In April 2006, I was bidding on a budgie painting on ebay. The picture reminded me of a mixture between my late budgie Lenny and my current budgie Ethel. Unfortunately, between the time I placed my bid and the time the auction ended, Ethel had died. I was devastated, and hoped that I would be outbid. If I won the painting, I was going to donate it to the parrot rescue where I volunteer so they could sell it and make some money. It was going to be too hard to see this painting as it would always remind me of Ethel's death, given the timing.

And then I received the painting in the mail.

It took my breath away -- it was so beautiful -- and oddly, it made me happy instead of sad. I contacted the artist, Mary Hughes, to see if she'd be willing to do a commission painting of Ethel, and to my delight, she said yes! Here is Ethel:


Of course, I was hooked, and had to get portraits done of all of my birds! It sounds cliche, but the paintings are even more beautiful in person!

Max:


Calypso:


Daphne:


Rocky:


Beeps:


I am just blown away by Mary's talent, and feel so lucky to have found her! She is one of the nicest people I have ever known, and puts so much effort into making sure that each painting accurately represents the animal. I can see this very clearly in the two caique pictures. Looking at them, I don't have any question as to whether it's Beeps or Calypso -- she has captured their essence!

Thomas and I ordered paintings of all of my parents' birds, and of my sister's cat, as they make great gifts. We will have the lizards done once they have completed their molts so we know what they should look like.

The above paintings are all copyrighted by Mary, but she said that I could put them up on the blog -- thanks so much!

To see more examples of Mary's work, or if you would like to order a portrait of your own pet, visit her website. Here is the link to the custom pet portraits page. The process is so easy -- send her some pictures and answer whatever questions she has. Pretty soon, you have a wonderful keepsake!

I was going through some old photos, and found this one of Ethel and Calypso on a stand. It was taken about a month before Ethel's death. I wish I would have had a better camera, and a video camera back when Ethel was around. The pictures I have of her do not fully capture her personality. Actually, if I'm making wishes, I'd wish that she was still around, because there is a huge void in our lives now.

Although I loved Ethel and she loved me back, Thomas was her special person. Ethel was fully flighted, and when she heard Thomas come home, she'd fly right to his shoulder and walk over for some kisses.

She had an amazing will to live, as her tumor made her weigh double what she should. It makes me so sad when I hear people refer to budgies as "starter birds" or "throwaway pets." Their intellect and delightfulness is often discounted, perhaps due to a "bigger is better" philosophy.

Unfortunately, many budgies never reach their potential as companions, because people leave them alone in small cages with limited interaction and not enough toys.

As I've mentioned many times before, I know that I will always need to have a little budgie jewel in my life!

An addition and a loss

In 2004, we added a female budgie, Ethel. Ethel had a huge tumor that made her weigh more than twice what she should have! We took her home knowing that she didn't have much time to live, but wanting to give her a good end to her life. We also hoped that her presence would perk up Lenny, our other budgie. After several months, Lenny died from an internal tumor that he had (budgies are prone to tumors). But Ethel thrived!

Ethel showed us how wonderful and full of personality budgies can be! So often, budgies are considered disposable pets because they are so inexpensive. They are kept in small cages, rarely handled, and with few toys. Ethel loved Thomas and would follow him all around the house, flying to him on command. She began imitating the sounds that Max and Calypso made. She was such a delight to have around the house!

We were lucky to get over a year to spend with Ethel before she passed away. We will never forget her and the way she opened our hearts to budgies. I know I can never be budgie-free again! Their delightful chatter and wonderful nature brightens the day. And budgies can be great pets for people living in apartments (they aren't very noisy) and for gentle children.