As most of you know, getting inside a person’s mind and trying to mirror the personality in a face is one of my favorite challenges. I can lose myself in the details of a person’s face! 

The specific joy that lies in painting the face of a child is that I get to capture the unfiltered joy and wonder, as the world in its beauty is unfolding before brand new eyes. Watching the reactions of a child to the everyday encounters around it allows us to re-live the wonders of this world. We tend to forget the enthusiasm a butterfly or a squirrel will evoke in a kid. Did you know that some painters (me included) automatically mirror the expression of the face they’re painting? It’s because you have to empathize what your model feels to properly put life into a face. Which makes a painter of happy little people a pretty happy painter ;) 

I had also always enjoyed painting a series of hummingbirds and other native birds that visit my deck every morning. The expressive little feathery fellows were popular, but I wanted to add a little human interaction.  

Painting the interplay of kids and wildlife? Who could say no to that? And hereby the ‘Little Bird Series’ was born. It features sweet faces and feathered friends, all in an affordable format and bright, joyful colors.