Field Guide

"Field Guide" Project In Bay Nature Magazine

The Spring 2023 issue of Bay Nature landed in mailboxes in March and I’m pleased to have my Field Guide series featured in the magazine’s “Nature In The Arts” section.

Published in the print edition as "Bird Watching Reimagined," the write-up is by terrific Bay Area arts writer Matthew Harrison Tedford, who provides a thoughtful overview of Field Guide. I especially like his concluding paragraph:

“[Reiger’s] field guides also prod us to think about how and why we classify and perhaps to look at birds a little differently afterward. Reiger sees turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) every day, but through his classification system he began to see them differently, noticing colors that he describes as deep indigo ink, coffee, and dark chocolate, rather than simply seeing a black bird.”

You can also read the piece online (where it appears with the delightful title, “An Artist Goes Bird-Swatching").

"A Laguna Field Guide"

A Laguna Field Guide is on view at the Laguna de Santa Rosa’s Heron Hall Art Gallery, January 5 – April 28, 2023.

The exhibition features a selection of 20 Field Guide posters with color columns of common or frequently observed Laguna de Santa Rosa bird species. You can read the press release here.

I’m pleased to be exhibiting work at the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, a Sonoma County conservation organization here that works to “restore and enhance the Laguna de Santa Rosa, and to inspire public appreciation and understanding of this magnificent natural area.” Indeed, the Laguna is now recognized as a Wetland of International Importance, in part because it is an important stopover for thousands of migrating birds.

"Field Guide" Project In Audubon Magazine

The Winter 2022 issue of Audubon Magazine just landed in mailboxes and I’m delighted to have my Field Guide series featured in the magazine’s “Field Notes” section.

Published in the print edition as "Paint By Plumages," my work is beautifully paired with recent scientific research by Richard Prum (Yale University) and Gabriela Venable (Duke University) on hummingbird plumage color. That hummingbirds perceive their own color differently (and more richly) than we humans do is no surprise, but Prum and Venable learned that “the family’s super-saturated plumages out-hued all other birds species…increasing the total known plumage colors by more than half.” Yowsa.

You can also read a variation of the piece online, titled "This Artist’s Paint-Swatch Portraits Reveal the Beauty of Bird Plumage." (Both articles are by Marion Renault.)

"Field Guide" In BirdWatching Magazine

The February 2022 issue of BirdWatching just landed on shelves and I’m delighted to see my Field Guide series featured in the magazine’s “On The Wire” section.

Added bonus: the blurb about my project runs just underneath a segment about a new birding podcast, Life List, which is co-hosted by family friend and birding world superstar, George Armistead, along with Bay Area-based Alvaro Jaramillo and West Virginian Mollee Brown. If you’re a bird nerd like me, I think you’ll enjoy the conversations – give it a listen!

“An Artist's Approach To Avian Taxonomy"

The Golden Gate Audubon Society blog ran a short essay of mine this week. “Field Guide: An Artist’s Approach To Avian Taxonomy” provides a little more backstory about my Field Guide project.

In the days’ interstitial spaces, I started turning over an unrealized idea I’d jotted down in a sketchbook years ago – “create bird species paint chips.” There was a germ of something exciting there, but what?

It also includes more detail about the process of creating each Field Guide poster. If you’re interested in learning more, click on through.

Also, if you’re a bird nerd based in the San Francisco Bay Area, I also encourage you to learn more about Golden Gate Audubon and to consider supporting their work.