In my freezer is a collection of bird corpses that I use as models for my paintings. They are at once beautiful and morbid objects of fascination for me. This series of drawings of the birds relates to memorial portraiture from the Victorian period, a time when mourning art to commemorate death reached its height. The birds are combined with flowers, sticks, banners with text, and lace in arrangements that suggest bouquets. Most are depicted bound with thread that has also been a constant element in my paintings and some are bound with hair that makes reference to Victorian mourning jewelry made with the hair of a loved one. These drawings reflect upon traditions that have passed in our current culture, which is reticent to open expressions of mortality.