Natalie Dove Art

 Senior Thesis 2021

One failed concept and two complete revamps of the artwork in my thesis is what it took to come to the final pieces I have today. After my first semester of Senior year, I realized the original concept I had in mind was not working for me and I was not being true to both myself as an individual and as an artist. Going into my second semester with my new concept, I found I was fighting with the medium I was using to create my thesis and so my new thesis was redone in a different medium.

My thesis is inspired by my life-long appreciation and love of birds as well as the beauty of nature. My intention with this thesis was to capture the essence of several North American bird species and to feature the unique traits of each species. Each piece features both the male and female bird of the species in it’s natural environment.

The Brown-headed Cowbird was selected for my first thesis piece. These birds get their name from their habit of following herds of cattle to eat the insects that the cows would stir up from the grass. The cowbird is a brood parasite, meaning that rather than the birds building a nest and raising their own young, cowbirds leave that job to other birds. The females will lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species and one female cowbird can lay up to 40 eggs in a season.

For my second piece, I selected the White-breasted Nuthatch, These birds are one of a few species that can hang upside-down and walk head-first down tree trunks thanks to their strong legs and toes. With this special ability, they forage for insects hidden in or under the bark of trees.

I chose Cedar Waxwings for my third piece, and they are unique in that they are one of the few specialized fruit eating birds in North America. In fact, their diet is so fruit-heavy that invasive Brown-headed Cowbird chicks cannot thrive in a Cedar Waxwing nest. They will forage for fruits and berries year-round and eat insects when available, but they can subsist on fruit alone.

With my last piece, I chose the Northern Flicker. The Northern Flicker is a woodpecker, but their behavior is atypical compared to others in the family. In addition to being spotted on trees like a typical woodpecker, Northern Flickers can often be spotted foraging for insects on the ground. Northern Flickers also two subspecies: the Red-shafted Flicker of western North American, and the Yellow-shafted Flicker of eastern North America.

I hope with my thesis you develop a newfound appreciation and interest in the avian world and the feathered friends that fill our air with song.

Senior Thesis Update

Previously, a goal during the creation of my thesis was to explore how to digitally color my thesis to present colorful illustration for my Senior Show, but this was something I unfortunately did not have time to venture into. After graduating, I took the time to delve into this goal and experiment with new techniques. The pieces below are what came out of this exploration.