fowl friends. And this fellow definitely ticked both boxes and was a real treat to paint!
Short Eared Owl in progress.
Graphite is such a lovely change of pace after weeks of oil painting. I think it’s probably the medium I’m most comfortable with, the simplicity of just picking up a pencil and just drawing is very soothing and always feels like coming home … cups of tea and an excellent audiobook also helps!
