National Juried Show!!

Common Potoo, Nyctibeus griseus

My watercolor painting of the Common Potoo (Nyctibeus griseus) was just accepted to the member's exhibit at the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) annual meeting.

Last summer I completed the painting for our Greater New York GNSI chapter's fall exhibit entitled Nature's Camouflage.  This small exhibit has gone on to several different local venues since the September 2013 opening at Highstead Arboretum in Redding, Connecticut.  (see previous post!)

Now my painting will hang at the Museum of Natural History in Boulder Colorado from April through September 2014.  The 2014 conference and annual meeting will be held at the University of Colorado, Boulder, nestled at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

A full week of classes, technique workshops, demonstrations and field trips to the nearby mountains and museums, the annual meeting is always a great way to learn - both from experienced instructors and fellow artists.

I attended several days of the conference last summer - at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine - and came away inspired to try out some new painting techniques.

Detail of notched eyelid, Nyctibeus griseus.

This watercolor of the Common Potoo was done before that experience, so it's my standard combination of wash and dry-brush with finishing touches of gouache to highlight the white feathers.  I really enjoyed working on this piece, and used museum study skins, photographs and videos as reference material.

Detail of chick, Nyctibeus griseus.

Well, if you find yourself in Boulder, Colorado this summer, stop by the Natural History Museum and check out the Guild of Natural Science Illustrator's Member Show - my potoos will be there!

Nature's Camouflage - a new GNSI show!!

Artists and guests at the Exhibit Opening, September 15, 2013.

My local chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, "The Greater New York Chapter - GNSI" has opened yet another beautiful exhibit.  Again, the Highstead Arboretum hosted - and I learned today that this is the fifteenth anniversary of this GNSI - Highstead collaboration.  With a theme like "Nature's Camouflage", the range of subjects was bound to be diverse, and it is.  In watercolor, pencil, pen-and-ink and other media, the twenty or so exhibitors have depicted varied interpretations of the theme.

Most of the artists were on hand to talk - it's my turn.

 There were cryptically colored moths, a mantid and a katydid, frogs, birds, mammals small and large, an octopus and one plant - of the genus Lithops, a type of succulent called Living Stones because they look just like little pebbles on the ground.  Some subjects were depicted in full camouflage against a detailed background such as a host plant, leaf litter, or in snow - while others were simply studies of the subject with a description of the camouflage mechanism.

Common Potoo, Nyctibeus griseus, watercolor.

For this show I painted the Common Potoo, Nyctibeus griseus, in watercolor.  Here's the text I prepared for the exhibition:

In the family Nyctibiidae and order Caprimulgiformes, the potoo is a South and Central American bird, closely related to Whippoorwills.  Many members of this large group camouflage on the ground, in leaf litter, or by aligning the body parallel to a tree limb.  The Common Potoo, however, seems to hide in plain sight, often perching on the exposed end of a broken branch.  A nocturnal flier, the potoo will remain motionless during the day, keeping watch on the observer through specially notched eyelids.  The chick learns to "freeze" at a very young age, but here has been caught peeking.  As they rest together, the silky breast feathers of the parent bird drape over the youngster, blending the two into one.