I thought I'd start by introducing my avatar - a secretary bird. I saw this wonderful bird of prey on safari in Africa and always wanted to paint it. The head feathers are absolutely crazy! My present technique is with acrylic inks - and previous to this I have been painting mostly flowers. However, I have branched out and started doing birds and animals - mainly just the heads. The criteria is that they have to be dramatic looking, which works best with the drawing style I use. So far I have had quite a number of subjects and still sifting through my photos to find more! This painting is off to the framer this week - as I am getting ready for the Cambridge Open Studios in July. This is my first year with this organisation, although I have visited many studios over the years and really enjoyed them.