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QUILLS & QUEUES Hanson Howard Gallery in Ashland features bird art Paintings, photographs on display through May 31 Comment By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous DailyTidings.com By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous Posted Apr. 22, 2016 at 6:19 PM By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous Posted Apr. 22, 2016 at 6:19 PM » Social News The new exhibit at Hanson Howard Gallery titled "For the Birds" might just as easily have been called "Feathers." In paintings and photographs, the three local artists featured in the show — Claire Duncan, Jhenna Quinn Lewis and Barbara Orsow — portray birds in such exquisite detail that not only individual feathers show, but often the individual filaments of the feathers. Each brings something more than mere realism to her work. With her paintings of crows and egrets, Claire Duncan focuses on birds that at first glance seem black and white. But she shows there is a whole world of color in the shadows and highlights on her subjects. In "Light Reflections," an egret glows against a dark, watery backdrop. White is not just white. The highlights are as bright as snow in the sun; the shadowy underside of the bird has touches of blue, brown and gray. Two ruffled feathers on the egret's back are silhouetted against the black background, filaments depicted like soft strands of hair. In "Dark Observations," a crow sparkles with white highlights and a sheen of blue to capture the iridescent sheen of its feathers. Only the darkest shadows are a true midnight black. In other paintings, Duncan ventures into the surreal with black crows wearing elaborate white face masks of egret feathers. The paintings hint at mysterious, untold stories. While Duncan's paintings range from medium to large-scale, Lewis presents intimate paintings of small, realistically rendered birds set against flat, Asian-inspired images that recall Japanese paintings, screens or wallpaper patterns. "English Robin & Peony" combines an Asian-style peony backdrop with a fluffy robin in the foreground. Hailing from Europe, the robin has an orange face and chest, unlike an American robin with an orange belly. Her mix of the flatly painted peony with the fully three-dimensional, Old Masters-style robin lends the painting a modern air. Lewis mixes imagery again with "Otsuki Plain & Mt. Fuji," which combines a sketchy, flat painting of foothills and Japan's famous peak with an American goldfinch perched on dogwood blossoms tinged with coral at the tips of the petals. Rounding out the show, Orsow is exhibiting handsomely framed photographs of birds. She and Lewis are artistic collaborators, with Orsow providing many of the bird photographs Lewis uses to create her original paintings. Orsow's photograph "Calm" focuses in on a green iridescent hummingbird, revealing every tiny feather on the miniature bird. Her photographs capture birds in their own natural worlds, sipping at nectar, perching on leaves or swaying atop blooms. For the photo "Discernment," the sharp-eyed Orsow spotted a camouflaged owl, its mottled taupe, gray and brown feathers perfectly matching roughly textured tree bark. With tufts of feathers poking up like cat ears, this enigmatic fellow looks down from his lofty home with an inscrutable gaze. "For the Birds" runs through May 31 at Hanson Howard Gallery, 89 Oak St., Ashland. An artists' reception coincides with Ashland's First Friday Art Walk from 5 to 8 p.m. on May 6. Regular hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 541-488-2562 or visit www.hansonhowardgallery.com . Staff reporter Vickie Aldous can be reached at 541-776-4486 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous . By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous DailyTidings.com By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous Posted Apr. 22, 2016 at 6:19 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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