As I mentioned in the home page, my favorite subject to paint! I first became inspired by this magnificent bird of prey around 1991, largely due to the Disney motion picture "The Rescuers Down Under" (to this day, the movie I credit with getting me interested in eagles) and began to save every eagle picture I found (and also drew them). Getting my own photos of eagles is not easy where I live, so I have to travel to places such as African Lion Safari in Cambridge, Ontario, or Hawk Creek in East Aurora, NY in order to get any. On my second trip to African Lion Safari, in 1993, I stayed in just the birds of prey area for close to 2 hours. I finally went back again in 2005 for the sole purpose of getting several years worth of material for future paintings. I feel a deep connection to eagles, and quite a few years ago, I became very interested in Native American, as well as Aboriginal lore on eagles. Native Americans associate the eagle with spiritual matters, and the eagle is the messenger between humans and the Great Spirit. I was also fascinated to learn that the Gagudju Aborigines in northern Australia believe that, upon death, the white-bellied sea eagle, known to them as Marawuti, carries your soul to the afterlife in her large talons. In one of the most well known Hindu spiritual books, the Bhagavad Gita, when Krishna is describing his divine attributes, he says that among birds, he is the eagle Garuda. Suffice to say, eagles have inspired people of many different cultures and spiritual belief systems throughout the history of mankind, and continue to today. This page is devoted to my eagle paintings.
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"The Lookout"
Original 24" x 30", stretch canvas, completed 11/8/07. This is my second painting of Hawk Creek's golden eagle, "Canyon". Original photo the painting was based upon was taken by my father at Hawk Creek's Wildlife and Renaissance Festival in July 2006. Thanks to Maryann for the title! :)
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Bald Eagle at Twilight
Original 24" x 36", stretch canvas, completed 7/5/07. Based on the same photo as "Bald Eagle Head Study" from 2006, I decided to paint the entire eagle this time! The original photo was taken by my father at African Lion Safari in 2005. I'm especially pleased with how the moody sky background turned out. I painted much of this under the influence of Robert Rich's "A Troubled Resting Place" CD, especially the epic track "Night Sky Replies" which inspired the moodiness of the sky.
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"One Wing & Tunka"
Original 24" x 30", strectch canvas, completed 5/17/07. Based on a photo I took at the Hawk Creek Wildlife & Renaissance Festival in July 2006, of their 2 resident bald eagles, One Wing and Tunka, in the "Walk With the Eagles" enclosure. Won an "honorable mention" at the 2009 Erie County Fair.
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Golden Eagle - Perched
Original: 18" x 24", canvas board, completed 3/22/07. After working on this one at home since April 2006, I decided to bring it to my Thursday morning sessions to finally finish. My third golden eagle painting. Based on a photo from my 2005 African Lion Safari excursion.
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Golden Eagle - Looking Forward (a.k.a. "Canyon")
Original 16" x 20", stretch canvas, completed 3/1/07. My second golden eagle painting, this is based on one of my photos taken at the Hawk Creek Wildlife & Renaissance Festival, July 2006, of one of their resident golden eagles, Canyon. My newest personal favorite painting, this one is hanging on my bedroom wall. Won an "honorable mention" at the 2007 Erie County Fair.
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Bald Eagle On A Perch
Original 30" x 40", stretch canvas, completed 1/11/07. My 60th painting and my largest painting so far! This one took me 5 months worth of Thursday morning sessions to complete, but the end result made it all worthwhile. I've wanted to do a large scale eagle painting for many years now, and I finally have! This one is based on a photo from my 2005 African Lion Safari trip.
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Bald Eagle Head Study
Original: 12" x 16" canvas board, completed 4/20/06. Based on a 2005 ALS photo taken by my father.
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Golden Eagle - "Watching the Sky"
Original: 12" x 16" canvas board, completed 3/24/05. Based on one of my 1993 ALS photos, this is currently one of my personal favorite paintings, and hangs proudly above my desk. Also known as my "signature piece", since it's on the front of my business cards!
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Bald Eagle - Black Background
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, completed 10/14/04. The first in an intended series. Based on one of my 1993 African Lion Safari photos.
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Bald Eagle - Brown Background
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, completed 11/11/04. The second in the series. A personal landmark, this was my 50th painting under Maryann's guidance (and I definitely wanted my 50th to be an eagle). Based on another photo from my '93 trip to African Lion Safari.
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Immature Bald Eagle
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, completed 9/8/05. The third in the series and, once again, based on a '93 African Lion Safari photo. I was kind of hoping to pass this off as a golden eagle when I started it, but it really does come across as a young bald eagle (it takes bald eagles 4 - 5 years to develop the white plumage on their heads and tails).
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Immature African Fish Eagle
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, completed 6/2/05, refurbished 8/21/08. One more painting based on a '93 African Lion Safari photo. Originally completed in 2005, this got damaged when I was preparing to bring it to the 2008 Hamburg Art Show, so I fixed it a few days later. I had to redo the entire background, and in the process, fixed the bird up a little, as well! I also re-signed it, this time in white paint.
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Bald Eagle In Flight
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, begun on 12/21/93 and completed 1/27/94. After a month and a half of doing charcoal drawings, I finally began this, my first painting, and first bald eagle painting, with Maryann's guidance. Even though I do feel I've greatly improved since, I'm still proud of how this one turned out.
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Bald Eagle - Perched
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, completed 3/24/94. This was my second bald eagle painting done with Maryann's guidance. Not too bad for it's time.
Original 24" x 30", stretch canvas, completed 11/8/07. This is my second painting of Hawk Creek's golden eagle, "Canyon". Original photo the painting was based upon was taken by my father at Hawk Creek's Wildlife and Renaissance Festival in July 2006. Thanks to Maryann for the title! :) 
Original 24" x 36", stretch canvas, completed 7/5/07. Based on the same photo as "Bald Eagle Head Study" from 2006, I decided to paint the entire eagle this time! The original photo was taken by my father at African Lion Safari in 2005. I'm especially pleased with how the moody sky background turned out. I painted much of this under the influence of Robert Rich's "A Troubled Resting Place" CD, especially the epic track "Night Sky Replies" which inspired the moodiness of the sky.
Original 24" x 30", strectch canvas, completed 5/17/07. Based on a photo I took at the Hawk Creek Wildlife & Renaissance Festival in July 2006, of their 2 resident bald eagles, One Wing and Tunka, in the "Walk With the Eagles" enclosure. Won an "honorable mention" at the 2009 Erie County Fair. 
Original: 18" x 24", canvas board, completed 3/22/07. After working on this one at home since April 2006, I decided to bring it to my Thursday morning sessions to finally finish. My third golden eagle painting. Based on a photo from my 2005 African Lion Safari excursion. 
Original 16" x 20", stretch canvas, completed 3/1/07. My second golden eagle painting, this is based on one of my photos taken at the Hawk Creek Wildlife & Renaissance Festival, July 2006, of one of their resident golden eagles, Canyon. My newest personal favorite painting, this one is hanging on my bedroom wall. Won an "honorable mention" at the 2007 Erie County Fair. 
Original 30" x 40", stretch canvas, completed 1/11/07. My 60th painting and my largest painting so far! This one took me 5 months worth of Thursday morning sessions to complete, but the end result made it all worthwhile. I've wanted to do a large scale eagle painting for many years now, and I finally have! This one is based on a photo from my 2005 African Lion Safari trip. 
Original: 12" x 16" canvas board, completed 4/20/06. Based on a 2005 ALS photo taken by my father. 
Original: 12" x 16" canvas board, completed 3/24/05. Based on one of my 1993 ALS photos, this is currently one of my personal favorite paintings, and hangs proudly above my desk. Also known as my "signature piece", since it's on the front of my business cards!
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, completed 10/14/04. The first in an intended series. Based on one of my 1993 African Lion Safari photos.
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, completed 11/11/04. The second in the series. A personal landmark, this was my 50th painting under Maryann's guidance (and I definitely wanted my 50th to be an eagle). Based on another photo from my '93 trip to African Lion Safari.
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, completed 9/8/05. The third in the series and, once again, based on a '93 African Lion Safari photo. I was kind of hoping to pass this off as a golden eagle when I started it, but it really does come across as a young bald eagle (it takes bald eagles 4 - 5 years to develop the white plumage on their heads and tails). 
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, completed 6/2/05, refurbished 8/21/08. One more painting based on a '93 African Lion Safari photo. Originally completed in 2005, this got damaged when I was preparing to bring it to the 2008 Hamburg Art Show, so I fixed it a few days later. I had to redo the entire background, and in the process, fixed the bird up a little, as well! I also re-signed it, this time in white paint. 
Original: 16" x 20" canvas board, begun on 12/21/93 and completed 1/27/94. After a month and a half of doing charcoal drawings, I finally began this, my first painting, and first bald eagle painting, with Maryann's guidance. Even though I do feel I've greatly improved since, I'm still proud of how this one turned out.
