Least Bittern Pair ~ "Shoreline Spirits" ~ Watercolor Spring Birds This diptych is the most

This diptych is the most ambitious piece in my Shadows of the Sky collection — a body of work that explores raptors and owls through pastel's unique capabilities

insulating

scanning the horizon

" Together they explore the same bird from different angles

the oversized dark eye

Least Bittern Pair ~ "Shoreline Spirits" ~ Watercolor Spring Birds This diptych is the mostThis least bittern watercolor painting captures the smallest heron in North America a secretive marsh bird that most people never see. Least bitterns live deep in the cattails, gripping vertical stems with oversized feet and freezing in place when threatened, bill pointed skyward, body swaying with the reeds. They're masters of disappearance. This painting shows a pair in a rare moment of visibility. I painted this freehand on archival cotton rag