The Backyard Gaze Project stems from years of observing birds and garden activity from my kitchen window. Sometimes I feel like a stealth agent, recording the private lives of birds in particular as they gather food, build nests, raise young, feed their young, and do their best to avoid the treacherous nature of nature, and in particular, my cats. Ever a balance between art and life, the Backyard Gaze project is a meditation on how my efforts/neglect nurture or interfere with the development of life in my backyard. Utopia in my mind is anything but universal. It is particular, personal, and must happen in the private lives of all of those of us who cherish life, youth, and the future of nature.