“Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.”Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice Kimberly Beck is a fine artist who specializes in painting birds. After graduating from The University of Michigan with a degree in English Literature, she studied drawing and illustration at The California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. As an illustrator in the 80’s, she created bird-themed products for The Nature Company and other print companies that sold her work nationally. In 2008, she changed her medium from watercolor and colored pencil to oil, learning to paint from direct observation at The Palette & Chisel Academy of Art in Chicago. Her avian-themed paintings have been juried into the prestigious international “Birds in Art” exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum of Art, Wausau, Wisconsin (2012-2016, 2018-20), selected for the museum’s National Tours, and are part of the Museum’s permanent collection. She is a signature member of Artists for Conservation, a member of the Society of Animal Artists, and an associate member with distinction of American Women Artists. Kimberly is a devoted bird-watcher and recently relocated her studio to the desert of Ivins, Utah.