A Purple Heron stalks the shallows — the body folded forward in the hunting crouch, neck extended, the slate-blue and russet plumage vivid against the pale grasses of the reed margin. This is not a North American subject: the Purple Heron is a European and African species, and this painting shows Glen working from observation beyond his home territory. The anatomy is exact — the distinctive thin neck, the streaked rufous of the head and neck, the blue-grey of the wings.
Glen's willingness to study and paint species from outside his home territory reflects a scientific discipline that extended beyond nationalism: he painted the species that interested him, wherever they lived. Glen Loates is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts; his heron paintings — of multiple species — are among the most technically accomplished in his bird catalogue.
Glen Loates is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts whose work has been collected internationally for over five decades. Each bag is printed to gallery standards and built to carry the conversation wherever you go.
