The Quetzal and the Cracking Eggshell

I’d done a plein air painting in Costa Rica of a landscape. When back at the studio, I turned it upside down because it looked boring. Then, the shapes were turned into birds and vines through my process and stream of consciousness way of painting and I let my imagination take over. I did a large version and a visitor to the studio mentioned that I’d painted a Quetzal bird which I’d never intended to paint. Curiously, the bird “emerged” from the shapes and the paint and just happened to turn into that and happens to also be from Central America. Interestingly, in ancient civilizations they are Gods of the air, representing freedom, light and wealth. I felt this came out of the visionary process done through the act of painting.