You do not have to know that the birds in Rosemary Conroy’s recent paintings were in a wildlife rehabilitation center to appreciate them, but it helps.

There are no wing casts (although that would be adorable), nor any evidence of their cages. Conroy is not trying to make you feel sorry for them.

Rather, she says, the paintings portray the birds’ “essential wildness,” which can never be taken away.

Conroy regularly visits the Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee, Vt., to observe, sketch and photograph birds, animals she has always admired.

She was struck and initially saddened by how the animals continually watch the sky. But her series, nicknamed “Raptors in Rehab,” serves as an uplifting tribute to these birds that teach us so much as ambassadors of their species.

Many of the large paintings are on display in an exhibit, “Drawn to the Clouds,” at Emporium Framing and Gallery in South Berwick, Maine, through Sept. 8.

Most of the bird injuries can be blamed on humans, who are also the ones that save them, Conroy says. She doesn’t want the cycle to be in vain. By capturing the look of wildness in their expressive eyes, she helps us understand their natural state.

“They’re still so wild. Their eyes say, ‘I’m still wild,’ even though they’re in a cage,” she says.

The vitality and individuality of the birds also comes through in her distinctive use of bright colors, as well as the physicality and movement suggested by texture from a heavy application of acrylic paint.

“I’m a colorist first and foremost,” Conroy says. “I’m fascinated by color almost as much as the subject itself.”

Her use of color demands a greater emotional response, as it’s clear she expresses her own passion for the subject this way.

She says she went through a “crazy purple and orange phase,” colors that won’t be overlooked. Some of the orange still lingers in this series, but it is more subdued.

The hawks, owls, eagles and other birds are rendered accurately and yet creatively, with cropped or otherwise offset compositions and imaginative backgrounds and borders. 

“I want people to recognize the birds as individual species,” she says. “I want them to be recognized and honored and appreciated.”

She donates a percentage of her sales from this series to the rehabilitation center in Vermont.

A full-time artist surrounded by her favorite subjects on farmland that has become a bird sanctuary, Conroy took a somewhat round-about career path to get where she is now. She is from New York City, where her respite from work was feeding pigeons in the park. She hoped that someday she would have time for art. After the tragedies of 9-11, she said, “I can’t wait for my someday.”

She went back to school with the hopes of getting paid to go bird watching, and found a job in land conservation instead. This brought her to New Hampshire, where she is finally focusing on her art.

Conroy is largely self-taught, though she credits her focus on wildlife to instructor Stan Moeller of the Salmon Falls Mills artist studios. It was Moeller who told her, “Notice the things that you notice. That’s what you should paint.” 

She now lives and works in Weare, where she will host her sixth annual open studio event during the weekend of Oct. 20. Also that month, she is the featured artist at Exeter Fine Crafts. To find out more, see www.studiobuteo.com.

Emporium Framing and Gallery is at 261 Main St., South Berwick, Maine, 207-384-5963.