'Living Lessons'

When planning out this piece, I wanted there to be a bit of depth behind the behavior captured in a snapshot in time. It’s a common goal with every painting, but I found it’s a little extra fun when working with Woodcock chicks scurrying beneath a mother’s guidance.

The scene includes a series of personalities, from a mother’s calm and instinctual provisions, the passive contentment of the far right chick, to the frustrations of healthy sibling rivalry.

The focus on this piece is meant to be on the moment the mother Woodcock is offering a worm from her morning of searching (notice the subtle probes in the earth), to one of her chicks. I can’t help but ponder on the depth of this experience from the young Woodcock chicks’ perspective. Observing the cause and effect of their mother’s behavior, with a reward for whoever is engaged.

It’s pretty fascinating to see a display of such a pure form of development of instinctual behavior in the wild - Living Lessons