The Aviary Art Show : 7 : Cardinal Couple

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*This post is the seventh in The Aviary Art Show series of paintings and posts, from the

Aviary Art Gallery" of wild bird paintings at Artinua.Org .*

Titled "Cardinal Couple", this oil painting is of two cardinals huddled together and set against a snowy winter background.

Colorful cardinals, also known as red birds, are a common songbird in north america. Present year-round in the southern states, their songs are among the first of the morning regardless of the season. When I was growing up, a pair of cardinals nested outside my window without fail each Spring. I would awaken to their songs, check the progress of the eggs in their nest and watch them raise their young.



A dog that I had raised quickly assumed responsibility for guarding the young from cats and other dogs, even going so far as to gently pick up the fledglings in his mouth and return them to the area near the nest when they wandered. He had not been trained for this. It came naturally to him. Respectful of the parents' needs to feed the young birds, he would retreat to a safe distance to allow them to feed the young ones, returning only when it was necessary. This was his sole occupation while the young were most vulnerable each year. Of course, his behavior surprised us all at first, but each year was the same and it became a part of our lives and his. It made me wonder. If a dog can respect the life of an unrelated species, recognize it's weakness, nurture and protect it, how is it that humans have so much difficulty doing the same even for their own?

While painting this I found myself contemplating those cardinals, who mate for life, but also the nature of compassion, fidelity and love in the humans in my own life. In this regard at least, this is as much a fantasy painting as anything else, but sometimes a little fantasy is all that we need to get us through the difficult seasons of our lives. In this, as in all of my paintings, I portray the inner natures of the people I know as wildlife and flowers etc. I also endeavor to relate the qualities that we generally consider human that these creatures so often display. These are, after all, the qualities that so often endear us to our pets as well as to wild animals, like these faithful, parental little birds.

The original painting is presented in a diagonal canvas with painted edges.


Title : Cardinal Couple


Media : Oil on canvas,


Artist : Victoria John (Ritterbush)


Description: Cardinal mates huddle against a winter scene.

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