This painting is part of a series that I call “The Sustainers”
This portrait is of a particular hen that I had a conversation with while camping on Hornby Island. She was very curious, both bold and shy at the same time. She made direct eye contact with me, and lingered, listening to my voice and responding with various facial expressions.

I liked the structure of her head and the patterns of her feathers. Her head reminded me of her dinosaur ancestors, especially when viewed directly from the front. We don’t usually think of chickens as being particularly expressive or as having facial expressions and personalities. I think, because we eat them, we don’t like to consider them that way. But this girl was an individual and I liked her. I would not eat her.

George Bernard Shaw said . . . “Animals are my friends . . . and I don’t eat my friends”.