Popular Hummingbirds of North of America

Susan Bourdet’s luminous watercolors combine realistically detailed birds and animals with soft, impressionistic backgrounds, a technique that has evolved through her many years of painting. Watercolor is ideally suited for nature paintings because it works well for detail, but it is the spontaneous, fluid aspect of watercolor that Susan finds most expressive. Much of her work is created with the watercolor paper soaking wet, allowing the pigments to blend and flow without edges. While the realistic parts of the painting accurately describe the subject, the free-flowing backgrounds are all about color and intensity which imply rather than describe background shapes. The viewer’s imagination is then involved in discerning the image.

For many years, through college and beyond, Susan struggled to combine her two great loves - art and biology. When her two children were small, she began to do ink illustrations for the Portland zoo newsletter, then learned to incorporate watercolor and full backgrounds. Her paintings were discovered in a Portland gallery by Wild Wings, which has published her limited editions for twenty years. Her work is also internationally presented in three calendar titles published annually by Lang. Her original paintings can be found in collections worldwide and have been featured in shows and exhibitions all over the country, including the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's Birds in Art and the Society of Animal Artists' Art and the Animal.

Susan’s travels to favorite wild places fuel her imagination, but her work most often reflects the vibrant beauty and abundant bird life of the Pacific Northwest. Avid gardeners, she and her husband have created a backyard oasis for migratory songbirds, complete with a waterfall, pond and lush woodland. Each season brings new perspective and different birds to offer never-ending inspiration. “Capturing” birds, which are never still for long, requires many hours in the field with the camera and telephoto lens. The resulting photos rarely catch the subject in focus or in a good setting, but may catch the pose and the light that is the basis for a painting. The next challenge is to create a believable environment for the subject. Often Susan places the bird among garden flowers or realistically rendered wild plants, and she loves to find the weathered textures of rock, old wood and bark to contrast with the softness of feathers and petals.

In these watercolors you will find a reflection of Susan’s love of life, and an effort to capture a fleeting moment of sunlight and shadow in the natural world.

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International

All packages, unless otherwise stipulated, once processed, go out United Parcel Service (UPS) UPS Standard International. Tracking numbers are given at shipment via email. 

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Incorrect Shipping Information
If a package is returned to Mr. Puzzlehead due to an incorrect or incomplete shipping address provided by a customer, or if the customer was not home for delivery the customer will be responsible for the return shipping cost as well as the redelivery cost. Mr. Puzzlehead is not responsible for packages delivered incorrectly or lost due to incorrect or incomplete shipping information provided by a customer, no refunds will be provided if any parts of the address are incorrect.

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No refunds, replacements or credits will be issued for orders confirmed to have been delivered to the address provided in an order.

Items not in Stock (Back-orders)
We strive to have all of our products available for immediate shipment. Due to popularity and high demand for our products, some products may go on back order. We will take all necessary steps to advise you in a prompt manner if this situation occurs. If it is possible to ship a portion of an order, we will send out all available items and place the remainder as a back-order, to be shipped as soon as possible with no extra shipping charges to you. Back-orders are only available for US Residents. International customers will receive a refund for items not shipped.

Refund and Money Back Guarantee
Mr. Puzzlehead stands behind the products we sell. If there is any discrepancy with your order please Contact us the next business day. Once an order has been shipped it cannot be changed or cancelled.

Please contact us with any questions or concerns Contact us To obtain a refund, simply return all unopened products (unused) with your original packaging slip inside order marked (Return) and not the reason for return. within 30 days

Shipping Methods Calculated at checkout.

UPS Ground
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UPS 3 Day (Ground)
UPS Standard International

How to return a product

Please email Contact us with your order number and the item you want to return to start the return process.
Ship your unused product, in its original packaging, to the address identified in our email.

Please Note:

Credit for returned items will be applied to the credit method that was used to make the purchase. Returns will be applied to the purchasing credit card within 5 to 10 days of the date that the return is accepted by our warehouse.

If a restocking applies to returned items, the amount of the fee is 25% of the original total order amount. Delivered Shipping charges are non-refundable.