7/10/19: Pigeons and I have a complicated relationship. A couple of decades ago, I inhaled a fungus carried in pigeon droppings. Most city-dwellers have been exposed to it, but the common varieties are easily fought off, so most people never know they’ve had it. Not me, though. I got a special strain. I used to joke that I had squab disease. It was nearly the end of me. Luckily, thanks to a great (if unconventional) doctor, some very painful surgery, and months of horrible anti-fungal drugs, I eventually got rid of the infection. Though it wasn’t the birds’ fault, the whole ordeal left me feeling triggered by the things. I still find myself holding my breath whenever I pass under train trestles and other places where the creatures tend to nest (and crap).

Anyway, back to today’s art. These are the beautiful, character-filled pigeon portraits by Adele Renault. She infuses her subjects with so much personality and intelligence, I can almost, almost forgive them. On the other hand, since Renault often paints the creatures as building-high murals, their sheer size is also making me nervous. I had better just admire them (the birds and the art) from afar.

You can see more of Adele Renault’s not at all scary giant pigeons on her website, in her book, Feathers and Faces, and on Instagram.