When I was a teenager, I once traveled through Ecuador. At that time I was about 21/22 years old and I traveled around with my first boyfriend. We arrived in a small village near Quito: Mindo
It was a place full of hummingbirds and butterflies. We stayed a few days and every day we watched the hummingbirds flying around. There were more than 120 different species to see and the people in the village took care of these birds.
At one point we watched the little birds fooling around and playing with each other. It looked like a dance. This memory is the inspiration for this painting.
Did you know that hummingbirds have been around for forty-two million years? And that a hummingbird’s heart beats more than twelve hundred times per minute? That’s roughly twenty heartbeats a second. All that flapping makes the hummingbird the only bird that can hover in the same spot for a long stretch of time.
There is a story about hummingbirds:
Native Americans see hummingbirds as healers and helpers who bring luck and love to those they visit. The ancient Aztecs believed hummingbirds were commissioned by the gods to carry out tasks that required exceptional lightness, such as delivering blessings from one person to another. „Hummingbirds lead from here to there the thoughts of men,“ one Aztec saying goes. „If someone intends good to you, the hummingbird takes that desire all the way to you.“ Some believe that these special creatures are frequently messengers from the other side.
About the Painting:
The painting was painted on wood. I wanted to bring out the wood texture because the colors remind me very much of the ambience in Mindo. The plants are shown as dark shadow figures, because the full moon shines down from above. It should invite the viewer to dive into this world. In a clear, bright moonlit night in the jungle, the hummingbirds come out of their hiding places and celebrate this moment.
Limited Edition - Signed and Numbered
Title: Dance of the Hummingbirds
Print Size: 70x100cm
Year: 2021
Numberes are limited (only 5 pieces)
Hahnemühle Fine Art Print
& Certificate of authenticity
• International shippings possible
• Shipping and tax not included