MIDCOAST CONSERVANCY Transition Director Steve Patton, left, and artist Jonathan Adlerfer.
Midcoast Conservancy is hosting an exhibition of original artwork by artist, author and editor Jonathan Alderfer.
Alderfer has specialized in painting birds and natural history subjects for more than 30 years. For 10 years he was National Geographic’s resident birding expert at their headquarters in Washington, D.C. While there, he authored, edited, or illustrated more than twenty books for the National Geographic Society, including the best-selling “Field Guide to the Birds of North America (6th edition),” “Birding Essentials,” “Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America,” “Kids Bird Guide of North America” and most recently the second edition of “Complete Birds of North America.” Currently, he is at work on the seventh edition of the field guide. In addition to being the co-author, he is painting new hummingbird illustrations for the guide, which is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2017.
Alderfer studied painting and sculpture at the Cooper Union in New York City. His lifelong interest in birds and his art came together during the 1980s, when he was living in Los Angeles and he began illustrating bird identification articles for the local Audubon Society. Since then, Jonathan’s illustrations have appeared in dozens of birding books and magazines, including Audubon, National Geographic and Bird Watcher’s Digest. His fine art bird paintings and woodblock prints have been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums in North America.
Alderfer is an avid birder and excels at teaching other nature lovers, whatever their age and level of skill, how to draw and paint birds. During the summer of 2015 he taught a weeklong workshop — Arts and Birding — at National Audubon’s Hog Island Camp in Maine. His other interests include art history, fly-fishing, gardening and foraging for wild foods. Alderfer recently moved to a house overlooking the Sheepscot River in Edgecomb.
Midcoast Conservancy, located at 36 Water St. in Wiscasset, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. For more information, contact Ali Stevenson at ali@midcoastconservancy.org or (207) 389- 5150.
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