For this series of pastel drawings, I used birds as a canvas or skeleton for my life experiences. Birds are familiar. My intent was to choose birds with the qualities and color of the feeling I was experiencing and push this otherwise controlled and dry medium to a point where it takes on an expressive, almost painterly quality. I chose bold colors and explored my ideas directly on the page.
Cairns can commemorate any sort of event, from a battle to a basket of eggs dropped. Some mark a path or a burial site. Likewise, each of the birds in this series represents an important moment in my life that I want to remember, whether it was good or bad. They are life lessons that I want to share with you. They are my cairns.