Birds Canada is happy to announce their first Artist-in-Residence, Artist Cindy Presant, a stone sculptor and painter living in Port Rowan, Ontario. Cindy began her residency in September 2024. “I am delighted to be selected as the first Artist for this program,” said Cindy, from her home-based Long Point Art Studio. “I’m looking forward to creating bird-related artwork during my residency, and learning from Birds Canada staff about the importance of birds in our daily lives. The birdlife here is truly astonishing.”

Cindy works in pencil, pen and ink, acrylics, watercolour, and soft stones including soapstone, limestone, and alabaster. Her popular stone carvings feature wildlife of Norfolk County, and include birds, herptiles, and mammals. She led soapstone carving workshops at Birds Canada this past summer. Cindy’s paintings and drawings are her own style of impressionistic realism. She prefers to draw and paint “en plein air” (outside in nature), to capture as much life from her subjects as possible. Cindy is self-taught, and has been exhibiting and selling her artwork for 31 years. A keen naturalist and amateur birder, she finds subject matter everywhere. “Nature is at my doorstep in Port Rowan,” said Cindy. “This area of Norfolk County has so much to see that you never run out of ideas for artwork.”

Cindy looks forward to meeting and talking with people she meets while drawing and painting at Birds Canada properties. In November, she will be in a group art show and sale at Birds Canada Headquarters in Port Rowan with two other local artists.