Black-Capped Chickadee

"In 1988, Iowa Pheasants Forever also started a non-game print of the year competition. I decided to enter this competition in addition to the game bird competition, choosing a black-capped chickadee as my subject. I enjoy the variety of colors and textures found on flowers, weeds and grasses as they dry up each fall and wanted to include some in the design. For this painting I chose one of my favorites, wild sunflowers. Both cultivated and wild sunflower seeds are favored foods of chickadees. Next, I needed a dark background to set off the lighter tones of the chickadee and dried sunflowers. While bowhunting whitetail in Missouri years earlier I had taken some photographs of an old barn near the Iowa/Missouri border. The barn boards were well weathered and the foundation was made of locally collected, hand placed stones. They would provide the dark background needed and at the same time add interest and character. Hoping to discover when the barn was built, I called the owner/far