Nurture the Next Generation

Like Roger Tory Peterson, Artist Alex Warnick was born in Jamestown. Like Roger, she fell in love with both birds and art at a young age. My interest in birds began as a little girl watching my brother draw a cardinal from the cover of an old Peterson field guide. In elementary school I would draw birds on poster boards, write reports to accompany them, and even create meticulous mobiles of the undersides of hawks to hang above my bed. Like Roger, Alex pursued art as the way to share her love of birds. Roger spent five years between the Arts Students League of New York and the National Academy of Design. Alex graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a BA in integrated studio art. Since then, I have pursued a path in natural history art inspired by antique natural history illustrations. I hope my artwork will introduce many others to the significance and beauty of birds so that birds can benefit the lives of people, and in turn, people can benefit the lives of birds.

Left: Carolina Parakeet and Cypress watercolor and gouache Right: Alex Warnick is a natural history artist based in Columbus, Indiana In May 2022, Alex spent a week at RTPI as our inaugural artist-in-residence, with full access to the Peterson Collection – the largest collection of Roger’s original art, films and photos, along with his personal library, bird specimens and personal papers. Alex’s residency coincided with The Art of the Field Guide, providing her the rare opportunity to study the original field guide art of Roger Tory Peterson and David Allen Sibley side by side. Thank you RTPI – this residency is going to influence my work throughout the rest of my career. In 2023, some of Alex’s art will be included in the spring exhibition, featuring women artists whose artistic practices explore the beauty and wonder of birds.