Featured Lear's Royal Aracari - 1834

I'm a collector of all things Edward Lear, especially his bird prints. I love participating in forum discussions about antique natural history prints, as some of you know.
Meanwhile, may I show off my true love? Lear's Royal Aracari (Pteroglossus regalis) from The Monograph of the Ramphastidae, 1833-5. This bird was one of the ten which Lear contributed to the volume.
In an online library, I uncovered a picture of some of the original notes (in Lear's hand) on a study... see pictures 3 and 4.
I bought this beauty about 10 years ago from the Oppenheimer people, thanks to a tax return and a few Margaritas.

 

I love this! And your display is very nice, too.

Last year I bought a very old engraving of a toucan, a completely different one, and smaller than this. I think I posted it to the Finds thread. I love it, too... but it's nothing as magnificent as this. If you are interested, I could post a picture.

 

"...thanks to a tax return and a few Margaritas."

Both of those could be useful in deciding to shell out the amount of $$$ it would take to buy something like this.

 

Tequila and cash... dangerous... but I've never regretted it.
Yes, please, I never met a bird print I didn't like! May I see?

 

Amiga,

since you like the Birds

Here is a pic of a Black Billed Magpie I took in our garden.

 

Beautiful magpie!

Gila, I will have to do that later... I'm not at home right now.

 

Funsie... I love that bird. I love magpies in general. So mischievous, just all around FUN (not necessarily desperate!). Thank you.

Figsie... I'll look forward to it.

I really hate that my name is one of those you can't put an "sie" on... Gila-sie... doesn't work.

 

That bird's expression reminded me of this cartoon:

 

Absolutely!!!!!!!! Thank you, MoreOtherStuffsie!

 

Phew. If I had a few too many scotches and bought something like that, I'd be living out with the goats! LOL. Beautiful.

 

Thank you! It was the tax refund, plus tequila, plus those amazing catalogs Oppenheimner's puts out. It's like bird-print-porn... I ogled that bird like a center-fold and out came the tequila and then out came the credit card.

 

Here are some of my bird paintings (colored pencil is called a painting) I work from my own photos

African Heron - beautiful, 4 foot tall bird. Wild Animal Park, San Diego.
Dutch Duck - Photo taken in Sluis, the Netherlands
Duck Tail - her mate wouldn't turn around.

 

OHHHHHHHHHHH BEVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV................

You're taking my breath away. Gurrrrrl, that's some FINE bird-porn... look at the feathers. Have you ever caressed an affectionate bird? It's amazing. My parrot loves to cuddle. Did you ever do a parrot? Next to parrots, I love water-birds. Then pigeons. Tame ducks don't mind being picked up and I have petted a duck whose feathers felt just like your third bird's look. OMG, I'm a bird-perv.

*yelling to the kitchen* "Hey, ol' man, bring my a tequila shot!"

 

Wait a minute... you took the PHOTOS, toooooo???????
Whoa.

 

An artist has to work from their own photos or be sued for copyright infringement.

 

I really like drawing birds. I need to do more.

 

Well, I have shown you the true flower of my bird-pervery.
I would love to see any and all your photos or anything else.
If you started a thread I would be scrolling it all day and all night...
I love birds so much. They were my first friends and pets... little ornamental fowl and bantam foul, which my extended family raised. It just all kept going from there.
I love your birdzszszszszsz!!!!!!!

 

Send me a fowl picture and I may try to paint it. If I have time. I ask myself - at my age, why do I have less time than when I was younger?

 

Oh, Bev, I would love to, but... I am no photographer and I dare not send you somebody else's off the net... I have some of my parrot, of course, that MIGHT be good enough quality... your paintings are better than my photos, I'm afraid.

 

I've done my daughter's friend's cat, my niece's parrot, my best friend's love bird. Not that I intended to do a bunch of animals, but people keep asking.
I don't do people real good.