Birdland
2009 - 11"x12" Acrylic, graphite, charcoal, newspaper, on wood.
Finished with three coats of Krylon Kamar Varnish #1312
(Private Collection - Tokyo, Japan)

April 17, 2009

The animals know spring is just around the corner with all the new birds in the neighborhood.

My wife and I go for walks in Prospect Park (Brooklyn's version of Central Park) a few times a week. The first signs of spring are not warmer weather, or the leaves and flowers, but the return of all the different birds starting in mid-March. Blue Jays, Woodpeckers, Cardinals, and even some that are less common such as American Bitterns, Wood Ducks, Herons, and Pterodactyls, just to name a few. I still find it very odd to see so much wildlife happily living in the middle of NYC. People are drawn to NYC for it's culture and diversity, so maybe the birds are too.

The painting was inspired by the birds and the title came from "Birdland" a well known jazz club in Manhattan, named in honor of Charlie Parker, who was nicknamed Yardbird, or just simply Bird. The club opened in 1949, which is referenced in my painting as 110001 (49 in binary code) inside the yellow mountain below the snake.

There was a painting underneath this that was all red with some heavy black lines. I covered it with Brooklyn Rail newspaper, but eventually peeled away a portion of it. You can see the remnants of the old painting in the upper right corner. The animals came together pretty quickly. As simple as the color may be, it took some trial and error to get it right. The left edge really bothered me because the lizard was getting lost in the painting. The green/white checkerboard helped. The color above the mountains was originally white, and they were lost in the painting as well. I added the bright green, scrapped away some of the newspaper, exposing wood & red to add some contrast.

If you notice the details in my paintings, then you have seen the little triangle headed bird before. He has made many cameo appearances in past paintings. His only starring role was in "I'm Not A Pigeon" - 2007. I recently realized that he's probably my version of Woodstock from The Peanuts/Charlie Brown. One of these days, I will give him a name. At some point I will add Charles Schultz to my list of artistic inspiration. He's my favorite artist for mixing art and humor together.

Here is a larger, detailed photo: