ART PROJECT BIRD MIGRATION
The first painting in this gallery is called 40,000 Birds. In the 1990�s, the San Francisco Chronicle
reported that 40,000 birds died when they flew into a Mexico City reservoir. The authorities did not know
the cause but suspected pesticides. Later it was learned that the cause of death was e-coli bacteria. I
began to wonder what it would be like to create 40,000 birds. I took a large 4' x 8' sheet of watercolor paper
and sprayed it with several layers of red and green watercolor. It ended up with a beautiful surface that was
a spotted brownish color with depth. Over the next year, I painted the birds over that surface. Inspiration
for each bird came from my observation of birds and making quick ink drawings of their movement in flight.
Making the painting was a meditation. It was a delight to sit for hours conjuring up birds and giving them
life in the painting.
The painting was purchased by a family in Los Altos Hills. And although I was very pleased that this particular
family had the painting to enjoy, I also wanted to share the theme and the images with others who told me they
would like to have just a piece of the painting. So I embarked on another painting of 40,000 birds only this time
I cut the birds out of the whole painting and sold them either one by one or in blocks of 9 or more. The proceeds
were to benefit a wetlands preservation project. My talented friend, Kim Anderson, created a website to attract
people to purchase art. About 500 birds were sold but the project was not completed. I could not find an environmental
group who would partner with us in the project. The small paintings on this site are some of the individual birds
from the second painting.
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Click a picture for a close-up view.
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40,000 BIRDS
watercolor
4' x 6'
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40,000 BIRDS
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40,000 BIRDS
KZ
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WHITE BIRD
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SMALL BIRDS
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SINGLE WHITE BIRD 1
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SINGLE WHITE BIRD 2
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680 BIRDS
watercolor
4" x 8"
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