Hummingbirds

A few years ago, as I was trimming a tree, I saw a small, empty nest on the ground. Nearby lay a tiny hummingbird! I scooped it back into the nest, secured it as best I could in the remaining branches, then watched from the window as its mother finally came back. For the next two weeks, he grew and thrived. But one day I went outside to check, and he'd died. It broke my heart. This series of paintings flowed out of that grief -- not only for the little bird I'd unintentionally endangered, but the impermanence and fragility of life, which hummingbirds embody so beautifully.