Chaka in her Wonderland

San Franciscan Jane Kim (@inkdwell) was a scientific illustration intern at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology when the director approached her with a dream project: hand-painting a 40-foot (12.2-meter) by 70-foot (21.3-meter) mural showcasing all families of modern birds. “He asked if this is something I would be interested in doing,” Jane says. “That was four years ago.” Over 16 months on-site, Jane painted one member of each of the world’s 243 modern bird families to scale, treating them with individual care and attention. “I developed a relationship with each bird as I did it; that was very beautiful,” Jane says. Now, the wall is complete, and Jane and her Ink Dwell studio co-founder and husband, Thayer Walker, have embarked on a three-week road trip back to California to decompress, post-mural. “Life sort of stood still while I was creating this really epic project,” says Jane. “It will be a great way to unwind.”