An icon of the Alabama wading birds, the great blue heron (Area herodias) is represented across three damp and verdant riparian ecosystems. Inspired in the vein of Audubon, Lear, and other 19th Century Naturalists, the herons are represented in watercolor with acute attention to detail. The posture and behavior of the herons were studied in the field to develop a sense for the body and develop composition. Photographic reference was used later in the studio to ensure accurate markings and color. Freed from the restraint archetypal representation inherent in naturalist illustration, the minutiae of individuality has been explored across the three birds in facial and beak markings as well as body and leg coloration. Contrary to the Age of Reason that the Naturalist work was originally founded, these herons are each seemingly canonized with ephemeral 23 karat gold halos, imbuing their physical, material bodies with a sense of the diaphanous and ephemeral.