Bird is the word

The Creston Arts Depot Gallery has become an aviary this month, with birds of every shape and size finding their home in the historic building.

Creston-native Sarah King is a life-long artist, focusing on acrylic and watercolors in her self-taught passion. As a homeschool graduate, King stuck with painting as her creative endeavor.

“I’ve been painting ever since I’ve been little, so that’s just something that I’ve always done,” King said. “I just decided I wanted to learn new things. I teach myself new techniques.”

Along with her passion for art, King has a deep appreciation for wildlife.

“I have always been fascinated by nature and the animal kingdom,” King said. “I’ve always loved birds, so I decided it would be really neat to do a bird collection.”

At the beginning of 2024, King started a monthly project called “Birds of North America,” showing her artistic talent through a variety of fowl, including anything from barn owls to humming birds.

“I tried to pick a bird that would be seen during that month, that might be migrating through,” King said. “Otherwise, it was just a bird that I had seen on National Geographic or just something I thought was interesting.”

King does heavy research before each painting, not only on the bird itself but also the surrounding territory of each bird.

“With this gallery I wanted to showcase the elegance, beauty and splendor of different birds found in the United States,” King said. “Before and during a painting I do research on the preferred territory range of each bird in order to accurately represent the area that particular bird inhabits.”

Throughout the year, King tried out new practices on each painting, some working better than others.

“With the barn swallow painting, I tried using a new technique, I tried making homemade impasto paint, which didn’t work,” King said. “I ended up using clay and sculpting the flowers from clay and improvising that way and then hot gluing them onto my canvas.”

Along with fun additions, each bird has glass mod podge on the eyes in order to create shine and add life, something King describes as her signature touch.

Though a young artist herself, King has advice for those looking to strengthen their artistic skills.

“Don’t give up and don’t mind what anyone tells you,” King said. “Do your very best and keep practicing. Practice is the key to getting better.”

King’s work is available for purchase, with preferred payment being cash or check. She encourages those interested to reach out to Creston Arts in order to contact her.

“Birds of North America” will be available to the public for the rest of December at the Creston Arts Depot Gallery at 116 W. Adams St. The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.