For some answer, to this fire

This painting was inspired by time I spent living with a partner on the Kitsap Peninsula, specifically through the height of the pandemic. He had a large group of peafowl, also known as a muster, an ostentation or a pride, living on his property. What had started as a peacock and peahen pair who had wandered from their original home on Bainbridge Island and found their way to Kingston and expanded into a family of ten or so who had set up shop on his 2.5 acres. They are particularly territorial birds, very noisy and aggressive, with a disturbingly human screech and they drove us mildly crazy during lockdown. I would wake every morning to a peacock at each of the glass doors, standing on the deck and porches, glaring indignantly at their own reflections, opening their massive plumage and shaking their feathers. –Artist statement