Category Archives: Art Exhibition

What It’s Like to Be a Bird: Paintings by David Sibley

Exhibition Opening

Saturday, February 15
1:00-5:00 Reception with light refreshments
2:00-4:00 Meet the Artist

Book Signing

Saturday, April 18
2:00 Talk by David Sibley
2:30-5:00 Book signing

David Sibley

David Sibley is America’s pre-eminent field guide artist/author. His Sibley Guide to Birds, published in 2000, quickly became the new standard of excellence in bird identification guides, and the fastest-selling bird guide ever. His newest book, to be published in April 2020, is What It’s Like to Be a Bird, about the amazing science of birds’ lives.

The exhibition at the Museum of American Bird Art displays Sibley’s delightful original art from the new book, accompanied by captions with fascinating new scientific research about birds. In non-technical language, Sibley answers some of the most common questions asked by both seasoned birders and the general public, such as “how do eagles see so well?,” “why do birds sing?,” and “how much does a feather grow in one day?”

Visitors to the exhibition will see more than 40 of Sibley’s paintings, including 29 bird portraits, painted double life-size. The exhibition will be on view February 15 through May 31, 2020, Tuesday – Sunday 1-5pm. The exhibition gallery is located on a 121-acre wildlife sanctuary with trails, open Tuesday – Sunday 9am-5pm. Admission is free for Mass Audubon members, $4 adults, $3 children (2-12) and seniors (65+).

The Peace of Wild Things: Herons and Egrets

Opening Reception for Exhibition of Tony King’s Photography at Museum of American Bird Art on September 28

On Saturday, September 28, 1-5pm, there will be an opening reception for the new exhibition, The Peace of Wild Things: Herons and Egrets Through the Lens of B. A. (Tony) King. Admission is free, and light refreshments will be served.

For over seventy years, Tony King (1934-2017) attentively observed the world around him, capturing it with rare artistry as a photographer. “I need to celebrate and share my favorite places and the life that is in them,” he wrote, and this exhibition at the Museum of American Bird Art is an occasion for celebration.

King felt a particular affinity for herons and egrets, and the photographs on exhibit reveal the photographer’s devotion to his subjects and the habitats that sustain them. He wrote, “I am concerned that our increasingly urbanized society is confused and overstimulated, and I hope that once in a while what I’m doing helps someone recognize and better cherish his or her own sacred places. . . and to reconnect with the great renewing rhythms in nature and in their lives.”

Based in Massachusetts and Maine, King was not only a photographer but also a businessman, author, philanthropist and conservationist. His photographs are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Modern Art, the Worcester Art Museum and the Canadian National Film Board.

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The Museum of American Bird Art is a family-friendly art museum set on a 121-acre wildlife sanctuary with walking trails, and located 15 miles south of Boston. The exhibition is open to the public Tuesday-Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Trails are open Tuesday-Sunday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission is free to Mass Audubon members, $4 adults, $3 children and seniors.  For more information: www.massaudubon.org/maba or 781-821-8853.

Reflected, photograph by Tony King, 2008.

© Judy and Tony King Foundation

Mated Pair, photograph by Tony King, 2012.

© Judy and Tony King Foundation

Drawing Hawks and Falcons from Life – December 2, 2018 from 10 am to 12 pm

Do you love birds of prey? Do you love drawing? Join us on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at the Museum of American Bird Art for our Drawing Hawks and Falcons from Life workshop. Click here to register!

During this class you will be able to see hawks and falcons up close and discover more about these beautiful birds of prey from a Mass Audubon naturalist while you learn to draw them from life with pencil and paper. You will be able to explore methods for developing your sketch, as well as techniques for capturing depth, volume and texture. All skill levels are welcome! Preregistration is required. Suitable for adults and older children.

Inspiring wonder, creativity, and curiosity at the Nature Lab: An inside peek at the Wild at Art Travel Camp

Our inaugural travel week at the Wild at Art Summer Camp has just wrapped up. From July 9 to July 13, our travel program included a visit to the amazing and inspiring Nature Lab at the Rhode Island Institute of Design.

Campers had a close up look at many amazing natural history artifacts and were able to use state of the art microscopes to be amazing by a tiny world that is almost always hidden.  Enjoy this short video of the day.

Inspiring curiosity, creativity and more with Barry Van Dusen: A Day with the Wild at Art Travel Camp

Our inaugural travel week at the Wild at Art Summer Camp has just wrapped up. From July 9 to July 13, our travel program included visits to Barry Van Dusen’s art studio for an inside look at his craft and a short trip to Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary to paint and sketch with Barry in the field. It was wonderful to see all the campers inspired by a true master artist and wonderful person. Enjoy this short video of the day.

We also visited World’s End in Hingham, travel by ferry to Peddock’s Island in Boston Harbor, visited the Roger Williams Zoo, had ice cream at Crescent Ridge, and visted the amazing Nature Lab at Rhode Island Institute of Design

Nature in a minute: Highlights from Bird-a-thon

Owls Live Festival on March 24, 1-4pm

Join us on Saturday, March 24, from 1-4 pm, for an afternoon filled with fun activities and a chance to see live owls from Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum. Find out what makes owls unique and which owls you can find in your own backyard!

There will also be crafts, owl cookies to decorate, face painting, an outdoor owl quest, art projects, refreshments, and more. And don’t forget to enter a drawing for a chance to win toys, a Mass Audubon membership, a bird print, or a free week at camp.

Proceeds of this fundraiser provide scholarships for our Wild at Art! summer camp.

Please Note

  • All ages are welcome.
  • Registration not required.
  • Parking will be available across the street at Canton High School (900 Washington Street, Canton, MA 02021).
  • Event will take place rain or shine. 

 

Free Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing “Arthur Singer: The Wildlife Art of an American Master”

Join us on Saturday March 10, 2018 at 3 pm for a free illustrated lecture and book signing by Paul and Alan Singer on their new book Arthur Singer: The Wildlife Art of an American Master. Arthur Singer emerged in the 1950’s as one of the world’s finest illustrators and painters of birds and helped redefine the concept of the bird guide with his 1966 release, The Golden Field Guide to Birds of North America. The lecture will be followed by a book signing. Light refreshments will be served. Before and after the event visitors can enjoy an exhibit of 11 selected works of art and field guide illustrations by Arthur Singer on display at the museum.

FINISH LINE, part 2: a day with Sean

August 23, 2017

Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Edgartown

I’ve arranged to spend my overnights on Martha’s Vineyard with artist Sean Murtha and his family, who are vacationing on the island (my sincere THANKS to Sean, Deidre and Graham for putting up with a “third wheel” during their valuable family vacation time!)

I arrived a day ahead of the Murtha’s and now drive to Edgartown to meet them on the incoming ferry.   We find our way to their rental house and settle in.

Sean Murtha

Next morning Sean joins me at Felix Neck for a day of sketching and painting.  It’s nice to have a field companion along, and thanks to Sean, I have some photos of myself at work for this blog.

We pause along the Marsh Trail to watch some laughing gulls loafing along the shore.  Their heads are just visible above the marsh grass and sea lavender, which makes for an interesting motif.

sketchbook study of Laughing Gull and Sea Lavender, pencil, 5″ x 10″

I make a detailed drawing in my sketchbook that I use later for this studio watercolor:

Laughing Gull and Sea Lavender, watercolor on Winsor & Newton cold-press, 10.5″ x 15.5″

You’ll notice that I’ve made some minor changes to my location sketch.  I’ve cocked the primary feathers upward to make the bird look more relaxed and settled, and I’ve added more sea lavender at the left to create a repeated rhythm across the composition.  In the final painting, the screen of grasses adds an intimacy to the scene – as if you’re nearby in the grass, sharing a private moment with the gull.

Along the shore, we see where structures have been installed to slow the erosion of the marsh – which in recent years has eroded as much as ten feet in some areas.

In response to these declines, Mass Audubon has initiated the Living Shoreline Restoration Project.  This project aims to restore the marsh and the critical habitat it provides for wildlife, including juvenile fish and shellfish.

Partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the University of Rhode Island, the project uses various biodegradable structures to stabilize the shoreline and trap sediments that will encourage the growth of marsh vegetation.  Sediment traps are also installed to monitor the progress of the restoration.

Further along the shore, at the end of the Old Farm Road, I set up to paint a view of Sengekontacket Pond with the Joseph Sylvia State Beach across the water, while Sean does some drawing nearby.

I block in the landscape with some broad washes of color – enough to establish the main shapes and color masses, and (more importantly) to set the mood.  Sean interrupts his drawing to take some photos of me at work (thanks, Sean!)

With the direction of my painting firmly established, I decide to finish it later – there’s a lot more for us to see and do today!   Here’s the painting as it looked before I packed it away…

the first washes of color

And here’s the painting after bringing it to completion back in my studio…

Shoreline at Felix Neck, watercolor on Arches cold-press, 10″ x 13.5″

The pinkish patches of sea lavender supply some important color variety, and the swath of cobble and stones at the bottom right of my painting adds some interesting texture.  This small patch of cobble puzzled me – why HERE, on an otherwise unbroken stretch of sand?  Later, I asked director Suzan Bellincampi about it and learned that this was excess building material the previous land-owner had dumped here after building some ponds elsewhere on the property.

After lunch, Sean and I split up.  He wants to do a plein air oil painting of the marsh, and heads down the Marsh Trail.  I meet with staff at the visitor center, and then strike out on the Old Farm Road.   At the Waterfowl Pond, I train my scope on a young osprey perched in a large dead tree over the observation blind.

sketchbook studies of a young Osprey, pencil, 4.5″ x 7″

The bird is a good model, and I work out several views of its head and shoulders in my sketchbook.   A head-on view proves especially challenging, requiring liberal use of my eraser before I get it right!

When I meet up again with Sean, he’s well along with his oil painting.

He’s working on a small canvas panel clamped onto a French easel.   The finished painting beautifully captures a summer day on the marsh, complete with four great egrets!

The Marsh at Felix Neck – a plein air oil painting by Sean Murtha

I hike out to Majors Cove again, hoping for more looks at oystercatchers.   No oystercatchers this time (not even the crippled bird that was here yesterday).  I debate doing a drawing of a large dead white oak near the end of the Shad Trail.

It’s a stunning specimen, but I decide I can’t do it justice on the small sheets of paper I’m carrying.  I think of my friend Debby Kaspari of Oklahoma, who does wonderful, large drawings of subjects like this.   Later, back in my studio, I pulled out one of her drawings that I had obtained by trading with her several years ago.

Graphite and pastel drawing on toned paper by Deborah Kaspari

It’s a graphite and pastel drawing on toned paper of a contorted white oak, and when I looked at the caption, I smiled.  Her drawing was done on Martha’s Vineyard!

 

Down to the Brook

July 6, 2017

Richardson Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Tolland

 

From my hotel in Great Barrington I drive east through the pastoral farmland of the Housatonic River Valley and into the Hill Towns: New Marlborough and Sandisfield.  I pass through the little hamlets of Mill River, Montville and New Boston, and then on into Tolland.

The parking for Richardson Brook Wildlife Sanctuary is simply a wide shoulder on the side of Rte 57, with the trails beginning beyond a break in the stonewall.   The trails are all downhill to the brook, in some spots quite steep.  I follow the Charlotte Clark Loop Trail, then the Richardson Brook Trail.

This photo I took of the boulder strewn woods along the Charlotte Clark Loop reminds me of a painting by the Maine artist Neil Welliver.

Here’s one of Neil’s paintings – see if you don’t agree:

Late Light by Neil Welliver

A flicker of movement draws my attention – it’s a blue-headed vireo foraging very LOW.  It’s not typical behavior for this species, and I watch as it actively searches the forest floor – flitting from one low perch to another, but never actually landing on the ground.   The soft, lemony wash on the flanks shows up well in the soft light of the understory, and the contrast of the white spectacles on its slate-blue head is striking!  I make some quick sketches and take some notes.

Sketchbook studies of a Solitary Vireo, pencil and watercolor, 9″ x 12″

Later, I use these sketches to re-create the scene in my studio:

Solitary Vireo at Richardson Brook, watercolor on Fabriano soft-press watercolor paper, 10.5″ x 15″

Arriving at Richardson Brook (which is also the southern boundary of the sanctuary), I see that the water levels are low, but the stream corridor is shady, moist and cool.  Little pools lined with golden gravel are tucked between moss-covered rocks and fallen logs.

I consider painting the scene but am intimidated by its complexity.  In my mind, I formulate a painting plan. How will I “frame” the composition?  Which washes will I lay down first?  Which areas are lightest and will need to be painted around or “reserved”?  Where will the darkest accents occur?  This mental “rehearsal” is my way of building up the courage to begin…

A Blackburnian Warbler murmurs overhead as I block in the brook with a soft pencil, then “jump in” with my paints (excuse the pun)!

I paint the darkest accents first, which establishes the overall pattern of lights and darks.  Next, I paint the pattern of greens on the mossy rocks, then the pools of water in between.  With these initial washes in place, the picture starts to take on a life of its own.  It starts making its own demands and leads me on to the next step.  All I need to do is “listen” carefully and do what I’m told!

Richardson Brook, watercolor on Arches cold-press watercolor paper, 10″ x 13.25″

The hike back to my car is all uphill, and a good cardiovascular workout.  I pause to catch my breath and admire a dense patch of partridgeberry, spangled with those oddly furry white blossoms.

On another “rest stop”, I find a woodpecker wing feather, looking very “graphic” against the confusion of the forest litter.