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On Wednesday, I found a Mallard Duck’s wing. Distinctive with its bright flash of blue feathers, it was lying in the pasture, close to the barn. I might have missed it, except Shyanne, the yearling paint, was regarding it with great curiosity. With no pond close by, I’m not sure how the wing ended up in my pasture. My dogs don’t roam, so they wouldn’t have brought it from some distant locale. Perhaps a fox? Or a coyote? . Or maybe, as my inner comedian quips, some poor duck was flying along when it had a wing malfunction.

But however it got there, I of course picked it up, marveling at the gift, thankful to the Universe for dropping this thing of beauty into my world. To those of you who know my penchant for collecting feathers, you’ll understand that this was a great coup! Since I was little I’ve been fascinated by birds – one of my favorite things to do was to go to the library and look in the case where they had dozens and dozens of small songbirds on display. I read the Audubon encyclopedia from cover to cover. I spent hours identifying the birds that frequented our feeder in the backyard. 

At the risk of you thinking that I am quite odd, I’ll let you in on a little known secret about me. I’ve got a few perfectly preserved little birds in the freezer in my studio. Lest you think I’ve gone mad and am out hunting down poor little helpless birds to kill and put into deep freeze, I assure you these are birds I’ve found who are already quite dead. Or birds my friends have found for me... Periodically, I take them out and unwrap them from their shrouds of plastic wrap and study them. The iridescence of the Broad-tailed Hummingbird’s ruby throat and the slenderness of its tiny beak. The bright yellow feathers of the Western Meadowlark. The rich, russet colored breast of the Robin. The way a wing extends out and folds back.

Now you may wonder – and so do I sometimes – why the fascination with birds when its horses I paint? Horses are too big to put in the freezer.  (Drum roll, please.) OK, just kidding. I’ve always wanted to paint birds, but again, not birds based on realism, but more the essence of birds. Here's aSneak Preview of the painting I’m working on now. I think the birds are arriving!