Dawn At Wayqecha

2019
12 x 15.75in 
acrylic on masonite

This is a painting based on a trip to Peru in 2018, where we stayed at various biological stations from the Andes to the Amazon, encountering some of the most biodiverse, remote regions on the planet. The view here is the breathtaking drop of the Kosnipata Valley, home of the Wayqecha Biological Station.  The climate here is cool, moist cloud forest, dropping down close to freezing at night. Tree branches are dripping with moss, orchids, and other epiphytes, all gleaning sustenance from the abundant water vapor and organic matter that settles and decays among the many tangles of plant roots, fastened to the trees. This is the domain of brightly colored mixed species flocks of birds, each one prettier than the next, all searching for food in a unique way so as not to compete, the whole group benefitting from many eyes watching for danger. These flocks typically contain only a few pairs of each species, again, to avoid competition for food and or nesting territories. To encounter such a frantic, colorful procession tumbling through the trees, flitting momentarily to catch an insect or pluck a berry, before scrambling to keep up with the rest of the group, is an image one never forgets. I have chosen to depict one of the most colorful members of a mixed species flock at this altitude, the Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager. When I saw this individual, it was exalting the dawn’s arrival by singing from a branch, the wisps of it’s breath visible in the cool, moist mountain air. I wanted to place it on a branch overlooking the magnificent valley, sweeping down below. Eventually, the cool waters of the Kosnipata River will wind their way down the mountains, to join the mighty Madre de Dios as it flows towards the Amazon.