I never dreamed that my talent for painting birds would earn me a trip to the White House. The theme for the 2002 White House Christmas tree was birds, and consequently I was invited to create an ornament. I created a painting of four birds with winter foliage on my usual Arches watercolor paper. The paper was then cut and folded into a three dimensional bird house. A roof was fashioned from a painting of highbush cranberry. I was then one of eight artists asked to recreate the ornament for a HGTV special program entitled Modern Masters: White House Artisans. The 14 hour filming session was then reduced to a 6 minute segment and shown on cable throughout the holiday season. I will tell you that I loved every minute of the experience and feel blessed to have been invited to contribute an ornament.