Memorial Day Tribute

Today is Memorial Day. I had the opportunity to visit the Audubon Birds of Prey Center in Maitland, FL and met "Francis," their "ambassador" eagle. Francis has been with the Birds of Prey Center for over 25 years. He fell out of his nest (when he was a baby) and was found injured and taken to the Center. He became the Center's ambassador and travels to various local events to allow the public to get up-front-and-personal with an eagle. I was so amazed at Francis, I wanted to paint him. I'm really not a bird artist, but a friend of mine had a rooster friend ("Rudy") that roosted on their window and she wanted me to paint him. I had never painted a bird before, but I figured I'd give it a try! So, I painted Rudy and my friend was happy with the results. So, I decided to try my hand at painting Francis. Francis really was fun to paint and definitely a challenge to paint the feathers, etc. My cousin Joe saw my painting of Francis and wanted to send it to his uncle Don (a WWII veteran) for his 90th birthday. Apparently, uncle Don was thrilled with the gift! My cousin sent me a photo of uncle Don proudly displaying "Francis" the eagle. (attached) I felt completely overwhelmed looking at the photo. He died not too long after the picture was taken. I felt so special to have been a part of his 90th b-day celebration!