A field note
It’s rare to see Pacific Reef Herons in a group: they usually feed alone. This evening in Hòa Thắng village, Ninh Thuận, the light was soft, the sea calm. I think of many cycles: the sun rises, then sets. Waves come and go. Wings beat up, then down. The lead heron seems to fly out of the frame, as if to reenter on the other side. A reminder of life’s endless motion.
Cycle Pacific Reef Heron · 100 × 70 cm · Acrylic on canvas
Originals from $200 to $3,680, framed and shipped insured from his studio in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vultures · Cambodia
At Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia, three species of vultures still gather, not for feeding but to interact with each other. I watched from a hide for hours. They circled, landed, strutted, but never touched the buffalo carcass below. Jonathan Eames thinks some might be juveniles, just showing off. The smaller birds in the scene added a bit of lightness, like guests arriving late to a party.
Swift · Zambia
Many of us could watch falling water for hours, especially here, where Victoria Falls pours endlessly into the gorge. I was sitting in Livingstone, watching from the Zimbabwe side, when I noticed the swifts flying above the spray. Later I learned what species they were. Their wings echo the curve of the waterfalls: a quiet harmony in all that noise.
The painter
Hoàng paints the species of Southeast Asia, and above all the endangered ones that conservation campaigns rarely mention. Self-taught, in the field since 1999.
Commissions
Murals, scientific illustration, travelling exhibitions and workshops. Commissioned by national parks, hospitals, hotels and the WWF.
