On my last day in Africa in 2006, my thoughts revolved around the magnificent colors of Botswana.  This became an artistic concept for the photo documentary I intended to produce when I returned to my studio.

When we go to Africa (July), it is winter;  the bush is mostly a muted brown, interspersed with some green trees. On this trip, this had the effect of highlighting the colorful array found in ‘the birds and the beasts.’

With this two volume collection, divided into the Birds and the Beasts, the focus is the palette of colors found in each composition.  The idea was to ‘capture’ the individual colors of the print by chromatically ‘measuring’ them, and turn them into ‘paint chips!’   The chips frame each finished image of bird and beast.

This work proved very difficult to produce and had to be painstakingly hand-assembled.  It took three years to complete the 17 sets. (The Colophon states that the edition is limited to 20, but only 17 will ever be produced.)