Featured image: Chukar Recently, in our local newspaper, a local naturalist of the area wrote a column about a bird he sited in his wanderings, called a chukar. The chukar, he stated, was not local to the area, so he was surprised to see it. The chukar is a game bird whose habitat is mountainous areas. What interested me more than his words was the picture of the bird in his column. The bird had beautiful black and white stripes on its wings. I knew I had to paint the bird and make it part of the “Allegories of the Earth” series I have been working on for my solo exhibition at New Visions Gallery in Marshfield, WI. In the series, I am researching and creating artwork about all things natural, the earth, and what I call my, “Yes, Yes, Yeses”. I found that to the North Indian and Pakistani culture, as well as in Hindu mythology, the chukar sometimes symbolizes intense, and often unrequited, love . It is said to be in love with the moon and to gaze at it c...