A gathering of hummingbirds is known as a charm, which nicely captures the feeling I’m aiming to evoke in all of my birds and teacups which I’ve been painting for over a decade. In echoing the the hand-painted imagery on the antique teacups with matching bouquets, I try to conjure a kind of surreal magic to entice wild birds into domestic settings. As a birding enthusiast, I’m always taking photographs which I import into my still-life arrangements through my computer to use as a painting reference. Birds have symbolized messengers throughout history and in these paintings, speak to the heartbreaking loss of 30 percent of our wild bird population within my lifetime alone! Somehow pairing these wild birds with the antique porcelain reminds me of another age, a quiet reminder of the beauty and wonder which maybe relegated to our past.