Urban Bird Project

Ellen Little

Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica CAApril 11- May 18, 2014

Photographs by Anne Hamerskyand Ellen Little

The paintings in this exhibition were inspired by birdsthat crash into windows. Glass disorients birds byreflecting the surrounding trees. Seeing the reflectionas habitat, birds fly into it at full speed without regardfor the danger. It is estimated that between threemillion to one billion birds die each year fromcollisions with windows.

Urban Bird no. 21,2014 watercolor on paper45 x 75 inches

Urban Bird no. 202014 watercolor on paper52 x 73 inches

Urban Bird no. 222014 watercolor on paper52 x 70 inches

Urban Bird no. 92013 watercolor on paper72 x 52 inches

I paint from real birds that I find or that friendsbring me. I store them in a dedicated freezer justoutside my studio. Sometimes I draw or paint smallstudies of a bird to use as reference for a largepainting. More often I paint spontaneously withoutpreplanning.

Urban Bird no. 232014 watercolor on paper75 x 52 inches

Urban Bird no. 182014 watercolor on paper52 x 75 inches

Urban Bird no. 82014 watercolor on paper22 x 30 inches

I would like to thank Kara, Kim andTheklawho’s advice and encouragement gave thisproject it’s wings, and Lucinda Barnes who gaveUrban Bird no. 13 the Juror’s Exhibition Award atthe 2013 Left Coast Annual thus launching theUrban Bird Project.

I also offer heartfelt thanks to all the passersbywho have stopped to look at these paintings andtell me their bird stories. It may have been assimple as how they helped a bird escape fromthe classroom in second grade, or about thehawk that returned year after year to build it’snest in the chimney next door, or about theircollection of nests remarkable for the way smallbranches were intricately woven into a basketcapable of holding an entire family of birds.

As it turns out, everyone has a bird story.

Urban Bird no. 13,2013 watercolor on paper52 x 79 inches

Ellen LittleSan Francisco based artist, Ellen Little, earned herBFA fromArt Center College of Design in PasadenaCA, then moved to NewYork to pursue a career inadvertising. In NewYork she won many awards forher creative work and taught at the School ofVisualArts. Eventually Ellen moved to San Francisco andstarted the graphic design firm, Little Design Group.In 2009 she closed Little Design in order to paint.

Selected Solo andTwo-Person Exhibitions2014 Sanchez Art Center,Urban Bird Project, Pacifica CA

Workshop, Backyards and Botanicals, Sausalito CA2013 NapaValley Library, The Backyard Series, Napa CA

LowTide Club, Ellen Little:RecentWorks, Sausalito CA2011 Love & Luxe, The Backyard Series, San Francisco CA

Selected Group Exhibitions2014 Gray Loft Gallery, Flora and Form, Oakland CA

Marin Museum of ContemporaryArt, Summer National Juried Exhibition,Novato,CA

Arc Gallery, Like aTomWaits Song, San Francisco CA2013 NapaValley Museum,Date with the Devil,Yountville CA

Milton Art Museum, Spring Group Show, Canton MASanchez Art Center, Left Coast Annual, Pacifica CAPiedmont Art Center, Return to Simplicity, Piedmont CA

2012 Box Heart Gallery, 11th Annual Art Inter/National, Pittsburgh PABrooklyn Art Library, The Sketchbook Project, Brooklyn NYPacific Art League, Secret Gardens, Palo Alto CAFirehouse Arts Center, FreshWorks, Pleasanton CA

2011 A.I.R. Gallery,WishYouWere Here, Brooklyn NY2010 Triton Museum of Art, StatewideWatercolor Competition, Santa Clara CA

CaliforniaWatercolorAssociation,41st National Exhibition, San Francisco CAStudio Gallery, Tiny, San Francisco CA

Selected Awards and Honors2014 First Place, Slice, Pence Gallery, Davis CA

Carrie Lederer, Bedford Gallery2013 Juror’s Exhibition Award, Left Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica CA

Lucinda Barnes, Berkeley Art Museum and FilmArchiveAward of Merit, Return to Simplicity, Piedmont Art Center, Piedmont CARene de Guzman, Oakland Art Museum

2012 Best of Show, Secret Gardens, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto CARichard Ambrose, Pacific Art League

Award of Merit, FreshWorks, Firehouse Arts Center, Pleasanton CAKim Anno, California College of the Arts,

Public CollectionsPhipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Pittsburgh PA

www.el len l i t t le .com