It doesn’t happen very often that we can find an artist who has direct experience with our work. Lucky for us, we found Brian Rusnica—a visitor of the Tubac HawkWatch—to design our tee for our newest site! Brian’s design style mirrors very much what it is like to identify birds of prey at a distance. You can’t see every single detail high up in the sky, so focusing on those key field markers will get you to your ID. This modern, elemental style brings a fresh and unique take not yet seen in our store. Brian designed our tee shirt and a Common Black Hawk sticker, both of which feature the iconic Common Black Hawk soaring over the cottonwood trees and the orange Arizona mountains. To shop these new designs, click here: https://hawkwatch-international.myshopify.com/collections/migration-collection
What is your “spark bird,” aka the species that sparked your interest in birds?
I consider the Barred Owl my spark bird. I had been dabbling in photography and the outdoors as a young adult in Boston, but an encounter with a Barred Owl in 2008 started the fire with wildlife photography and serious birding. There was nothing quite like the thrill of discovering a bird as haunting and impressive as a Barred Owl on my own!
What inspires your work?
As an illustrator, I love the process of breaking down natural textures into their most core visual elements and then stylizing them with attention to symmetry, shape, and color. My main subject is birds of prey, and I am inspired by the process of abstracting a bird while still satisfying the birder’s analytical eye for field marks, proportion, and GISS. I think hawks are just beyond cool, and I’ve found my calling in observing them and through raptor conservation. I hope my artwork leaves an audience with the same sense of appreciation that I have for these birds!
What do you do outside of your art?
I’m a hawkwatcher in Massachusetts and count birds at the Mount Watatic (Fall) and Plum Island (Spring) hawkwatch sites. I serve as President of Eastern Mass Hawk Watch, a regional club dedicated to raptor conservation, and am on the Board of Directors of NorthEast Hawk Watch. I have presented for bird groups on the topics of Raptor ID, Urban Raptors, and Hawk Migration, and help administer the Raptor ID Facebook group. I’m also a photographer, and my favorite subject is diurnal raptors. I’m a Project Manager in the Educational technology space by trade and hope to one day switch careers into conservation.
Where can people find and support you?
Website: www.brianrusnica.com
Instagram and Bluesky: @neogonzo
Flickr: @quadceratops
This blog was written by Sammy Riccio, HWI’s Communications Manager. You can learn more about Sammy here.
