Created at the SEED Barn in Blue Hill, Maine, these works draw from the creative commons by referencing photos that were offered as gifts of open source media. I started this series of Archilochus colubris or, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds just before the COVID pandemic struck the shores of the US. I continued refining the series as the world settled into isolation. We were gathering open source material to share with local educators, encouraging them to integrate observational drawing into their programs as a way to bridge art & science while gaining a deeper understanding of the local Eco-systems. During the pandemic, we explored ways of sharing this material virtually, for folks to participate ‘at a distance’

On a personal level, I found myself creating ghost images alongside the detailed representations of the different species that visited the gardens surrounding the SEED Barn. In hindsight, the ephemeral nature of the ghost images spoke to the way the world was shifting through a widespread pandemic, even though they were created largely in the first stages of the more complex works that were later finished during COVID lockdowns. The loss of life was a prolonged consideration during this time and I felt the ghost images speak to this delicate feeling to our existence. Hummingbirds remain a consistent theme, many of the works started during the winter of 2020.

Having worked in Haiti during the Ghetto Biennial over the prior decade, then moving to Maine in 2016, I was interested in birds who connected the two geographies. Ruby Throated Hummingbirds are ‘accidental migrants’ who do migrate, but only arrive in Haiti when blown off course.