"This painting of a Barred Owl came about one early morning as I was having a quiet cup of coffee to start the day. For several years I would hear the owls in the wooded area behind my house, but never saw them. This was before I became a birder. All of a sudden, out of nowhere and with no sound a huge Barred Owl landed in a tree directly behind my back porch. I quickly grabbed my point and shoot camera and took a few shots before he flew away."