Title:
Deer Herd
Medium: Oil and copper
and 22kt gold metal leaf on stretched canvas
Size: 48" x 96"
Year: 2006
Image
Inspiration:
I only paint an image of a wild animal after I've either seen
it or been visited by it. I've lived most of my life close to
the natural world, in the mountains or on the coast,
consequently I've seen quite a few wild animals. I put mineral
salt licks on my property and enjoy regular visits by the deer.
It's severely limited my gardening choices, but I like the
trade off. I get to know a herd -- See the new fawns,
watch the males grow antlers. This image explores my feelings
about experiencing the presence of the deer in the High Plateau
region that reaches from the edge of my childhood mountain home
in the Southern Sierras to my present home in the rain shadow
of the Cascade Range. The images shift -- sky becomes ground
and ground is sky. The shed horns fascinate me. I placed them
both above and below the horizon line. The shapes of the deer
melt into the landscape. The deer grow out of the shapes and
textures of the flora. The waters of the river on the right and
the lake on the lower left intertwine with the shapes of shed
horn and ponderosa pine branch. Symbols of the cycle of life,
shift with the images.
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