Huckleberry Chickadee

I had a few more prints of my watercolors made and I thought posting stories about what is behind each would be good practice for writing about my artwork and art practice. I will have a small selection of prints available at Oktoberfest Art Fair next Saturday October 26th.

The Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Parus rufescens) is one of my favorite birds. They dart around in little groups throughout the year and are especially noticeable when feeding chicks and teaching them to forage. This smaller watercolor was created at the treehouse kitchen table in the summer of 2022. We arrived in Juneau when all the baby birds were still young and just beginning to fly and I made several paintings of the birds we saw daily.

The previous summer, my son Erikr coaxed a group of twelve into regularly eating from his hand and then mine. I learned to notice their everyday chipping noises as you can usually hear them before you see them and over the summer took many photos. The cheeky birds began tapping on the window to wake me at day break for breakfast and they would perch on us or our hands to select their favorite seed. These chickadees have a brilliant rust color on their backs and sides, their delicate feet are a blueish gray, and they have a shorter chickadee song.

I set this painting in the early summer, when the young chickadees are out foraging for bugs in the understory and the huckleberries are still green.

Huckleberry Chickadee (6.5 x 8 inch print)