Black-capped chickadees, northern cardinals, American goldfinches, tiny ruby-throated hummingbirds and eastern bluebirds are some of the colorful subjects painted by Weathersfield wildlife artist Bradley Jackson.

Jackson first mutes the background to his paintings with an air brush, then he said "I place the birds in a nice position as a portrait and add in the sharp detail," so the background doesn't detract from the feathered subjects.

A pair of bright yellow goldfinches pose on top of purple thistles, hummingbirds hover inside red hollyhock flowers and cardinals feed amoung red winter berries in contrast against a new snowfall. And the detail is in the fine brushwork.

But Jackson became an established and natinoally-known wildlife artist via a roundabout route, first as an illustrator and then a painter of New England coastlines.

Born in Caribou, Maine, Jackson said his parents lived along the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, where there was plenty of wildlife to observe. He remembers that when he was six or seven he "wanted to do his own drawings."

The family moved to Hartford, Conn., when Jackson said he found an art store where he purchased supplies, lots of supplies, brushes, paints, etc., and he started painting anything, landscapes, trees, etc. His mother recognized his natural talent and interest and enrolled him at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford where he took drawing classes on Saturdays. Later, in high school, a teacher encouraged him with his art work in his senior year.

His first commission was a 30" x 60" painting of the coast of Maine and was painted in oils on canvas for which he was offered $100.

Prior to a career as an illustrator at the former American Sign Company, Jackson enrolled in an art school in Weathersfield, VT, and took a watercolor class which led to a teaching position at night instructing students in watercolor, oil, acryliv and pencil.

The study of values is very important to Jackson. "When working with pencils you have to be able to correctly identify the number you need to draw the distinction in the shades. Watercolor has values too but you start with pencil," Jackson said.

Another foray into a different aspect of art took Jackson to work with blueprints and submit an artist's rendering of the concept of a finished building for the Hartford Zoning Board. As an artist, he said he had been trained to observe when it came to illustrating.

Then in 1984 the decision came to paint or work. "I painted what I liked," Jackson said and people bought them.

Jackson displayed his work at art shows visiting Maine and New Hampshire and exhibiting his New England seascapes.

At that time Jackson said he was painting in watercolors. "But you lose watercolors in the sun," Jackson said. "You lose their values and they fade. You have to get paintings away from the sun as the brightness will fade it." Although oils will not fade, Jackson said they just get dirty and his preference now is for acrylics.

Jackson's paintings are framed and matted in his home studio. "We buy the frames," Jackson said. "The glass is cut to size and we make all our own prints."

The large lighted living room is Jackson's studio where he paints his bird portraits and watches his subjects out of the windows. A camera is ready to capture the birds as they flit in and out of the feeders and the hummingbird feeder hangs ready waiting for the birds to appear.

Jackson's paintings have a national demand and for several years he has worked with a Toronto company that prints large wildlife calendars. Jackson supplies them with 12 images of bird portraits through the seasons and they are now preparing a 2011 calendar.

The National Audubon Society also selected a painting of a pair of northern cardinals for one of their Christmas cards and Jackson works every day on original paintings for display and sale at summer art shows up and down the East Coast.

In addition to the favorite colorful songbirds amoung summer flowers or snowy conifers, Jackson paints waterfowl and the tiny, sometimes heard but seldom seen, saw whet owl.

To view more of Jackson's paintings go to www.bradleyjackson.com.

By Julia Lloyd Wright

Contributing Writer