Birds connect us to nature, to each other and I feel that they also connect us to a spirituality within us. I never really cared or looked at birds too much when I was younger, but as I have grown and watched them, I have become increasingly fascinated.

Slowing down and observing nature is becoming a lost art. We don’t just sit and look as much as we used to. We don’t just walk in quiet like we did. For me, these are the times I connect with the constant buzzing in my head and start to hear those conversations slow down and come into focus. When I am outside I realize that the space is actually much more active and vivid than I thought, but I may need a minute to tune in. Then I see busy squirrels and birds doing their daily tasks and hear the sounds of the calls all around me.

On another level, birds also impact us daily by just doing their work. They are important to the ecosystem and are being endangered every day. My affection has turned to care, and this care into stewardship. I can’t stop climate change, or the heaps of trash that the world creates, but I can make an effort to be better. I am making an effort to learn more and to enter the conversation because I want the world that my grandchildren will inherit to be one that is better, not worse.

I hope that this blog will educate and inspire people to stop and observe birds, and will drive conversation and conservation. I am dedicating 20% of each sale of a bird painting from my website to the Environmental Defense Fund. If your painting is one that has had a portion donated, it will be noted on your thank you note in your package. Please learn more about the Environmental Defense Fund, and take time to enjoy the beauty we were given to cherish and keep.