Guardian Kestrel

                     
I was side tracked this year due to health issues with my dad. My family and I, made him our priority and I'm happy to say he's made an incredible recovery!

Last year I started a painting of a kestrel in a western landscape and while discussing it with my artist friend Matthew Hillier, he suggested painting it in a cityscape. I had been kicking around the idea of a red-tailed hawk or peregrine in a cityscape but not a kestrel, so I put it aside and started looking for some inspirations around Manhattan. 

While walking near The High Line, a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side, it just so happens there was an active kestrel nest 4 blocks away! I spent many an afternoon scanning roof tops and building faces looking for kestrels and an interesting composition. I was taken by one building in particular, the entrance to The Church of the Guardian Angel. It has a beautifully carved facade that I was instantly drawn to.   

I'm sorry for not shooting the painting in earlier stages. I said to myself that it wasn't good enough and I kept putting it off.