4: We Three Kinglets A year later in 2016 found me–once again–in entirely differ

4: We Three Kinglets
A year later in 2016 found me–once again–in entirely different circumstances. I’d defended my masters successfully, barely dodged desperation-employment in a warehouse proofreading FDA legal documentation, and most excitingly of all, had achieved my dream job: a stint as the Bartels Science Illustrator at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
I was incredibly lucky to be interviewed for the Bartel’s program. I was even luckier in that my cartoonier birds came up in the conversation, and the supervisor of the program (Hi Diane! <3) asked to see those (I hadn’t included any of that stuff in my submission–remember the Winter Birds?). Luckiest of all, later that day, I got the best e-mail I’ve ever received–an offer to come make bird art for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
I arrived in NY that fall basically frothing at the mouth to get started. I loved Ithaca instantly, with its dark stone gorges and gray skies, its delightfully peculiar people (including the wonderfully chaotic DJ/Actor/vet student/chicken dad roommate I found on Craigslist, and the fiery, passionate bird-lover/horseback-rider/wine scientist he happened to be dating), and of course the Lab and its people itself. I found myself with a bit of free time at first, and it was in that free time the concept for Ballads of Remex was born. Projects at the Lab picked up quickly, and I would work on those all day and then at 4:30 switch to drawing my own projects. I drew all of the original Ballads of Remex pieces that first October sitting at the Bartels Illustrator Desk in the CLO.
For that year’s holiday card, I was full of gratitude for the personal blessings in my life, during a year that was so challenging for so many. I drew the wise men as birds, offering gifts birds might offer, as a silly little thank you to the world around me.
I carry the people I met in Ithaca in my heart to this day. I miss them all terribly. If you are one of those people, I am certain you know it–and if you ever think about me too, I hope you’ll say hi.

#memories #love #birdart
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