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Emil Morhardt
California Scrub-Jay, Original Painting

2021

About the Item

Artist Comments
"These raucous birds arrive at my Santa Barbara feeder in flocks," shares artist Emil Morhardt. "They shoo away sparrows and house-finches and carry off mouthfuls of sunflower seeds." This close-up image of a blue Scrub-Jay is painted against a clean white background. Emil utilized acrylic and fine brushwork presenting the most intricate details. "This one had only got two seeds so far, but had more before he departed with a hop and a screech."


About the Artist
Emil Morhardt is an acrylic painter from Santa Barbara, California who expresses his passion for birds through realistic acrylic paintings. He paints at home in a studio room that has large windows and a north-facing view of the mountains. He observes the animals from this window, watching roadrunners, foxes, bobcats, deer, and coyote run by. Surrounded by this wildlife, Emil paints bird portraits reminiscent of those by artist John James Audubon. He bases his paintings off hundreds of photographs he takes of birds in the wild and at wildlife recovery centers. Emil captures the freedom and inquisitiveness that birds display in the natural world. Before painting birds, he painted landscapes of San Francisco and the Eastern Sierra. Emil was raised in the high desert of California and learned to paint from his father, who was one of the early California watercolorists. Emil has a BA in Zoology from Pomona College and a PhD in Environmental Physiology and Ecology from Rice University. He also was a Professor of Environmental Biology at Claremont McKenna, Scripps, and Pitzer Colleges.


Words that describe this painting: California Scrub-jay, Western Scrub-jay, bird, acrylicpaint, wildlife, James Audubon, eyes, realism, animal, animals, realism, acrylic painting, blue


California Scrub-Jay
Emil Morhardt
Acrylic painting on stretched canvas
Finished white edges
Varnished and Ready to hang
One-of-a-kind
Signed on front
2021
24 in. h x 36 in. w x 1.5 in. d
5 lbs. 6 oz.


  • Creator:
  • Creation Year:
    2021
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 36 in (91.44 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    California Scrub-Jay. Emil Morhardt. Acrylic painting on stretched canvas. Finished white edges. Varnished and Ready to hang. One-of-a-kind. Signed on front.
  • Gallery Location:
    San Francisco, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 731321stDibs: LU92219620462

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