Giovane Cedar Art
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  • PAINTINGS 1
    • Waterfall
    • Skagit Landscape of the Mind III
    • Red Tail Soaring
    • The Frog Poet
    • Ginkgos & Waxwings
    • Eagle's Pride
    • Spring in Bloom
    • Flower Moon in May
    • Hiding in the Tall Grass
    • Snow on the Beach
    • It Only Takes One
    • Scattered Fans
    • White Circle of Silence
    • Northwest Rain Kosode
    • In the Spirit of Serizawa & Kubota
  • Paintings 2
    • Foxgloves Reaching for the Sky
    • Two Flickers
    • Plum Tree on a Snowy Night
    • Autumn Moon by the Sea
    • Chickadee in Snow
    • Down by the Stream on a Lazy Summer's Day
    • With Hope and Hard Work
    • Towhee & Currant in Spring
    • Sparrow's Spring
    • Autumn Grasses (Oribe Tribute)
    • A Tribute to Itchiku Kubota: Ozette Sunset
    • Cathedral of the Trees
    • Baillie Scott Trinity
    • Raven's Forest
    • Eagle Embraces Her
  • Paintings 3
    • Small Skagit Landscapes
    • Dream Birds
    • Curious Crow
    • Hydrangea's Final Bloom
    • Pine Island
    • Maple Leaves in the Stream
    • Plum & Full Moon in Spring
    • Chickadee in the Quince
    • The Four Guardians
    • Circle About the Moon
    • Eelgrass Nursery Rhyme
    • Capercaillies Under Scots Pines
    • Cedar Green Man
    • Serizawa's Kimono
    • Cats United
  • Paintings 4
    • Blue Heron, Red Sky
    • As Autumn Approaches
    • Echizen Crows
    • The Spirit of Fallen Camellias
    • Temple Hawk
    • Blood Moon in January
    • Yellow Flags by the Pond
    • Falling Leaves--Washed Away
    • Goldfinch Dream
    • Autumn Carpet
    • An Eala Bahn (The White Swan)
    • Horse Ema
    • Lucia's Maple
    • Eagles Spring Dance
    • Watts Chapel Tribute Memorial
    • Voysey's tree
  • Blog Page
  • Other Work
    • Paintings 5 >
      • Camellias in Bloom Woodblock Print
      • Hot Otter Love
      • č’u•? is Seal
      • Loons & Horses
      • Hawk on a Pine 1
      • Elk Along the South Fork
      • Spirits of Ozette
      • Lingcod Guardian
      • Plum Blossoms in Spring
      • Journey Home From Ozette Island
      • Tsooes Sunset
    • Boxes >
      • Rose Tree Box
      • Celtic Bread Box
      • Creature of the Box
      • Skagit Valley Chest
      • Kells Cats Chest
      • Miyamoto's Rice Box
    • Trays >
      • Dragonfly Tray
      • Kaiseki Tray
    • Karakami Square Series >
      • Karakami Square #1: Cherry Tree
    • Screens >
      • Eagles 2-Panel Folding Screen
      • The Four Seasons Screen Series >
        • Winter Screen: Eagle & Pine
        • Fall Screen: Canada Geese & Maples
        • Spring Screen: Cherry Trees & Finches
        • Summer Screen: Swallows & Willow
      • Frog's House Screen
      • Waterfall Screen
    • Peacock Sconces
  • Resources List
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  • Autumn Introspection
  • Dragonfly Dance
  • Bats' Lunar Playground
  • Dance to the Moon
  • Cormorants
  • Trees III
  • The Guardian
  • Crows at Sunset
  • Night at Marymere Falls
  • Raven's Flight
  • Hunting in the Tall Grass
  • Heron & Cattails IIb
  • Heron Calendar Commission
  • Sinuois (Octopus Commission)
  • Return to the Valley
  • Eagle on a Pine
  • Ballet of the Seals
Picture
CAPERCAILLIES UNDER SCOTS PINES
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
SUMMER 2015
     We recently purchased a vintage Japanese furoshiki and loved the design on it showing two birds under a pine motif.  It made me start to think about my favorite pine tree—the Scots Pine.  Living here in the Pacific Northwest, a region dominated by hemlock, Doug fir, cedar, and spruce, pines are not readily seen unless planted by someone’s home.  My introduction to the beautiful Scots pine was gained while travelling in the Scottish Highlands around Loch Maree.  I was impressed by their growth habit that to me seemed more like an oak than like the tall, straight conifers I was used to back home.  I was also impressed by their isolated growth on hillsides with the loch and towering Slioch (the mountain peak that dominates the Loch Maree skyline) as the backdrop.  My experience teaching biology peaked my interest in learning more about these trees and I found out that what I saw around Loch Maree was the remnants of the ancient Caledonian Forest which once covered Scotland and much of Britain.  The Highlands of Scotland are a wild and beautiful place which draws people from all parts of the world to experience nature in all of its raw glory.  However, the truth is that this seemingly unspoiled region is a landscape mainly created by the hand of humans.  The old forests are long since cut down and the existing heather-clad landscape maintained to provide habitat for sheep and hunting game like grouse and red deer.  Forest plantations of (ironically) Doug fir and Sitka spruce are now grown to support the logging industry.  Fortunately there is a growing movement to restore the Scots Pine-Caledonian Forest ecosystem as it provides habitat for many rare bird and mammal species.  One bird species that breeds only in these pinewood forests also happens to be one of my favorite birds (through my musical interest in the Scottish band after which it’s named), the capercaillie.  Thus, thanks to that furoshiki and the memories of Scotland it evoked, I was inspired to create a painting of capercaillies sitting beneath the Scots pines whose habitat they depend on for successful breeding.  I have painted capercaillies in the past, mostly in a style derived from its depiction in the Book of Kells, but this time I wanted to paint a more naturalistic version of the birds and to show a mating pair under the pines.  The inspiration for my Scots pines, off in the background, comes from the enumerable pines seen while studying Japanese ukiyo-e prints and painted screens.  I also included a design inspired by the Celtic Revival entrelac of Archibald Knox with help from George Bain’s Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction (©1977, page 63) to stress the Scottish connection of the scene.  I made the frame out of red oak using pegged, hand-joined, mortise-and-tenon construction methods.   I used the Japanese technique (shou-sugi-ban) of charring and oiling the oak to finish the frame.

DIMENSIONS:          WIDTH:  30 inches
                                  HEIGHT:  24 inches


                                                               PRICE $585
Picture
VINTAGE JAPANESE FUROSHIKI
Picture
SCOTS PINE AT LOCH MAREE
Here is a short YouTube video produced by Trees For Life showing the beauty of the Caledonian Forest and the hope of expanding and re-establishing it throughout Scotland in the future.
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