Bird Triptych Created for Dragonfire Gallery Wildlife Exhibit

Yellow Bird, Red Bird, Blue Bird

Original Oil Paintings by Mandy Main, 12”x12”

I chose to paint birds as a wildlife subject because for years I lived on busy streets and although there were birds around, any birdsong was drowned out by traffic noise. I craved to be able to hear the birds.  Now I live on a quiet lot and I’m delighted to hear the birds.  Their singing is incredible, beautiful melodies weaving through the air, like nature’s serenade.

For these paintings I chose to paint 3 birds, one in each of the primary colors.  The backgrounds are the secondary color which is across the color wheel from the bird’s color.  So the yellow bird is on purple, the red on green, the blue on orange. I wanted the background to convey both the feel of a nest, but also a sense of the cosmic.  To represent these creatures as delicate and fleeting, but existing in a universe that is bigger than us all.   Each of the birds can stand alone, but I liked the idea of uniting them together with a common twig.