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Here's your outdoor tip on John James Audubon.
Birds and Audubon—the two words are often connected. But who was John James Audubon? In memory of John Audubon and his commitment to birds, George Bird Grinnell founded the Audubon Society in the late 1800’s after the death of John James Audubon. Today, the Audubon Society has more than 450 local chapters and 600,000 members. Its main focus is on the study and preservation of birds.
So what did Audubon have to do with birds? In summary, he was an American artist living from 1785 to 1851 who drew birds, mammals, plants and other elements of nature. He was born in Haiti with a father that was a French sea captain and had a creole mother. Audubon informally studied art in France and then settled in Pennsylvania in the United States in 1803 at his father’s farm to escape conscription into Napoleon's army. He failed in early businesses trying to support his family ending up in debtors’ prison in 1819. After this, he returned to art, especially birds in watercolor.
He tried being an itinerant portrait painter and taxidermist around Cincinnati, Ohio with without satisfaction. John decided to turn his passion for birds into a profession at thirty-five years of age with the goal of painting every bird in America and publishing the results. Audubon was a skilled hunter and used this skill for sport and for art. He traveled around the United States painting all the birds he could find.
John Audubon developed a new technique that enabled him to depict birds in animated and realistic postures after he killed them. His earlier competitors created stiff and static images of birds based on simple stuffed specimens. Audubon’s birds were filled with the appearance of natural life in their environment. His paintings of birds were also unique in that they showed the birds in their full size. In 1827, he published his first color plates of "Birds of America." The first 435 plate edition was known as the "elephant folio" because it was so big (39.37 inches high).
As his collection of pictures grew, he included the extinct passenger pigeon that he captured along the Missouri River inn 1843. Audubon then began a mammals series, "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” with his friend, the Reverend John Bachman. Before illness consumed him, Audubon and Bachman completed three volumes of mammals. Audubon died in 1851.
The Audubon Society today continues to memorialize his name keeping alive his dedication to preserving birds in painting and the hearts of people. Remember John James Audubon’s dedication to preserving accurate images of our feathered friends and the importance of preserving the environment they live in.
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References-Additional Reading
John James Audubon Biography
http://www.biography.com/people/john-james-audubon-9192248
John James Audubon
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/artists/audubon/
John J. Audubon
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/john_j__audubon/13864
Nature Quotient.
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Outdoor Professor’s Tips: Exploring the Wonders of Nature
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