Bruce Morrison's beautiful paintings and photographs aren't for the birds – they're just of them.

The rural Hartley artist has made a second career out of all things winged. From mighty hawks and eagles to tiny finches and warblers, there's no end to his feathered fascination.

"As a kid, I used to hike the railroad out of town to a friend's farm where I'd lie down in a pasture and watch the red-tailed hawks fly above," he recalled. "Watching them in flight, it just looks so effortless. They can hang in the sky all day long."

Whether painted, drawn or photographed, Morrison has made it his life's work to capture avian subject matter doing what they do best. Recently, that dedication landed him in one of the world's most elite bird-centric art exhibits.

For the sixth time in his life and the first time since 2003, one of Morrison's pieces was selected for the annual "Birds in Art" exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wis. The exhibit is the "Holy Grail" for bird artists, according to Morrison, and it features a variety of works ranging from paintings and drawings to photographs and sculptures.

Pieces from 114 worldwide artists are featured this year. There were 830 submissions.

"It just has such high-quality, world-known people in it," Morrison said. "I'm not world known, and I'd say two-thirds of the people in those exhibits aren't world known. But that's kind of the drawing card – everyone wants to see if they're good enough to exhibit with these world-class artists."

Morrison's oil painting, "In the Wild Plum – Nashville Warbler," earned him a spot at the exhibit this year. The work features a vivid, colorful depiction of a Nashville Warbler in a blossoming wild plumb tree hunting down a fly for a quick snack.

The painting looks like a photograph to the untrained eye. That's no mistake, since the piece was born from a series of pictures Morrison took at his acreage.

"I was working in my studio and my wife told me I should go outside because there were warblers all over the plum trees," he recalled. "I thought that would be great just to get away from the stupid painting I was working on. I went out there and sat in a lawn chair with my camera, and there were warblers all over the place. I was just shooting like crazy."

Morrison reviewed his bounty on the computer after the photo shoot. He didn't have to look too hard for inspiration.

"There were flowers all over the branches, and one shot I saw one of the warblers looking at this little fly," he said. "I just knew it was his next meal, and I thought that would make great subject matter. On a real small scale it's like the whole predator/prey thing."

The rest is history. Morrison's painting drew the eye of judges and he was rubber stamped into this year's exhibition.

"There are no prizes for it, but just being there is the reward," he said. "Any artist that's been in it will tell you that it's like winning."

• Passion for painting feeds photography work

The saying, "One thing leads to another," definitely applies to Morrison's painting career.

Birds move a lot, making them difficult live subject matter for a canvas. That realization led Morrison to pick up a camera as a young child and get them frozen on film.

His first camera was a hand-me-down Ansco Shur-Shot Jr. that dated back to the 1930s. It might have been suitable for taking still portraits, but the birds had no interest in posing.

"They never held still long enough," he recalled. "That's why I thought one day, 'If I had a camera with a big lens on it, maybe I could get better pictures of it.' That thing was a real bugger."

Morrison penny-pinched for more than year so he could buy a camera capable of fulfilling his needs. Eventually, he was able to purchase one with a telephoto lens and get better material to work from.

"I just wish I had a digital camera back then because I could have gotten so many nice pictures," he said. "It's so much easier now."

Morrison honed his craft and became an expert nature photographer the hard way.

"That was quite an adventure learning to use it, because I didn't have a lot of resources back then. You'd have to go the library and find books, or try to find a magazine on the newsstand to learn," he recalled. "I blew a lot of shots, but I got enough to be able to get better and not give up."

• Retired, but still focused

Morrison worked in public relations for 25 years at Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon, also serving in an adjunct role teaching black and white photography. He and his wife, Georgie, moved to their current location in 2002, where they transformed an old chicken coop into an art studio after extensive renovations.

While employed, Morrison spent his free time in southern O'Brien County taking photographs and painting landscapes. He said the lure of living there was more than he could bear when the acreage he now resides on hit the sale bloc.

"It was the right fit," he said.

Morrison now focuses his complete attention on his art and does all of his work inside his studio when he's not outside painting landscapes or shooting photos. He's also quite fond of his antique radio collection, which adorns the walls throughout the building.

"I like to depict subject matter that people are familiar with," he said of his work. "It's a lot of fun, because every now and then someone will come in and say, 'Hey, that's my swimming hole,' or 'I always ride my horses through there.' It's really kind of neat that they recognize it and it means something to them, too."

The studio boasts a large collection of Morrison's work. It's all for sale, and if it's not an original, it's printed and framed in-house.

SUBMITTED GRAPHIC

Morrison's oil painting, "In the Wild Plum – Nashville Warbler," earned him a spot at "Birds in Art" exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum.

The rural Hartley man is quick to admit that most of his work is not worthy of being included in the "Birds in Art" exhibit – he only submits pieces he thinks can "win" a spot. He's just content enjoying the birds, nature and anything else that might inspire the flash of his shutter or stroke of his paintbrush.

"It's just really, really fun," he said.