How will I pull this off?

A couple walked into the Gallery with a peachy-white cockatoo perched on the wife’s shoulder. Thea and Bruce Berg had come in to commission a painting of their bird named Maui who had become like a child to them. I took photos of Maui as Bruce and Thea tried to pose her and fluff her so I might capture her at her best. Like a child, Maui turned shyly from the camera, climbed up Thea’s arm and spun upside down clutching to her sleeve. At one point, Bruce offered his hand and Maui stepped onto it. Bruce flung his arm into the air with the bird clutching for dear life. Maui balanced herself by puffing up and I took a wonderful photo of her.

After reviewing the options, Bruce and Thea chose a 30 by 40” canvas for the portrait and I wondered how I’d fill that large space with one peachy-white bird. As the Bergs left the Gallery, Thea handed me a bag of Maui’s feathers for color reference and then headed home excited, as I was, wondering how the painting would unfold.

When I told my husband, Miro, about the project and showed him the bag of feathers, he suggested I incorporate them right into the painting. What a personal element that would add! I proposed the idea to the Bergs knowing they would love it, and, in fact, Thea suggested that I also incorporate shell from Maui’s first egg into the painting. Now the pressure was on! How to incorporate real feathers and eggshell into a painting and make it all work? To add to the challenge, Thea wanted the background color of the painting to match the decor in their master bedroom where the portrait would hang.

I didn’t have a clear vision of how to proceed, so I just started pasting feathers to the canvas. After Maui’s basic form was sketched in, I painted the background pulling in color from the bedroom scheme. I painted right over the feathers and made them part of the background. I noticed the feathers began to look like leaves, so I further developed that concept. When I was happy with the background, I worked on the bird, hoping to capture the glow of light that passed through her delicate light feathers. Then… what to do with the precious eggshell that Thea had so carefully preserved for 22 years? I thought at first I’d crush it into tiny bits and fling shards onto the painting like glitter. But then I realized I could scatter the pieces on the branch and they would give dimension to the bark. A perfect solution!

Sometimes I toil over and adjust a painting and have to change and fix it multiple times, but Maui came easily and was right the very first time. Something magical happened along the way, and as I finished the final touches on her regal feathers, the beautiful peachy-white bird came to life. When we unveiled the painting in the Gallery, Thea gasped and held her hand over her mouth, and Bruce actually broke down and cried. No greater satisfaction for an artist than when a painting moves someone to tears. Then I know I have done my job.

I am thankful to Maui and the Bergs for the opportunity to honor this special bird and to create one of the most enjoyable paintings I’ve ever done.