CURRENT EXHIBITION

BIODIVERSITY in the ART of CAREL PIETER BREST van KEMPEN
is now on exhibit at the HIRAM BLAUVELT ART MUSEUM in Oradell, New Jersey from December 5, 2011 until March 31, 2012. There will be a reception on March 4th.

Below are images and captions for the fifty paintings included in the current exhibition. Clicking on any image will reveal a larger version of it.

RIPARIAN RASHOMON (2009)
acrylic diptych on illustration board 15" x 20"; 15" x 20"
collection of the artistTwo different viewpoints of the same event illustrate some of the common evasive strategies employed by frogs. The Brilliant Forest Frog (Rana warszewitschii -- also known as "Rana quart o' whiskey") inhabits rain forests from Honduras to Panama. When resting upon leaf litter, its drab dorsal colors are cryptic, but bright yellow spots on its thighs flash when it leaps, and a glimpse of its brilliant underside is even more likely to startle and confuse a predator. Upon disappearing beneath the water's surface, it usually follows a wild, zig-zag course, ending up some distance from where the naïve viewer might anticipate. This painting's antagonist, the Agami Heron (Agamia agami), ranges through most of Tropical America, but does not occur in great numbers anywhere and is infrequently seen. Long of neck and short of leg, it haunts streams within heavy forests and feeds upon small fish and amphibians. Incidental subjects in this painting include a water strider (Gerris sp.), damsel fly naiads (family Coenagrinionidae) and a White-necked Puffbird (Notharchus macrorhynchus).

RETICULATED PYTHON & MASKED FINFOOT (1999)
acrylic on illustration board 20” x 30”
collection of the artistCapable of attaining a length in excess of thirty feet, the Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus) is by far Asia's biggest snake. Ranging through most of Southeast Asia and the Philippines, as far east as the Moluccas, the “rectic” is a versatile reptile, occurring in all manner of habitats and feeding opportunistically on most any animal it encounters, from rats to deer to birds like this Masked Finfoot (Heliopais personata), an uncommon and distant relative of the coot. I agonized over whether or not to paint the female finfoot swimming beneath the surface, which is atypical behavior according to most of the literature (I've never seen this species in nature), but having read some accounts of their occasional diving, and having seen their American equivalent, the Sungrebe (Heliornis fulica), dive once, I decided to surrender to my artistic impulses. The incidental species in this piece include the butterfly Junonia almana, a robust damselfly (family Lestidae), water strider (family Gerridae), a minnow (family Cyprinidae), loach (family Cobitidae), Forest Softshell Turtle (Dogania subplana), and Water Skink (Tropidophorus berdmorei).

HARMATTAN HARMONY—BLACK KITE, GRAY
PLANTAIN-EATERS & RED-BILLED HORNBILL (2002)
India ink wash and watercolor on paper 20” x 30”
collection of the artistAround the first of December, hot winds begin to blow fine sand from the Sahara across the savannas and deciduous scrub woods of Africa’s Sahel, that transitional zone between the Sahara Desert and the equatorial forest belt to the south. Thus begins the Harmattan, a three-month season during which the entire world appears dingy gray-brown. In this painting, three of the Sahel's most conspicuous avian residents, a Black Kite (Milvus migrans), two Gray Plantain Eaters (Crinifer piscator), and a Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus) perch among the naked tree branches that characterize the season.

GREEN IGUANA & LEAF-CUTTER ANTS (2011)
acrylic on illustration board 18” x 24”One of the best-known denizens of the Neotropics, the Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) is a large and successful herbivorous lizard found in a variety of forest types from Mexico to Paraguay. Approaching the iguana in familiarity are the 50 or so species of leaf-cutter ant, which share the lizard's expansive range. The species shown is Atta cephalotes. Leaf-cutter ants are unusual, but not unique among insects in their practice of agriculture. Four different types of workers maintain the colony. The largest workers, the majors, function as soldiers, defending the colony from marauders. Next in size are the mediae, which spend the day foraging for fresh leaves, which they cut into nickel-sized pieces and bring back to the colony. The sight of a mass of green leaf fragments moving slowly across the forest floor, tilting back and forth like butterfly wings, is a common delight of New World forests. Attending the mediae are the smaller minors and minims,which protect the foraging phalanx from predators and parasites. Inside the subterranean nests, the minim workers crush the leaves, which serve as a growing medium for fungi of the family Lepiotaceae, which feed the colony. Incidental subjects include the spectacular monocot Heliconia pogonantha, a Red-capped Manakin (Pipra mentalis) and the butterfly Antirrhea pterocopha.

GREAT HELMETED HORNBILL (1998)
acrylic on illustration board 30” x 20”
collection of the artistThe massive casques adorning the beaks of many hornbill species contain mostly air, but the Great Helmeted Hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) of Southeast Asia has a casque of solid ivory. The function of this heavy ornament is the subject of some conjecture; it certainly makes flight more difficult, even with the counterbalancing effect of elongated central tail feathers. It has also resulted quite literally in a price being put on the birds' heads, which are coveted by Chinese artisans who for centuries have used them to create delicate carvings known as ho-ting. Some authorities claim that the males have "jousting" contests. Perhaps the extra inertia helps them peck away loose bark in search of prey. My own objective with this piece was simply to depict the effort necessary to hoist the bird's skull into the air. At the bottom of the field a startled Crested Lizard (Bronchocela cristatella) scampers away as a Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra) forages amongst the foliage.

HARRIS' HAWK & CHUCKWALLA (2006)
acrylic 37" x 27"Harris' Hawk (Parabuteo unicictus) is a unique raptor species of the American tropics. Normally shunning thick jungles, it haunts llanos, chaco, chaparral and scrub forest in the drier parts of that region, ranging as far north as the southern tip of Nevada. Fast and powerful, this social bird feeds on a variety of prey, from rabbits and ducks to reptiles like the Chuckwalla (Sauromalus obesus), here seen engaged in its typical elusive tactic of sliding into a rock crevice and inflating its body. Incidental subjects in this painting include a Compass Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus ), honey ants (Myrmecosus sp.), Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magister), Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), and Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae).

AGARRANDO LA MAÑANA—BLACK VULTURES (1994)
India ink wash 24" x 30"The vultures of the Americas are very different from their Old World namesakes, which are relatives of eagles. Of the eight species of New World vulture, which are closer kin to storks, three can be observed in the Sonoran Desert: the California Condor, the Turkey Vulture, and the species depicted here, the Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus). The idea for this piece was born while topping a ridge on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula one morning, when I spied a distant group of black vultures enjoying the dawn’s first rays in typical vulturine style. The birds were sunning in bright light, but the still thick jungle fog separating us obscured their images, simplifying their forms into boldly abstract shapes of two tones: the illuminated and the shaded. I quickly sketched some designs based on what I saw, which I planned to later organize into a painting. Black vultures are common throughout the American tropics and are plentiful and tame in many towns, so I expected to have little trouble finding cooperative models from which to render some more detailed drawings, once I had rough sketches of the basic design I wanted. As plans often are, these were soon frustrated, and as I made my way east, sunning vultures would invariably fold their wings once I removed my pack and fumbled for a pad and pencil. I was finally reduced to sleeping in the local dump outside of Antón, Panama, and positioning myself next to a favorite roost before daylight, where the final drawing for this piece was at last executed.

AJOLOTE (2011)
acrylic 30" x 25"Just where on the reptile family tree to put the worm lizards, or amphisbaenians, has long been a puzzle for taxonomists. Traditionally lumped with the lizards, these days they're more often given their own suborder alongside the snakes and lizards. What ever their systematics, their appearance and habits share more in common with earthworms than reptiles. Spending most of their lives below ground, they progress with a worm-like, peristaltic movement of their body segments. On the surface, they can move in a more typical serpentine fashion. Most amphisbaenians are found in tropical Africa and South America, but a few are found as far north as the Mediterranean, and in the Americas to Florida and northwestern Mexico. Unlike other amphisbaenians, the wormlike visage of the little-known Mexican genus Bipes is rather spoiled by the presence of a pair of stout digging forelimbs. Like the rest of their group, none of whom bear visible limbs, the 3-4 known Bipes species dig by forcing their hard little noses into the soil and moving them back and forth. The forelimbs are used to push loosened soil out of the way. They seem to subsist mostly upon termites and ants, and sometimes forage upon the surface at night. Two Bipes species occur in Michoacán and Guerrero, but the best-known of the group, B. biporus, is found in Baja California, where it is known as the Ajolote. A number of very poorly documented records from other parts of Mexico, Arizona, and as far north as Nebraska, suggest that it may be more widespread than believed. In this painting, an Ajolote forages about a rotting fencepost on termites of the genus Reticulitermes.


GELADA (1998)
acrylic 26” x 10”A large and unusual monkey restricted to the mountains of central Ethiopia is the Gelada (Theropithecus gelada). Like that of its close relatives the baboons and drills, Gelada social structure is very complex and dynamic. In this species the social units seem to be held together mostly by the bonds between individuals of the same sex, especially females, who tend to associate more among themselves. Nights are spent sleeping on the faces of rocky gorges, where the animals feel secure and from where they never stray far. During the day they forage for grasses, from which they derive practically all of their nourishment -- a diet unique among primates. The adult male is easily distinguished by his long golden mane and whiskers, and a red triangle of bare skin framed by short grizzled fur on his chest. Perching elsewhere on the cliff are a lizard (Agama sp.) and a Pectinator (Pectinator spekei), an unusual rodent distantly related to the Chinchilla.

BLACK SKIMMER (2003)
acrylic 29" x 36"The peculiar skimmers are related to gulls and terns, and live near fresh or saltwater bodies in the warmer regions around the globe. The three species, one African, one Asian, and one American, are all quite similar in appearance and behavior. The lower mandibles of these birds are much longer than the upper -- an adaptation well suited to their unique method of foraging. A feeding skimmer flies just above the water, plowing the surface with its lower bill. When a fish is encountered, it is snapped up and consumed. Another peculiarity of the skimmers is the presence of a vertical pupil, which is found in no other bird. This allows a wider range of light to enter the eye, which is useful to fowl that spend a lot of time resting on white sands reflecting the tropical sun, but which also regularly feed at night. They nest in a small scrape on a sandy beach; the female usually lays 3 to 7 eggs. The Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) ranges along the Atlantic coast and along rivers from the southeastern U.S. to Brazil and from southern California to Peru along the Pacific. It also nests along the Sea of Cortés

A BRICK HOUSE— ENGLISH SPARROW & PAPER WASP (1992)
acrylic 27" x 23"Inspiration for a painting sometimes comes all at once from the most banal of circumstances. While walking down a city street I saw a decorative brick and immediately visualized this painting. I chose the most mundane of bird species, the English Sparrow (Passer domesticus), an Old World immigrant that was introduced to North America just over 100 years ago. The most famous transportation of this species was by Eugene Schiffelin, who attempted to introduce every bird mentioned in Shakespeare's works into Central Park. Within a century, it spread throughout the hemisphere, radiating into numerous niches, the big, dark sparrows of the Pacific Northwest contrasting with their brightly hued eastern kin and their small, sandy-colored brethren of the desert Southwest. Sharing the habitat of the brick is a common paper wasp of the genus Polistes.

CALIFORNIA CONDOR (2005)
oil 72" x 108"Giant condors were successful and important components of the North American Pleistocene fauna, but began to decline about 13,000 years ago, with the decimation of mammoths, ground sloths, and other huge mammals generally attributed to the Clovis culture. By 1985 a mere 27 California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) remained, and the bold decision to take the entire population into captivity was made. The captive propagation program has been successful, increasing the population to more than 200 today. Nearly half of these birds have been released and live, semi-wild, in California and Arizona, including a wild-fledged bird from 2002. The species is still far from recovered, though, and is continually dependent on human management. The mortality rate, mostly from power-line collisions and lead bullet ingestion, still far exceeds wild births. Reintroduced condors show problematic behavior like extreme tameness, and lead poisoning has caused most of the Arizona birds to be re-trapped for chelation therapy. This life-sized painting mounts flat against the ceiling.


DUSKY-GILLED MUDSKIPPERS (2009)
acrylic on illustration board 6” x 12”
collection of the artistLife began in the sea and remained there for over 3 billion years. It's learned to thrive on land just as well, but occupying the intertidal zone, that strip between the two, continues to be a difficult trick, both ecologically and physiologically. Among fish, the best adapted to this zone are the mudskippers, a subfamily of gobies found through much of the Old World tropics, usually in association with mangroves, or intertidally adapted trees. Capable of breathing air through their skin and mouth linings, mudskippers flop about the beach at low tide, foraging for small arthropods. At high tide, they mostly retreat to burrows. One of the common Southeast Asian species is the three-inch long Dusky-gilled Mudskipper (Periophthalmus novemradiatus). Incidental species include fiddler crab (Uca sp.), hermit crab (Dardanus sp.), a Reef Heron (Egretta sacra), terns (Sterna spp.) and a Lesser Frigatebird (Fregata ariel).

COAST HORNED LIZARD (1998)
acrylic 26" x 38"This piece was designed to look as austere as the Mojave desert that it depicts. The subject, a Coast Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) is centered on the board within very simple arcking lines, eating honey ants (Myrmecocystus sp.), ants being the usual horned lizard fare. A total of fourteen species of horned lizards populate most of western North America, from southern British Columbia to Guatemala. They are a pretty uniform lot, small lizards (the giant among them is a Mexican brute of eight inches), flattened and covered with spines. The species depicted and one other are known to have the ability to squirt a potential predator with blood issued from the corner of their eye. This capacity was reported for over a century in popular lore and has been doubted by many, and only recently confirmed conclusively. The response seems to be an anti-coyote device, which accounts for the usual inability for non-canid creatures like us to elicit it. In this painting the subjects were drawn about twice life-size, something I rarely do.

GOLDEN EAGLE & PRAIRIE FALCON (2011)
India ink wash 35" x 22"The powerful Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaeotos) is holarctic in distribution, meaning it is found across the northern hemisphere. In North America, it is mostly a creature of the west, and is largely a predator of jackrabbits (Lepus spp.), but it is an adaptable predator that will exploit what is available. Its large size confers upon its flight an illusion of lethargy, but in reality, it is a swift and commanding aerialist capable of taking a variety of flying prey. Mated pairs often hunt cooperatively, adding a level of advantage in such situations. I know of a pair in Utah that feed almost exclusively on Ravens (Corvus corax). Here, a Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus), North America's large desert falcon, evades the stoop of a marauding Golden.


BAT-EARED FOX (2006)
acrylic on illustration board 20” x 10”
collection of the artistThe peculiar little Bat-eared Fox (Otocyon megalotis) is found in African steppes and savannahs from Ethiopia and Angola south. It has no close living relatives, and was once thought to represent a primitive lineage, because of its unique dentition: it has more teeth than any other heterodont (having different types of teeth) placental mammal. This was more likely, however, a mutation that arose in a population of more typical foxes. Capable diggers, Bat-eared Foxes excavate complex tunnel networks where they escape from heat and enemies, and raise their litters of two to six pups. They feed largely on insects, mostly termites, with occasional vertebrate supplements.


BLACK AND WHITE AND RED ALL OVER—SPOTTED HYENAS AND PLAINS ZEBRA (1999)
acrylic on illustration board 20” x 17”
collection of the artistAlthough they resemble dogs, the four species of hyena are most closely related to the mongoose family. By far the largest and most powerful member of the group, the Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) ranged over most of the Old World during the Pleistocene, but today is restricted to sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this, it is still a highly successful species, outnumbering other large African predators and able to function as a scavenger, pirate, solitary hunter or pack hunter. Its incredibly powerful jaws enable it to crack large bones and exploit the marrow within, which is inaccessible to other animals. Fetal female hyenas develop with high levels of androgens in their blood, a quirk resulting in their well-known mock male genitalia. Here a pair of hyenas pause over their meal, a Plains Zebra (Equus burchelli). Interestingly enough, it seems that the three animals we call zebras do not really constitute a discreet group, but that all modern equids evolved from a striped ancestor. Some modern forms lost their stripes, while members of two distinct lines retained theirs. This pattern does not likely serve as camouflage, but rather as a social signal to other zebras. And as for the age-old question...I say definitely white with black stripes. In the background is a small group of bronze mannikins (Lonchura cucullata).

GREATER ROAD-RUNNERS & CANYON TOWHEE (2011)
acrylic 25" x 52"Probably the most iconic bird of the desert southwest, the Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) is one of two very similar species of large terrestrial cuckoos found in Mexico and the southwestern U.S. The two species look and behave similarly, but the larger, northern one has a longer bill and prefers more open country. Roadrunners are omnivores, feeding on fruits and seeds as well as large invertebrates, reptiles and small birds and mammals, which they run down. Most of the situations I paint are hypothetical but plausible, but this piece was based upon an event I witnessed in California's Anza Borrego State Park: a roadrunner carrying a small dead bird was running in the haphazard, zig-zag evasive mode typical of its species, barely keeping half a step ahead of the mobbing of two others. Unfortunately, distinguishing whether any of the fast-moving birds were adults or juveniles was beyond my capacity, and identifying the sex of a roadrunner under any circumstances requires supernatural powers. My assumption is that I watched either two juveniles chasing a parent or a mated pair chasing a young, inexperienced bird. The former scenario is probably most likely, but it was the latter that I selected to commit to illustration board. I was unable as well to identify the focal point of the fracas, but decided that one of the nondescript brown towhees would serve as good a candidate as any. While taking artistic liberties, I also moved the setting slightly east, to the Sonoran Desert, and painted the scrub towhee of that region, the Canyon Towhee (Pipilo fuscus).

JAGUAR & COLLARED PECCARIES (1994)
oil 40" x 50"The only modern big cat of the New World, the Jaguar (Panthera onca) ranges from northern Argentina to the southwestern U.S. Until the end of the Pleistocene, it occurred throughout the southeastern states, and seems to have been especially common in Florida. Over the past century, its presence north of Mexico has probably consisted of little more than occasional young males dispersing from Mexico. An old male Jaguar that had roamed southern Arizona for a number of years died in 2009. These cats are generalist predators, feeding on a wide range of quarry, but in the northern part of their range, the piglike Collared Peccary (Pecari tajacu) or Javelina is by far the most important. Here, one of these great cats prepares to charge a group of peccaries in a deciduous scrub forest. The colors and lighting of this habitat, especially during the dry season, when many of the trees have lost their leaves, are quite peculiar unto themselves and inspired me to try to characterize them with this sort of “hyper-pointilism” technique.

PHANTOMS OF THE MOJAVE—BANDED GECKO (2010)
acrylic 30" x 25"In the southwestern U.S. and adjacent Mexico, the Western Banded Gecko (Coleonyx variegatus) occurs in a number of desert habitats. This strictly nocturnal lizard remains well hidden until after dark. On moonlit nights, its translucent body almost gleams, and it's easy to spot as it stalks its arthropod prey, its tail writhing, catlike. Here, a Western Banded Gecko is framed by iconic southwest desert plants, as it descends the woody skeleton of a dead cholla (Opuntia sp.) before the nocturnal, trumpet-like blossom of a Western Jimsonweed (Datura wrightii), well-known for its toxic and hallucinatory effects caused by the alkaloids atropine and scopolamine. Also visible is a Jimson Beetle (Lema daturaphila), the adults and larvae of which feed on Jimsonweed and other members of the potato family, Solanaceae.

SOUTHERN CROSS—PENNANT-WINGED NIGHTJAR (1998)
India ink wash on paper 23” x 17”
collection of the artistA fantastic-looking spectacle of southern Africa is the male Pennant-winged Nightjar (Cosmetornis vexillarius) in breeding plumage. The inner primary feathers of this bird form a pair of “pennants” that can trail over two feet behind him. During his nuptial display he flies in low circles, emitting a strange katydid-like twitter. Finding an exposed perch like this termitarium, he then spreads his wings, slowly rotating them. Soon after breeding, the inner-most primary is dropped, but the rest of his moult does not continue until after the migration north of the equator for the austral winter, which often is executed in flocks. A member of the same order that includes the American nighthawks and whip-poor-wills, the Pennant-winged Nightjar feeds in the manner characteristic of the group, on insects captured in flight.

REANIMATION—COMMON POORWILL (2010)
acrylic 36" x 26"Hibernation is one of the more effective strategies temperate animals have developed to survive winter's cold temperatures and lack of food resources. Many birds, bats and even insects opt instead for seasonal migration, exploiting distant habitats during different seasons. A few, like the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and the Poorwill (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii) use a combination of the two. Poorwills, relatives of nighthawks, breed in arid parts of western North America from southern Canada into northern Mexico; northern individuals seem to winter in the desert southwest. A number of bird species use daily torpor to minimize energy loss during cool nights or brief bad weather. Members of three related orders, the goatsuckers, hummingbirds and possibly the swifts, all show some abilities at metabolic adjustment, but none to the degree of the little Poorwill, which, in addition to its natural tendencies toward torpor, feeds heavily on beetles, rich in polyunsaturated fats, which remain liquid and metabolically available at low temperatures. In the laboratory, Poorwills have been observed sustaining periods of torpor for over 80 days, and in the wild as long as 25 days. A shallow shelter, open to the southern sun is selected: a patch of cactus or rock niche to which the bird develops substantial fidelity. After sundown, the torpid Poorwill's body temperature begins to fall, until the ambient temperature reaches 5.5?C, an apparent optimum hibernating level which the bird tries to maintain. Solar radiation raises the body temperature daily, presumably allowing the option to forage during warm nights. I know of no human witnesses to a Poorwill rousing from torpor in the wild, but I imagine the bird backing out of his shelter to fully bask in the final evening rays, periodically flapping his wings to elevate his body temperature. It's not known how severe a winter these birds can survive, but a sufficient winter insect population, rather than temperature, is probably the limiting factor. Rather than showing the kind of country where Poorwills are known to commonly winter, I tried in this painting to depict a habitat in the harshest extreme that I could imagine the bird toughing out. Also shown reviving are Glacier Lilies (Erythronium grandiflora), Convergent Ladybird Beetles (Hippodamia convergens), Western Boxelder Bug (Boisea rubrolineata), and snowfleas (Hypogastrura sp.), cold-adapted springtails that climb onto the snow's surface to feed on algae.

STARGAZING--PEREGRINE FALCON (2008)
India ink wash 21" x 30"Damage to a bird's central nervous system from injury or poisoning often manifests itself in a behavior known as stargazing. Affected birds exhibit unsteadiness and a backwards craning of the head. Terrible though this gesture appears, it does not always herald doom for its sufferer; it can be a symptom of numerous temporary or transitory maladies. Animals like the cosmopolitan Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), which feeds heavily on seabirds, are especially prone to poisoning by persistent environmental toxins, by virtue of their place in the feeding hierarchy. Rains wash poisons into the sea, where they accumulate, and concentrate as they rise from one trophic level to another. For example, the mercury level in the tissues of a population of medium-sized fish can be expected to be far higher than that in the population of small fish they feed upon, and far lower than in the big fish that feed upon them.

THREE MORE WORLDS— RAINBOW TROUT & OSPREY (1998)
acrylic 35" x 26"The Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was originally native only to western North America in waters draining into the Pacific. It has proven itself the ideal species for captive propagation and transplantation as a game fish though, and has been introduced throughout the continent and into waters as far away as New Zealand. This painting is in large part an overt theft of Escher's lithograph “Three Worlds,” in which the viewer gazes through leaves floating upon the water’s surface upon a koi beneath and reflections of trees above. I injected an aspect of impending doom by introducing the reflection of an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), hovering above with feet lowered, prepared to dive at our protagonist.

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON (2004)
acrylic 30" x 24"The Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) haunts coastal marshes from Massachusetts to Brazil, and Panamá to Perú on the Pacific side. It also occurs on the Galápagos and throughout the West Indies. Unlike its nearly cosmopolitan cousin the Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), which hunts fish from dawn to dusk, the Yellow-crowned often stalks the crustaceans that make up the bulk of its diet at midday. In recent years this species has increased its range in the United States as far west as Illinois. Yellow-crowned Night herons also breed on Baja California as well as the eastern shore of the Sea of Cortés. The butterfly on the bank belongs to the genus Eunica.

ASCENSIÓN-- STRAWBERRY POISON FROG & TADPOLE (2004)
acrylic 46” x 20” The dart frogs of the family Dendrobatidae are a well-known group of beautiful and tiny diurnal amphibians found throughout the American tropics. In addition to producing complex alkaloid skin secretions, this group is remarkable in exhibiting astonishing parental care within its ranks. The Central American species Dendrobates (=Oophaga) pumilio deposits several eggs on a leaf on the forest floor, which are guarded by the male. Upon hatching, the tadpoles wriggle onto the female’s back, and are taxied up the trunk of a tree to a pre-selected bromeliad, where they are deposited into one of the water vessels formed within the axils of these arboreal epiphytes. Every few days, the female lays an unfertilized egg for each of her offspring to feed upon. Incidental creatures in this painting include an Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata), a Spectacled Antpitta (Hylopezus perspicallitus), a Racerunner (Ameiva festiva), a Lanternbug (Fulgora laternaria), a Leaf-Footed Bug (Anisosceles sp.), a leafhopper (Umbonia sp.), a Consul Butterfly (Consul fabius), and numerous ants of the species Pheidole bicornis, which are dependent upon Piper trees, like the one immediately behind the frog.

CONVOY THROUGH THE CANOPY—deBRAZZA'S MONKEYS (2000)
acrylic triptych 42” x 88”One of the many African monkey species known as "guenons", de Brazza's Monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus) inhabits various types of forest, usually near rivers, from southeastern Cameroon through the southern Central African Republic and throughout most of the former Zaire. In this painting a large troop moves along a massive fig tree, accompanied by Long-tailed Hornbills (Tockus albocristatus) and Oil Palm Squirrels (Protoxerus stangeri). Both of these species habitually travel with monkeys, eating insects that are disturbed by their movement, such as the giant cicada (family Cicadidae) in the right panel. The sharp-eyed hornbills return the favor by making a loud racket if they spot a crowned eagle, warning the primates of the presence of an important predator. I'm taking some artistic liberties in this piece by depicting such a large group of monkeys so close to a small settlement of humans, the most important monkey predator of all in Central Africa. Incidental animals in this piece include a Crested Chameleon (Chameleo cristatus), Bush Viper (Atheris hispidus), Black Kite (Milvus migrans), Great Blue Touracos (Corythaeola cristata), Gray Parrots (Psittacus erithacus), Palm Swift (Cypsiurus parvus), Red-rumped Tinker Bird (Pogoniulus chrysoconus), Snowy-crowned Robin-chat (Cossypha niveicapilla), Chestnut Wattle-eyes (Platysteira castanea) and Village Weaver (Ploceus cucullatus).

CRASH-BARRIER WALTZER—BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE (2005)
acrylic 37” x 27” Western North America's best known roadside scavenger is surely the Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia). Long considered a race of the Old World Magpie (P. pica), the American bird is now generally considered a distinct species, based on DNA evidence. Thriving in a variety of situations and happy to feed on a wide range of foods, these handsome and charming corvids are common through most of their range. Despite their common habit of feeding on road-killed animals, it is surprisingly rare to find one of these intelligent birds joining those ranks. Incidental creatures in this painting include a garden spider (Argiope sp.), Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis), Green Stink Bug (Acrosternum hilare), Blue Mud Dauber Wasp (Chalybion californicum), Convergent Ladybird larva (Hippodamia convergens), looper larva (Autographa sp.), Bushtits (Psaltriparius minimus) Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus), and Least Chipmunk (Tamias minimus).


MALAYSIAN RHINOCEROS HORNBILL (2003)
acrylic on illustration board 18” x 30”
collection of the artistIn the forests of the Sunda Shelf, from peninsular Malaysia through Sumatra, Java and Borneo, the braying calls and loud, huffing wingbeats of the Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) are familiar sounds. Both sexes sport a large orange casque on the bill. This hollow ornament is larger in the male bird, and varies in shape among three distinct races: one on Java, one on Borneo, and one on Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. In this painting a large male hops along a tree branch with a fig, possibly to present it to a mate walled up inside her nesting hole. This hopping gait is common among smaller perching birds, but I can think of no other bird as large as a hornbill that habitually moves in this fashion. Incidental creatures in this painting include a Slender Squirrel (Sundasciurus tenuis), a small flock of Oriental White-eyes (Zosterops palpebrosus), a Long-horned Beetle (Batocera sp.) and a Common Mormon Swallowtail (Papilio polytes).

VARIOUS CENTRAL AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES (2003)
watercolor on bristol board 10” x 36”
collection of the artistThese seven butterflies were selected and copied life-size from field studies in my Central American sketchbooks from 1992-'93. Both dorsal (upper) and ventral (under) views are shown. Lycorea cleobaea was a roadkill from Golfito, Costa Rica. Opsiphanes tamarindii was found drowned in Lake Nicaragua. Morpho peleides was found dead at La Selva Biological Station, near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, Costa Rica. Caligo illioneus was roadkilled near Tocumén, Panama, a fate shared by Papilio thoas in Chiriquí Grande, Panama, and Colobura dirce near Esparza, Costa Rica. Callicore peralta was found dead on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula.

PLUSH-CRESTED JAYS MOB AN ORNATE HAWK-EAGLE (2003)
acrylic on illustration board 30” x 10”
collection of the artistPlush-crested Jays (Cyanocorax chrysops) are common birds that exploit the edges of a variety of tropical forest types from Eastern Peru to Northen Argentina. Like most corvids, they persecute birds of prey relentlessly. In this painting a group of these jays harass the big and powerful Ornate Hawk Eagle (Spizaetus ornatus), a spectacular raptor that is rather uncommon, but found widely throughout the neotropical region. Similar eagles of the same genus are found throughout Asia and tropical Africa. Incidental creatures in this piece include a Thread-waisted Wasp (family Sphecidae), a Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides), an anole (Anolis sp.), White-necked Puffbird (Notharchus macrorhynchus), Red-legged Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus), and a Saddleback Tamarin (Sanguinus fuscicollis).

HARPY EAGLE & THREE-TOED SLOTH (2005)
oil triptych on linen 36" x 36"; 36" x 36"; 36" x 36"
collection of the artistWithin the order of birds, no more powerful predator exists than the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja). A large hen can weigh as much as twenty pounds. Long-tailed and surprisingly agile for such a massive bird, this uncommon eagle hunts monkeys, sloths, agoutis and other similarly-sized mammals throughout the tropical rainforests of the New World, flying in short sprints and rarely venturing above the forest canopy, except during nesting, when an eyrie high in an emergent tree cradles the single egg. The Harpy's terrible feet are unmatched in size and power: four brutal toes drive three-inch talons deep into the quarry's vital organs. Here the unfortunate victim is a Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus infuscatus), a well-known and common rainforest mammal, plucked from its favorite food source, a Cecropia tree.

CREEKSIDE CONCLAVE--VARIED HARLEQUIN TOADS (2009)
acrylic 30” x 25” During the dry season, over 100 populations of Varied Harlequin Toads (Atelopus varius) once congregated along forest streams in Costa Rica and western Panama to breed. Cloaked in a wide variety of colors and patterns, these beautiful amphibians ranged from cream to lemon yellow, to lime and scarlet, or various combinations of these base hues, splotched or barred with brown, green or black. Ranging in length from one to two inches, the males averaged about a quarter smaller than females. Their gaudiness was probably a case of aposematic, or warning coloring, as their skin contained quantities of the toxic alkaloid tetrodotoxin. In the late 1980s most populations began a steep decline, beginning in central Costa Rica. The Panamanian frogs didn't start to crash until about 1992. The causes of this crash are not completely understood, but the insidious chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis plays an important role, and is thought to have driven over half the members of the genus Atelopus to extinction in the wild, and been the direct cause of much global frog decline. Wild populations of A. varius were feared extinct, but a small population near Quepos, Costa Rica, discovered in 2003, perseveres. Incidental species include a leaf-cutter ant (Atta sp.), the butterfly Morpho amathonte, a Cloud-forest Anole (Anolis tropidolepis) and a Blue-gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus).

FLY RIVER TURTLE (2004)
acrylic 23” x 29” Looking for all the world like the Mock Turtle from Alice in Wonderland, the Fly River Turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) was described to science in 1887, some two decades after John Tenniel created his original illustrations of that character. Living in slow-moving rivers of Southern New Guinea and Northern Australia, this species is more herbivorous than most highly aquatic fresh-water turtles, supplementing its diet of aquatic plants and fallen fruit with snails and other invertebrates, carrion, and occasional fish, although the Red-striped Rainbowfishes (Melanotaenia splendida) skulking among the submerged snags have little to fear from the passing reptile. A dragonfly naiad (Aeschna sp.) clings to the same snag. Although it is protected in Australia, Indonesia and P.N.G., the Fly River Turtle has recently been smuggled out of those countries in large numbers for the pet trade. In just a couple of years this smuggling has exploded to the point that the World Wide Fund for Nature was moved to put the turtle on its “10 most wanted” endangered species list in September 2004.

GOSTOSO!--MANED WOLVES & THREE-BANDED ARMADILLO (1997)
acrylic 27" x 37"The gangly, knock-kneed Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) of the plains of South America is an unusual canid with no close relatives. Despite its exceptionally long legs, it is not particularly fleet of foot, but probably benefits from them by being able to see over tall grass. Normally solitary hunters, during the breeding season mated couples often forage together. The Maned Wolf's diet consists of small mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and fruit. Here a pair plays with a Three-banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus), one of two species of South American Armadillos capable of rolling up into a perfect sphere. The title, “Gostoso,” is a Brazilian soccer cheer, roughly the Portuguese equivalent of “tasty.” Incidental subjects include Pampas Grass (Cortaderia argentea), Spiny Tree Lizard (Tropidurus spinulosus), Yellow-headed Caracara (Milvago chimachima), spinetail (family Furnariidae) and Black Howler Monkey (Allouatta caraya).

GREAT PIED HORNBILL (2001)
acrylic 36” x 26” Probably the best known member of its group, the Great Pied Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) ranges from India through Sumatra and has been a rather common aviary bird for many years, having been bred in captivity since 1953. Like most hornbills, these are essentially forest birds, exploiting a number of different forest types up to an elevation of about 2000 meters. Usually occurring in pairs or small family parties, these birds sometimes congregate in groups of over one hundred to feed in large fruiting trees. Fruits, mostly figs, make up the bulk of their diet. During the breeding season the male bolsters the growing nestling's protein supply by delivering extra animal matter to the nest hole, where the female remains sealed until the chick is about half grown.

GREAT TINAMOU (1994)
acrylic 27” x 22” Tinamous comprise an order of chicken-like birds found strictly in the Americas. Fowl of surprising density, considering the fact that they can fly reasonably well, they are probably more closely related to the ostrich-like rheas than to any other living group. The Great Tinamou (Tinamou major) is a shy bird that lays its beautiful turquoise eggs between the buttresses of a large rainforest tree like this Hymenolobium. The haunting, mellifluous whistle of this bird is a common evening sound in most neotropical lowland rainforests of any size, and I tried to convey in this painting some of the mournful, mysterious mood it evokes in me. On the ground a Central American Jungle Runner (Ameiva festiva) basks while a yellow Eyelash Palm Pitviper (Bothriechis schlegelii) lurks in the foliage above. The huge liana draped about the tree trunks is the spectacular Monkey Ladder (Bauhinia guianensis).

LESSER FLAMINGOS (2005)
oil 72” x 108” Of the six species of flamingo, the Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) is the most abundant, with some four million individuals ranging across sub-Saharan Africa, and smaller populations on the Arabian Peninsula, India and Pakistan. At just over a yard in height, it is also the smallest species. Haunting shallow, alkaline lakes, it feeds by forcing water through lammellae inside its bill with powerful tongue movements, filtering out algae and tiny invertebrates. Throughout its range, the Lesser shares this habitat with its much larger cousin, the Greater Flamingo (P. roseus). There is little competition for food between the two, though. The lesser feeds nearer to the surface, and its bill filters out smaller organisms. This life-sized painting mounts flat against the ceiling.

SPOTTED EAGLE OWL (1998)
acrylic on illustration board 30” x 20”
collection of the artistThrough most of sub-Saharan Africa the Spotted Eagle Owl (Bubo africanus) is the common large horned owl, occurring in most habitats except extreme desert and thick tropical rainforest. Very similar to the Great Horned Owl (B. virginianus), it is slightly smaller than its American cousin, and less likely to take large prey, usually preferring a diet of rodents, lizards and insects. In the background a small party of Spotted Hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) scouts the savanna.

PASSENGERS OF FORTUNE--CARMINE BEE-EATERS (2005)
acrylic 46” x 20” Related to the kingfishers and rollers, the Old World bee-eaters are mostly birds of open spaces, where they make their livings capturing bees, wasps and other insects on the wing. Although none of these birds are drab, the Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus) is particularly striking, with its large size and brilliant scarlet chest. Two disjunct populations inhabit the savannas of Africa: a pink-throated race south of the equator and a blue-throated race to the north. Carmines differ from other bee-eaters in that they feed far more heavily on grasshoppers like the Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria). The northern race is also known to capture small fish in the manner of a tern, and often follows large animals like Ostriches (Struthio camelus), exploiting their ability to flush insects from the brush. Scuttling through the ostrich's feathers, a parasitic louse fly (family Hippoboscidae) is just visible.

PRAIRIE SENTINEL--PRAIRIE RATTLESNAKE & AMERICAN BISON (2002)
acrylic 25” x 52” The rattlesnakes comprise a subfamily of two genera and around thirty species of New World pitvipers which are unique among snakes in having tails which end in a specialized horny segmented scale that produces a characteristic buzz when shaken. The center of rattlesnake diversity lies in the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico, but recent DNA research suggests that the first rattlesnakes appeared in the southeastern U.S., casting doubt on an old theory of rattlesnake evolution that presumed a Great Plains genesis, where these reptiles found an advantage in being able to warn away large ungulates, chief among them the American bison (Bison bison). Today, the rattlesnakes are represented in the American Midwest by the Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis). Incidental creatures in the painting include horseflies (Tabanus sp.) metallic bee (Augochlora sp.), banded grasshopper (Trimerotropis sp.), skipper (Epargyreus sp.), Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor), Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris), and a groundsquirrel (Spermophilus sp.).

SPRAWL--OUSTALET'S CHAMELEON (2007)
acrylic 23' x 29"
Isolated since the Cretaceous, the island of Madagascar is famous for its unique flora and fauna, much of which has diminished or been extirpated as humans altered the landscape. One of the few beneficiaries of this change is the Oustalet's Chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti), a species that thrives in deforested zones. It can exceed 680mm in length, longer than any other member of its family. Long and lean, it's an active species whose tongue can snatch small reptiles, mammals and birds along with large insects. In the trees it moves in typical chameleon fashion, but on the ground it can run quite quickly, in a fashion I've seen in no other chameleon. Incidental species include Humans (Homo sapiens), Madagascan Brown Bat (Neoromicia matroka), Black Kite (Milvus migrans), Chicken (Gallus gallus), Red Fody (Foudia madagascariensis) and Lined Day Gecko (Phelsuma lineatus).

STRANGE FRUIT--IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER (2002)
acrylic 37" x 27"
At around twenty inches in length, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) was North America's largest woodpecker. Never a common bird, it once haunted virgin cypress swamps and bottomland forests throughout the southeastern U.S. By the end of the nineteenth century its imminent extinction was feared, and the last confirmed sighting was in the late 1950's. Sporadic events since that time point to the possibility that some of these birds may still endure: a handful of questionable photographs, numerous unconfirmed sightings, and a 2002 recording originally identified as a drumming male, but later shown to be a distant shotgun. In the spring of 2004, a brief video taken in Arkansas's White River Refuge was widely accepted at first as an Ivorybill, but later dismissed by many authorities as a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). Incidental creatures in the painting include a Zebra Butterfly (Heliconius charitonius), a Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) and Palm Warblers (Dendroica palmarum).

VERREAUX'S SIFAKA (1996)
acrylic 21" x 27"
The 30-odd species of primate living on Madagascar are usually referred to collectively as “lemurs,” though they are not all closely related. The elegant Verreaux's Sifaka [pronounced sh'fock] (Propithicaus verreauxi) is one of the most beautiful of the lot. Found mostly in dry forests in the west and southern part of the island, it is strictly herbivorous, eating leaves and, when they are available, fruits. Like its relatives, the indri and the avahis, the diurnal sifakas are most comfortable when clinging to a vertical tree trunk. From this position they can leap powerfully from tree to tree. When moving about on the ground, they do so bouncing bipedally like a drunken kangaroo. Sifakas' ability to leap about the trunks of plants of the family Didiereaceae, which are covered with large strong spines, without injury is a feat that continues to perplex observers. The landscape in the painting is purely invented but is meant to simulate the southwestern edge of Madagascar's central plateau. The incidental creatures are: Oustalet's Chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti), Madagascan Day Gecko (Phelsuma madagascariensis), Madagascan Kestrel (Falco newtoni), Namaqua Dove (Oena capensis), and Ring-tailed Lemurs (Lemur catta).

These last five paintings are reconstructions of Mesozoic fauna of western North America.

APATOSAURUS (1997)
acrylic 18” x 15” It's a shame to lose the best-known of all dinosaur names, but thanks to a century-old mix-up involving two specimens, one with the wrong head, being described as representing different genera, Brontosaurus was recently abandoned in favor of the precedent Apatosaurus. It was once speculated that the long necks of these sauropods allowed them to browse high in the treetops or even to breath while deep underwater, but closer study found that the neck musculature could not elevate the structure vertically. More likely, it merely allowed them to reach a considerable amount of plant food without having to move their massive bodies, as the painting illustrates. Apatosaurus lived about 150 million years ago, during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages of the Jurassic period. Its fossils have been found in sites in Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

BRACHIOSAURUS (1997)
acrylic 18” x 15”Unlike its contemporary Apatosaurus, the massive Brachiosaurus could hold its head high, and probably specialized in browsing the leaves of tall trees that were unavailable to most other land herbivores—so much so, that it was probably restricted to well-forested areas. Its front legs were much longer than the hind legs, giving it a steeply-sloping, giraffe-like back. With high nostrils and large, blade-like teeth, its head was distinctive. Very few good fossils from this genus have turned up, all of them in western Colorado. Brachiosaurus lived during the Tithonian age of the Jurassic period—about 145 million years ago.

DRYOSAURUS (1998)
acrylic 18” x 15” One of the best known dinosaurs from the Morrison Formation of western North America is the rather small, 12-foot-long Dryosaurus. There is some controversy over whether to place Dryosaurus in the hypsilophodontid family or into a family within the iguanodontia. One of the most interesting aspects of this creature is the frequency with which fossils of very young individuals have been found. This is one of the few dinosaurs for which we have a very good idea of the appearance of hatchlings. A site in Colorado yielded some 2,500 bone fragments, nearly all of which belonged to young Dryosaurus, along with eggshells. It seems reasonable to presume this was a nest. Dryosaurus lived during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages of the Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago.

PARASAUROLOPHUS (1998)
acrylic 18” x 15” Towards the end of the Cretaceous period, there seems to have been a marked decrease in biodiversity, with a very few groups enjoying great success. Most successful of all of these were the hadrosaurs, or duck-billed dinosaurs. With its gracefully curved crest, Parasaurolophus was apparently very common through much of western North America during the Campanian age of the Cretaceous, from 76 to 73 million years ago. The function of the conspicuous crest has been the subject of much speculation. Probably it served as a social signal and possibly a resonating chamber for vocalizations as well. In the background, a pair of the primitive bird Avisaurus roost together.

ALAMOSAURUS (1998)
acrylic 18” x 15” The sauropod dinosaurs reached their peak of diversity during the Jurassic Period, but members of the group survived to the very end. One of the very last dinosaurs was Alamosaurus, which roamed what is now the southwestern U.S. during the Maastrichtian age of the Cretaceous period, up to 65 million years ago. Here an Alamosaurus herd moves along the edge of a large late Cretaceous lake.