Mick Jagger once asked her if she was the famous "bowerbird" person, and she is – PBS’ Frontline World once followed her all the way to Bali to watch her paint them. For Mary Jo McConnell, her love of these animals started as a young child.

 

As McConnell puts it, “The sheer beauty of color and form in nature are my inspiration…I love the simplicity and realness of a feather, its overwhelming color. I love the rationality of its construction and the freedom and moving grace of its vital form."

 

McConnell has long funneled her artistic energy into collecting, breeding and painting birds – she even sleeps in a room of living 

birds, a butterfly collection, flowers, a fountain and koi pond.

 

McConnell works with a variety of mediums, but her signature works are paintings of large feathers from various birds, as well as some of the beautiful fish paintings we are fortunate to be able to showcase at the Gallery. Mary Jo is a fascinating person, full of life and colorful experiences that are truly reflected in her art.