Art and nature go hand in hand for Maui artist Melissa Chimera. Nature inspires art, while art raises awareness of Hawaii’s endangered species.

Chimera shares her love for nature via large-format oil paintings of rare Hawaii plants and birds in the exhibit "Splendor: Portraits of the Natural World," showing through Saturday at the ARTS at Marks Garage.

The exhibit is part of a series of events hosted by the Hawaii Conservation Conference.

Chimera, a part-time park ranger at Haleakala National Park, has been a field conservationist since 1996, with a passion for protecting Hawaii’s endangered species. She has spent years out in the field — fencing, weeding and protecting the habitat of rare species — but became serious about painting only five years ago.

Now that passion is being transferred to canvas.

The collection on display includes works from 2006 to the present. In Chimera’s earliest painting, "Waikamoi Lobelia," the curves of a purple lilac flower, found in the Nature Conservancy’s Waikamoi Preserve on the slopes of Haleakala, cascade in graceful arcs.

In another done this year, "Koa‘e kea," a white-tailed tropic bird glides midair over a multipatterned, green and yellow background.

The birds, indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands, fly effortlessly but also dive from cliffs to capture their prey. They are also inspiring for their mating habits, said Chimera, because they perform aerial ballets during mating season, which she has witnessed up close, and pairs remain together for years.

"We’re so lucky that we have them still," she said.

CHIMERA, 37, was born in Honolulu but now lives in Upcountry Maui. She studied natural resources management and painting at the University of Hawaii, and at one point pursued an opera career.

But a love for the outdoors eventually led her down the path of becoming a conservationist and, later, an artist.

"When I went into conservation, it opened my eyes to what a phenomenal place this is, culturally and biologically," she said. "Now much of it is lost."

Growing up, arts were always part of Chimera’s life. She has been painting and drawing since childhood, and her mother, Adele Ne Jame, is an award-winning poet.

Becoming an artist has also lead her on journeys to her roots in the Middle East as well as farther-flung places like Tibet.

"In reality it’s such a hard endeavor," she said of art. "It’s a physical endeavor."

Three paintings of white flowers that are also part of the exhibit are accompanied by poems written by Chimera’s mother. They were commissioned two years ago for an international art show in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

One of the most striking is "Hillebrandia," a close-up of Hawaii’s endemic begonia, which is also called puamaka nui, meaning "big-eyed flower."

Light glows softly behind the white petals touched with pink and blue.

There are also several studies of the Hawaiian poppy, titled "Puakala," which have delicate, white petals, a yellow stamen and purple center.

For her diptych of the poouli — an extinct bird last seen in Maui’s Hanawi forest — she relied on research from collections at the Bishop Museum as well as field biologists.

A poouli with a velvety black mask is perched in one panel with head turned inquisitively to the right, and in flight in the other panel against a rich, gold- and orange-patterned background.

While out in nature — hiking, hunting and camping — Chimera has her camera handy to capture rare species. She also has had the opportunity to go to some of the most remote places on the island.

"I get to know the subject intimately in the field," she said.

The photos are processed and become the basis for her paintings.

Chimera is intent on capturing Hawaii’s rare flowers and birds before they become extinct and educating the public about them. She includes detailed descriptions, including where they can be found and existing threats to their survival.