Alex Warnick- Natural History Artist
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Mark Catesby

3/31/2018

10 Comments

 
“Hinterland” is a German word meaning the “land behind”. In English we’ve adopted the word to mean the unknown, the frontier, or a remote region. It’s a term we might use to describe Alaska or the space behind our refrigerator, but it’s certainly not a word we would use for the booming metropolis of Orlando—the theme park capital of the world. However, in the early 1700s when British naturalist Mark Catesby embarked on his travels through the American south, Orlando was still an unsettled pine wilderness (and would remain that way for another century).
Longleaf pines
Florida Longleaf Pines
While he’s often overshadowed by the legacies of John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson, Catesby was a pioneer in illustrating the birds of America and portraying them with flora from their environment. His work gave the world its first glimpse of wild America’s unique avifauna—its “painted finches, Carolina parrots, and red birds”.
For an upcoming show entitled “Hinterlands” at the Nahcotta Gallery in Portsmouth New Hampshire, I chose to pay tribute to Mark Catesby’s travels through the early American hinterlands. The paintings below are my personal take on three of Catesby’s original compositions.  The show opens on April 6th and runs through April 29th.
Mark Catesby Natural History of Carolina
"The Largest White-billed Woodpecker" from Mark Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands".
Carolina Parakeet Alex Warnick
"Parrot of Carolina and Cypress of America" by Alex Warnick
Cedar Waxwing Alex Warnick
"The Chatterer and the Magnolia" by Alex Warnick
Mark Catesby Carolina Parakeet
"Parrot of Carolina and Cypress of America" by Mark Catesby
Mark Catesby Cedar Waxwing
"The Chatterer and the Magnolia" by Mark Catesby
Painted Bunting Alex Warnick
"Painted Finch and Loblolly Bay" by Alex Warnick
Mark Catesby Painted Bunting
"Painted Finch and Loblolly Bay" by Mark Catesby
10 Comments
Allen link
8/19/2018 10:25:17 pm

beautiful post, I love seeing the paintings side by side. I cannot wait to research more about him!

Reply
Alex
8/20/2018 08:41:29 pm

Thanks Allen! He's a fascinating character to learn about. There's a book published about him called "The Curious Mister Catesby" that I would highly recommend.

Reply
Heather Silver
4/14/2019 12:25:49 pm

Hi Alex,
Your paintings are beautiful and such a great tribute to Catesby. I am a grad student at UGA and I am working a piece of historical research about Mark Catesby. I am very curious about the portrait that you have of him here. I haven't been able to find one and am wondering how this one came about.

Reply
Alex
4/15/2019 12:07:34 pm

Hi Heather! Thanks for the kind words about my work! I’m a big Catesby fan and was delighted to paint a few paintings in tribute to him. Your question about the source of this portrait made me search out where I found it in the first place—only to discover that it was not actually a portrait of Mark Catesby! Thank you for making me re-check. I’ll be correcting my blog post. Good luck with your Catesby research!

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superiorpapers.com link
6/4/2019 12:21:41 am

This is how you make a tribute to someone who made a huge legacy. Alex, all these paintings are good and there is nothing I can ask for! The colors that you have used were perfect for a piece that you planned to paint. Actually, my knowledge about Mr. Mark Catesby is very limited. All I know is he is a good artist from the past, but it’s still very ideal to commemorate what he has done especially for the world of art where we lived in. It was indeed a good tribute and I am hoping to see more paintings!

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Sally Thibault link
7/22/2019 03:18:53 pm

My friends MJ and Alan Brush published this book - you might know about it, but just in case I would like you to. https://online.flippingbook.com/view/49360/
and https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mark-catesbys-legacy-alan-brush/1130037907

I find you and your delightful! And then discovered your blog.

Reply
Alex
7/22/2019 04:07:31 pm

I’m so happy to learn about this book! I wasn’t aware of it, but it’s definitely something I’ll be ordering to add to my collection. I loved flipping through it via the link, and the illustrations are beautiful. It’s just the kind of thing I love to read. Thanks so much for sharing!

Reply
Leslie K. Overstreet
4/27/2020 01:22:50 pm

Hello, Allex,
I'm a big Catesby fan and am delighted that you too appreciate Catesby's illustrations of plants and animals. But there is no known portrait of him, and the one that you present as Mark Catesby is actually Sir Hans Sloane, the President of the Royal Society and one of Catesby's supporters during his travels. See the portrait by John Faber jr after Thomas Murray (1728) in the National Portrait Gallery at https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp04129/sir-hans-sloane-bt .
Thanks, and best wishes,
Leslie Overstreet

Reply
Alex
4/29/2020 11:47:57 am

Hi Leslie! It’s always wonderful to meet a fellow Catesby fan. Thanks for alerting me to the portrait mistake. I’ve removed the portrait of Sir Hans Sloane from the original post. It’s unfortunate that we have no known portrait to remember Catesby by!

Reply
chic to street style mom link
7/25/2023 03:18:12 pm

Great reeading

Reply



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