Artist Statement

This piece shows a male ruddy duck swimming in a body of water. Animals are a huge part of my life and have been since my childhood. When I was a toddler, I would sit by a lake in Canada with my family and we would try to befriend the ducks, so some of my earliest memories are of being crawled all over by fuzzy baby ducks. As I got older, I stopped going to Canada and started working with animals at the Cincinnati Zoo. We have a large pond at the center of the zoo, and when I would come in early, or stay late, there would always be one male ruddy duck peacefully floating on the pond.  

On a larger scale, ducks can only exist in clean waters and therefore make great indicator species. This piece is meant to be a commentary on the importance of clean waterways and the beauty of nature. I used pure gouache for the water to make it look dynamic, smooth, and pure. I wanted to draw attention to the beauty of the ruddy duck and show people how important it is to keep our waterways clean so these beautiful animals can survive. I did this by using short, lively strokes for the duck's feathers and using bright colors to emphasize their beauty.