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This is an approximately life-size painting of an adult male Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus), one of relatively few bird species found above the arctic circle, even in winter. While always white, the number of dark, brownish-grey markings on their plumage is highly variable, with younger birds heavily marked. Some adult males, such as the one I chose to portray, are almost purely white. While they mostly live and breed above the treelines of North America and Eurasia, they are very mobile, and every few years there is what birders call an “irruption” whereby large numbers occur through the winter far to the south of their normal range, sometimes occurring in surprisingly large numbers, usually sitting on open perches. The vast majority of photographs and paintings of Snowy Owls show them in winter, south of their normal breeding ground but for this commissioned painting I “invented” a high arctic setting. The painting is in oils on a Russian birch panel and is 36 by 24 inches.

Renowned Canadian bird artist, writer, naturalist, and conservationist, Barry Kent MacKay has “always been an admirer of birds, anxious to see them, paint them, and care for them.” Barry’s biological and ecological accuracy has put him in demand for commissions, to illustrate books, scientific journals and various print and digital media. He has painted birds and other wildlife from around the world, often life size, working in oils, watercolours, and acrylics. He prefers to sell original art, and keeps prices low. “Actual, original art should be affordable for middle class buyers,” he says. “I avoid having to depend on selling reproductions so that the market does not dictate what I paint, which can often be little-known...