Birds of another feather - canvas

[Shetek kid]

A young MN artist is making a name for himself. Taken from todays Marshall Independant. Link to pics in the article.

By Karin Elton

[email protected]

His talent manifested itself at an early age, his parents say.

At his first kindergarten parent-teacher conference, the teacher told Dan and Diana Byrne of Ghent that their son Michael would be an artist someday. He was able to draw detailed pictures while his peers were making stick figures.

“We would go fishing in Ghent,” said Dan Byrne, “and he would be watching the birds.

“Michael would be playing with his friends, but suddenly cut it short. He would say, ‘I’m going to go home and draw.’”

Michael Byrne’s wildlife painting, "Black Duck Bounty," was chosen as the design for the 2005/2006 Long Island Ducks Unlimited Sponsor print in New York.

A print of the painting will be auctioned off at a fund-raiser Feb. 12 for the Ghent American Legion Auxiliary. The fund-raiser will take place during the annual Firemen’s pancake breakfast in Ghent. The print is valued at about $250 and framed it is valued at about $300 to $400, Byrne said.

A print by Erik Gile of Tyler is also in the auction. Pauline Wiener of Marshall donated the frames for the prints.

Michael Byrne’s grandmother, Nellie Byrne of Ghent, asked for the donation.

“Anything for her,” said Michael Byrne, a 1988 Marshall High School graduate.

“We’re kind of proud of him,” said Nellie Byrne of her grandson.

Dan Byrne said his son is a perfectionist when it comes to his art and was that way as a youth as well.

“If he made a mistake on a drawing, he would crumple it up and start over,” he said.

Dan Byrne said it hurt him to see a beautiful picture go in the trash.

Michael Byrne said he used to watch his mother draw horses — “that was my inspiration.”

He said his family encouraged his drawing. He would go to his grandparents’, Roland and Nellie Byrne’s house, and get a steady supply of 8-1/2-by-11-inch paper to draw on.

“I would draw farm equipment, tractors, trucks, semis, wildlife,” he said. “That’s what you see in Minnesota. I would draw pheasants, deer, partridge...”

Byrne said he would draw for hours at a time, especially on rainy days and during the fall season “that’s when the creative juices would flow. I would get a strong urge to draw.”

Sixth grade teacher John Allen taught Byrne when he attended Marshall Middle School.

“In those days we had the adviser-advisee program in place and had the opportunity to work with students for the four consecutive years that they were in the Marshall Middle School,” Allen said. “Certain classes seem to have a personality and Michael was in one that had a certain charisma about them... Michael was a ‘gem’ in class, very positive, poised, eager to learn.”

Allen said he still has one of Michael’s pencil sketches of a ring-necked pheasant.

“I actually had it matted and framed at Johnson's and I put it up in my classroom each fall,” he said. “I also remember some of his sketches being used when we put together the school newspaper.”

After graduation, Byrne enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. While stationed in North Carolina, he met his future wife, a New Yorker who was visiting friends. The couple now has two daughters.

After his honorable discharge in 1992, Byrne decided to make New York his home. He attended New York Institute of Technology where he earned his bachelor of arts degree in graphic design.

While working as a graphic designer, Byrne began entering duck stamp competitions to “establish a name for myself,” he said.

Michael said his first efforts were “horrible in comparison with the ones that won.”

He would study the winners and look at his own work and try to figure out what he could do better.

Recently, Byrne’s painting "Black Duck Bounty" was chosen as the design for the Long Island DU Sponsor print.

The buildings in the background of the print are owned by Ducks Unlimited.

“Black ducks are coastal birds,” Byrne said. “They fly up and down the Atlantic coast. Their numbers are declining, but on Long Island, their numbers are stable.”

Proceeds from the sale of Byrne’s artwork help buy wetlands that harbor waterfowl and other animals.

Byrne is a volunteer for Ducks Unlimited and is also a member of the South Shore Audubon Society.

HIs work can be viewed on the Web site http://www.natureartists.com/artists/artist.asp?ArtistID=289 . The Web site is an invitation-only collaboration of wildlife artists.

“They asked me to submit samples of my work two years ago,” he said. “And they liked what they saw.”

Byrne said his eldest daughter seems to be following in her father’s footsteps at 7 years of age.

“When she draws, she’s meticulous about the detail,” he said. “She has to get it exactly right. She’s critical of herself and if she doesn’t like it, she’ll crumple it up and throw it away.”

[Steve Foss]

Simply beautiful. Especially the ducks in the big waves and the English sparrows. If I could paint like that, I'd never have given a camera a second glance. But I need that one extra crutch to create — things that already exist at that moment in that place. The camera makes its own demands on the artist, for sure, but to command the hand to do with a paintbrush what few can do with panache is a fine talent.

A man who loves birds as this artist certainly loves birds should be recognized for his vision. I have a book of bird paintings by Robert Bateman, one of the most noted contemporary wildlife/landscape painters, and Byrne's work, while somewhat different, reminds me strongly of the emotions evoked by Bateman.

Shetek Kid, thanks for posting that.

[oil painter]

I paint also. he has an increible talent!! for those that want to see a great wildlife painter go to Harry Adamson hes a west coast painter at least 80 and wow can he paint!!