Abstract
The artist who created the beautiful artwork displayed here is Sheri Williamson. She was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and arrived with a ready made interest in birds and an innate artistic talent. By the time she was six years old her Easter chicks were surviving to rooster-hood and she was using Prang watercolors like crazy.
At the age of eleven Sheri acquired some guppies and began a long love affair with tropical fish. She combined her talents once again and eventually wrote and illustrated articles for a local aquarium club. I have seen some of her fish art work and it is as excellent as her work with bird subjects. Ms. Williamson also served as a judge for fish shows.
The big change in Sheri's life came when she took a position with the Fort Worth Zoo. Her time was divided between the aquarium and the bird house and although she had no experience with caged exotic birds, she loved them and learned their secrets very quickly. Finally, over two years ago, she became a full-time bird keeper.
In school Sheri displayed a strong interest in the natural history sciences and of course, she produced the best drawings of a frog's innards ever seen in Biology. After a little time away from school, Ms. Williamson has returned to college and is currently studying art and pertinent scientific courses.
At work Sheri cares for the zoo's birds and at home looks after her own small collection. Yes, that is a pet Bobwhite Quail you see on Sheri's shoulder. The bird has the run of the house and is fully convinced it is human (or that Sheri is a quail).
In addition to work, school, birds at home, and art work, Sheri finds time to be a bird watcher, collect bird coins, and reads lots of bird books. If you recall the Feb/March '78 issue of the Watchbird "Editor's Desk"column, it was Ms. Williamson's astute observation and knowledge of birds that prompted her to correct a mistake the tired old editor made in identifying a photograph of a little known bird.
Ms. Sheri Williamson has, as mentioned, illustrated a fish journal. She has done paintings of venomous snakes for the zoo's educational department, she designed a T-shirt for a raptor preservation fund, and has done a cover drawing for a forthcoming Animal Keeper's Forum, the journal of the American Association of Zoo Keepers. We are grateful to her for sharing her unique talents with us and look forward to seeing more of her excellent work in future editions of the Watchbird.