I created this painting from one of our farm’s frequent visitors. I find magpie’s amazing, but was surprised to discover that the common magpie is one of the most intelligent birds—and one of the most intelligent animals to exist. Their brain-to-body-mass ratio is outmatched only by that of humans and equals that of aquatic mammals and great apes. So painting this pose reminds me of how they are constantly assessing their surroundings.