Lotus Nest 40″ x 60″ acrylic on canvas, © liza myers 2015

I’ve been to California many times, wandering on pebble and sand beaches with seals and seagulls; reveling in deliciously lush and diverse gardens; marveling at mountain and ocean vistas. I’ve watched the fog roll in and then roll out.

The wild places in California are truly a magical.

I was pleased and honored to receive an opportunity to delve into California imagery. I have been invited to participate in an exhibition entitled ‘Flock, Birds on the Brink ‘ at the Ganna Walska Museum at Lotusland in Santa Barbara, California.  The other artists are phenomenal. It should be quite a show.

Birds have always been important to me. They are mysterious connectors, spinning the world together with their migratory trajectories. They’re joyful and beautiful. Who can resist the exuberance of the song of the hermit thrush, or the wondrous complexity of a flicker’s gaudy plumage? I am enthralled by birds. Their nests are exquisitely intricate. When I see or hear one I am reassured that nature is alive and thriving. But that’s not actually the case, as we know. Birds are terribly threatened by human activity and ignorance. They are, quite literally, the canary in the coalmine. As their populations dwindle, the survival of the planet is more and more threatened.

Thanks to Birds and Blooms magazine for this great photo of a Northern Flicker. The photos I have of the flicker on my birdbath are all too blurry.

The mission of the show is described in this sentence: The exhibit is inspired by an environmental imperative- the global loss of wild bird populations as an indicator of our planet’s health. There will be installations, films, sculpture, photography and painting.

I can’t wait to see