A row of ink and watercolor paintings hangs in the Billings Public Library, where Louis Habeck is exhibiting his portraits of different bird species in business casual blazers, suits and blouses.
“A lot of the outfits, I tried to specifically choose to mimic what the rest of the birds’ feathers look like,” said Habeck.
He painted these bird portraits to be exhibited at his Billings Public Library show, which runs through March and April. In one painting, a vulture hunches over in a ruffled pirate shirt. Nearby, a Royal Flycatcher wears a handkerchief and a tie that matches the orange-red crown of feathers on its head.
Habeck said he enjoyed the process of finding and researching unique birds with colorful patterns to tease out their personalities.
“It’s also fun to hear people’s interpretations. They’ll see an animal and go, ‘he looks like a game show host or something,’” said Habeck. “Sometimes, I provide a lot of the story, and sometimes, people just pick up on things and add a lot themselves.”
Habeck uses mediums like watercolor, oil and charcoal, and he’s a sculptor, too.
He said he tapped into his family’s carpentry and house remodeling background to build the picture frames his business birds are displayed in.
“I took this wood to my dad, and we planed it down with old knives that he’s made to match old frames,” said Habeck.
Along with his Billings Public Library exhibit, a Triceratops sculpture Habeck created is included in a Missoula-based exhibit featuring 19 artists from Montana under 39 years old. That exhibit opens to the public Friday, March 28 at the Montana Museum of Art and Culture and continues through September.
