Pastel

“A bird will often appear somewhere in many of my paintings. Perhaps it’s best explained because they are often on my mind. In this pastel a Steller’s Jay becomes part of my landscape.

I named him Shadow, and to my delight he chose me for his mate. He nested in our home for many years, flying loops in and out my studio window. In the springtime he’d sing me sweet love songs and often woke me by gently placing a pine nut between my partially open lips. Shadow would swoop alongside us wherever we roamed, whether by canoe, ski or horseback, yet he never left the boundaries of our approximately 100 acres plus ranch.

When we moved to the other side of the mountain, I took him with me in my car – I didn’t want to think of what might happen, if…I just didn’t want to leave him. Although my veterinarian husband tried to warn me, I didn’t want to listen!

It has been over ten years since he flew across the river from our new home without looking back to get landmarks. This river runs a different direction than our creek did on the other side of the mountain…Could he be wanting to find his way back home?

I still find his treasures, left in the pages of books, behind picture frames and old suitcases…but the only place that I have been able to find him is in my mind…”