These joyful little birds are occasional visitors to the backyard during spring, stopping briefly before moving on to other parts. The young males dance along the fences playfully competing with each other as they prepare for the breeding season. Their vivid blue and deep black feathering are a welcome and pleasant surprise when they make their wonderful, albeit, far too brief stop. I have always found birds a fascinating subject and decided to put one of them on canvas. The dark frame heightens the dark’s within the painting, containing the burst of colour while the orange flecks of undertone connects it with the muted red-brown of the canvas.