Hummingbirds, Women, and the Art of Flow

Hummingbirds, Women, and the Art of Flow

On the surface, the Hummingbird (she’s me Bird?*) series might just look like a pairing of a beautiful woman and a pretty bird—an aesthetically pleasing combo we've all seen before. But there's something more stirring beneath it.

The hummingbird has always fascinated me. Constantly in motion, tirelessly busy—yet never judged for it. In fact, it's admired. In a way, this series is a quiet celebration of beauty and effort, and going at our own pace whatever that may look like. Of grace in motion. Of not needing to justify either.

When it comes to choosing composition and subject, sure—many have painted women, many have painted humming birds, many have painted them together I the same painting. But over time, I've come to believe that originality lies not in the thing itself, but in how it's filtered through the artist. Through me. You won’t find others exactly like these. Maybe echoes—part of a shared, collective consciousness aesthetic memory—but not these exactly.

oil pastel sketch featuring beautiful woman with humming bird

This series holds a special place in my heart. While some paintings eventually get painted over or reworked, these are here to stay. At least until one of you connects with one deeply enough to take it home. That’s something I’ve had to get used to as an artist—if this is going to be my living, then the money might vanish into bills, but the art lives on with you. And maybe, in some small way, with me too.

Many of these pieces were created in a kind of flow state. Music on. The right tempo—that matters more than you’d think. I have to set the scene just right to get the energy I want on the page. The right music for the painting.

I love the smudging and blending, the way rough textures of the paper peek through in areas where the pressure is light. I enjoy mixing media—these pieces use oil pastels, which are fun and unpredictable. I’m less comfortable with them than I am with paint, but maybe that’s why they feel so alive. For me, it's extended play.

There’s also a little visual nod to vintage Hawaiian surfer ads and pin-up styles—playful, sun-soaked, a bit nostalgic. All the inspiration gets thrown into a melting pot, stirred around until it becomes something new.

That’s the joy of it. The process, the feeling, the transformation.

find the painting in the store here

*Red Dwarf reference