The Mysterious Dr. Byrd

This monochromatic print is available on ebay

"What is he up to this time? The mysterious Dr. Byrd creates quite a questionable stir, staying up late in his laboratory working on secretive experiments. Is that a chart of a human or bird on the wall? Is he making humans into birds or birds into humans?"

The original painting for this print was inspired by many things: my love of vultures, my love for Sci Fi, and my love for the macabre.

I'll address each one of these muses separately...

Vultures have always fascinated me. When I was younger and a group of us were driving to Mexico for Spring Break, we came across a group of vultures picking away at a carcass in the middle of the highway. They were so bold they would not move for us. The driver had to slam on the breaks to stop from hitting them. I wanted to take a picture of them but they wouldn't stop long enough for me to get my camera out. The driver screamed at me, "No way am I stopping! Vultures are nasty!"

Vultures have been called "nature's environmentalists." Imagine how messy this world would be without vultures. The ancient Egyptians believed that the vulture brought your soul to heaven. They probably drew this conclusion by seeing a group of vultures picking away at a carcass and then flying up into the sky.

A black vulture is featured in this painting, much like the ones an Egyptian would find in the desert. I've dressed him up in doctors' clothes to reference Dr. Frankenstein, one of my all time favorite books. Mary Shelley was way ahead of her time, like many science fiction writers and I've mentioned her famous book before. (See my writing on Edvard Munch.) Dr. Byrd also represents Dr. Moreau. I love H.G. Wells and "The Island of Dr. Moreau" is my favorite of all his works.

Monsters make great horror stories. They are symbolic for the unknown and the mutant. Many monsters in stories are the cause of humans' wrong-doings which gives the monster a relationship to our own societies. I believe those are my favorite monsters although I do love the legends of Bigfoot and the Thunderbird. I would like to think there are still species this large that we have not discovered.