Birds in Art

I'm posting from my friends Yo and Kate's home in Columbus, where I collapsed, as is my regular wont, upon returning to CMH airport at 10 pm. They always have a nice bed and dinner leftovers, which I can tell you are much, much better than my dinner leftovers, waiting for me. I wanted to show you some things from the Birds in Art show at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, WI, where I've spent the last four days.

It's so exciting and inspiring to see the works of 112 artists from around the world, all of them dealing with birds in some way. It's even better to hang out with those artists, and discover all our common ground, from health insurance and cash flow issues to the quirks of our creative process. I took only a few photos (for me), being much more interested in living it. Apologies for bad color and flubby retouching. It's hard to get a good photo in dim gallery lighting.

I had the pleasure of seeing paintings from Catherine McClung
and Suellen Ross
watercolorists who do what I do but do it a whole lot better. Whew. What gorgeous, lush work! and what wonderful people they are. I look at these paintings and marvel. I know what went into them all too well. Glorious!

John Busby, from Scotland, is this year's Master Artist, an honor overdue. Here are his diving boobies.
There's no one who can see and sketch birds in flight like John Busby. His paintings are so lively, so full of action, and every bird spot on.

I love his "society scenes" like this one.
John draws what he sees, and his compositions are such fun to wander within.

I spent a great deal of time talking with sculptor/woodcarver extraordinaire, Larry Barth. These completely pitiful photos of his mountain bluebird piece do nothing to enhance its beauty, but they will give you a dim idea of his skill and vision.
The razor-thin edge of a bluebird wing.
This is wood, believe it or not. And despite the poor color here, it is incandescent blue.
I wish I could convey all Larry and I talked about, the whys and hows of carving exquisite birds, the convoluted path that leads to a piece like this. It's really the stuff of a book. Talking with Larry Barth is like entering a library, pulling one volume after another off the shelf. I feel blessed to know these folks, to incorporate their artistic viewpoints into mine.