Birds

Curassows & Guans

“While working on Maya ruins, I drew the surrounding flora and fauna for inclusion in the watercolours, and thereby became interested in the natural tropical world for its own sake, and particularly the Cracidae bird family (curassows and their relations) which had decreased sufficiently through various pressures to have become the most endangered bird family in the Americas. Having started with those that I came across in Mexico and Guatemala, I then expanded my search into Central and South America. Several field trips later I felt in the position of a Pontoon player who thinks he might just complete his set without going bust: i.e. I might be lucky enough to find all the 50 species. They occur between northern Mexico to Argentina. I started on them in 1982 in Guatemala; the 50th and last to be tracked down was in northern Mexico in 2003.  Several times I had to make more than one trip to find a particular species.”

Chachalacas

The twelve species of the genus Ortalis, gathered together in one very large painting, completed the Cracidae series of paintings, which captured all 50 species.

New World Vultures

“When the Cracidae paintings had been shown (see list of exhibitions in ABOUT), I chose for the next project the seven species of Cathartidae, New World vultures, which include the two types of condor. Most of the studies were made in a single trip to Chile, Argentina, Peru and the USA in 2013. I like to think that more and more people are realizing that if these marvellous and useful creatures leave the world it will be our loss and our fault.”