Seeing the Sounds of Birdsong

Byron Bird Orchestration. Original oil painting on canvas, 24" x 30", © 2011 Tiffany Davis-Rustam.

Few simple things are more joyful than the sound of birdsong.

This one can be considered a synesthestic painting, where one can “hear” color, or “see” music. In Byron Bay, Australia my husband and I sat and listened to the most amazing sounds in a forest by the beach. We couldn’t see any animals, but every moment was filled with layers of many kinds of birds, insects, and a mysterious low-pitched humming vibration. As we listened, we sketched the sounds intuitively, letting our pencils echo the unique sounds we heard as they happened. Then I elaborated it into a detailed drawing to capture the atmosphere, and years after those travels this painting emerged.

Original and prints available on Etsy and Fine Art America.