Art and birds

Here is the first post of what shall hopefully be a good sketch and art journal.

For an introduction - my name is Brenda Lyons, and I am an illustrator currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia. For the record, I am a northerner through and through. However I'm in Atlanta, at the Savannah College of Art and Design, in my second-to-last quarter of graduate school. Come May, I will graduate with my Master of Fine Arts in Illustration. Right now, it's January and my heart yearns for snow! It's been in the 40s and I have my window open.

Every artist has their 'thing,' or more specifically, their subject. Mine is birds. Birds of prey, particularly, and even more specifically, falcons. The twist on my subject is fantasy - fantasy birds of prey. My dream would be to be able to combine the two - birds and art. I would love to be able to become involved in raptor rehabilitation along with my art. For about five years I volunteered at the Lutz Children's Museum in Manchester, CT as an animal caretaker. Since the museum took in both wild and domestic animals for rehabilitation and education programs, I encountered a number of hawks, owls, and a kestrel at one time. One who stands in my mind the most was a broad-winged hawk, who was a permanent resident of the museum due to an amputated wing. Her name was Casey, and she had a wonderful personality.

For art, I would love to become involved in the very wide world of fantasy illustration. Currently, I send my work to conventions and attend when I can. Conventions I've shown in include Dragon*Con (Atlanta, GA), MileHiCon (Denver, CO), and CONduit (Salt Lake City, UT), among others. Teaching college art is a career I plan on pursuing. I love being able to share knowledge with others and helping them develop and grow artistically.

Travel is more than just fun for me; it's also an artistic and emotional necessity. I've had quite a case of wanderlust ever since I made the cross-country voyage to Montana in 2003 with my brother. He was wonderful enough to rent a minivan so I could transport my belongings to college, and we made the trip from Connecticut to Montana, with the destination being Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT. Originally I majored in Equestrian Studies, but after a year in the program, I realized art was where my heart really was. Though I ended up getting my B.A. in Studio Art, I still value that year I spent learning about riding and training horses. In addition, I have been to nearly every state, and I spent a semester in Galway, Ireland at the National University of Ireland, Galway. While over there, I also traveled to Germany and Italy.

I will use this journal to post sketches, works in progress, and finished works. However, here are links to my online galleries and website where my work prior to the creation of this blog can be found:

Falcon Moon Studio - The Art of Brenda Lyons
Windfalcon on DeviantART
Windfalcon on Epilogue