Episode 111: Kelly C. Ballantyne – A birding life

Kelly is a Chicago-based bird artist and photographer. Using a variety of digital and analogue techniques, Kelly is creating a series of 100 bird paintings as a way of documenting the wide variety of birds in her local forest preserve.

Listen to hear more about:

• The people who encouraged Kelly’s love of birds in early life.
• The vacation that turned Kelly into a birder.
• Art and its importance in Kelly’s life.
• Kelly’s project ‘100 Birds of LaBagh Woods’.
• Birding and nature journaling in all seasons and all weather.
• How painting birds helps Kelly become connected with different species. 
• The Chicago Nature Journaling Club.
• Using a wide range of art media.
• The trap of perfectionism.
• Art challenges and how they help Kelly maintain a regular art practice.

To find out more about Kelly and her work visit https://www.kellycballantyne.com. You can also find Kelly on Instagram @kcballantyne.

Kelly mentioned an inspiring nature journaling course by Liz Clayton Fuller. You can find it here: Nature Journaling and Field Sketching.

John Muir Law’s book was also a source of inspiration for Kelly. You can find it here: The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling.

Kelly mentioned https://ebird.org as an important source of information when researching birds. 

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