In the early spring, you can look through the forest and see the blossoms of the dogwood like glowing beacons or candles, particularly when the sun shines through and they are backlit. This is the primary effect I wanted to achieve in this painting. There is a lightness, an airiness and a delicacy to everything—a kind of gentleness. This is why I chose the bluebird for this painting of early spring. It doesn’t sit there and sing away defiantly; it has a little, low kind of purring chirp. It is one of the most gentle of all birds. - Robert Bateman