ARTIST NANCY FORRESTER STORYTELLER
My Story.
I am an environment artist and sustainability activist. I am a lover of plants, animals and Earths biosystems.
I am a painter, photographer, performance artist, storyteller and creator of a site specific art project named Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden. In the 1980's I stopped painting pictures of plants and animals on canvas in search of a medium that would bring me larger audience for my message of preservation. I physically planted thousand of plants (100s of trees) to create a "Rainforest" from which I could teach and performed. I taught rainforest ecology for 29 years, in an effort to save the last undeveloped wooded acre of land in old town Key West from development. I am also the founder and owner of the a Key West parrot rescue. I was receiving unwanted parrots, taking care of them and rehoming them long before our local SPCA was allowed to take in. People often ask me "How did you get into parrots?" Oddly, I was fascinated with underwater sea life not aerial avian life and I knew nothing about parrots and I never desired to have one. I do not believe in the parrot pet trade. I think all parrots should be wild and free flying in their countries of origin and their native habitats should be preserved. They are highly intelligent creatures with many complex needs that humans cannot fulfill. Their lifespan is longer than ours. We do not live in a perfect world and parrots have been overbred by breeders greedy for the money. Thru that portal of green space "my rainforest" the first parrot came to me 28 years ago. The bird and its cage were snuck into my rainforest garden. I did not see who abandoned the bird.
When the visiting public saw I had a large green space and a parrot, a tsunami of parrots were offered. Some I agreed to take under my wing, others were left by people sight unseen. The morale of the story is, Birds Come To Gardens! When you become a caregiver to a parrot, one of two things happen. You either distance yourself from the bird and have to get "rid of it" (a term I hear to often) or you slowly open up to an addictive mind bending mostly ecstatic trip with a bird that never ends. I became a Parrot Lover. They own me! I am their student! I am hooked for life playing mind games of their making. They create the rules! They have taught me when to be calm, when to go nuts, when to scream, when to bite, when to kiss and cuddle, and when to self-mutilate and tear my hair out!
I am an environment artist and sustainability activist. I am a lover of plants, animals and Earths biosystems.
I am a painter, photographer, performance artist, storyteller and creator of a site specific art project named Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden. In the 1980's I stopped painting pictures of plants and animals on canvas in search of a medium that would bring me larger audience for my message of preservation. I physically planted thousand of plants (100s of trees) to create a "Rainforest" from which I could teach and performed. I taught rainforest ecology for 29 years, in an effort to save the last undeveloped wooded acre of land in old town Key West from development. I am also the founder and owner of the a Key West parrot rescue. I was receiving unwanted parrots, taking care of them and rehoming them long before our local SPCA was allowed to take in. People often ask me "How did you get into parrots?" Oddly, I was fascinated with underwater sea life not aerial avian life and I knew nothing about parrots and I never desired to have one. I do not believe in the parrot pet trade. I think all parrots should be wild and free flying in their countries of origin and their native habitats should be preserved. They are highly intelligent creatures with many complex needs that humans cannot fulfill. Their lifespan is longer than ours. We do not live in a perfect world and parrots have been overbred by breeders greedy for the money. Thru that portal of green space "my rainforest" the first parrot came to me 28 years ago. The bird and its cage were snuck into my rainforest garden. I did not see who abandoned the bird.
When the visiting public saw I had a large green space and a parrot, a tsunami of parrots were offered. Some I agreed to take under my wing, others were left by people sight unseen. The morale of the story is, Birds Come To Gardens! When you become a caregiver to a parrot, one of two things happen. You either distance yourself from the bird and have to get "rid of it" (a term I hear to often) or you slowly open up to an addictive mind bending mostly ecstatic trip with a bird that never ends. I became a Parrot Lover. They own me! I am their student! I am hooked for life playing mind games of their making. They create the rules! They have taught me when to be calm, when to go nuts, when to scream, when to bite, when to kiss and cuddle, and when to self-mutilate and tear my hair out!
Donate to Preserve Key West's Parrot Sanctuary
Animal Lovers
We are off the beaten path, but we are not hard to find
We are off the beaten path, but we are not hard to find