One thing I have learned since moving to the desert is that wherever there is water-any water- you will find birds. Not far from our home is a water treatment facility, Sweetwater Wetlands, where there is an artificial marsh built in amongst their holding and evaporative ponds. The result is that there is a decent amount of water available for wildlife year-round, which makes it a wonderful place for wildlife lovers like myself to wander, observe, and photograph.

Last fall, I spent a good amount of time observing the many red-winged blackbirds that congregate there to feed, nest, and roost. This male was singing his heart out for quite a while from his cattail perch, and I decided a painting was in order. My primary interest in this painting was juxtaposing the slick blue-black and glorious red and yellow of the bird�s plumage with the more earthy palette of his surroundings. While the bird is quite thoroughly described, I wanted the background to be more suggestive than overtly descriptive, hence the manner in which the cattails and reeds dissolve into stylized and abstract forms and textures.>/P>