CORMORANTS
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
WINTER 2021-22

     Cormorants are one of my favorite marine birds, maybe because they are easy to identify and commonly seen near us.  They are a fairly common sight perched on pilings or standing on a rock or floating log as the surf crashes around.   I always enjoy seeing them as they give a sense of “being home”.  Cormorants were often depicted in Japanese art where the birds were tethered and used to catch fish for their human handlers.  Images of them continue to inspire me to create paintings of cormorants.  The design for my cormorants was influenced by both Northwest Coast Native and Celtic art traditions.  In homage to the Japanese Rinpa School, I used a tarashikomi, the “dripping in” effect, for the rocky areas of the painting by allowing wet paint to diffuse over the design.  The waves are also Rinpa-inspired.  I made the frame for this painting 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:          HEIGHT:  24 inches
                                  WIDTH:  14 inches

                                                             PRICE $500

EISEN Cormorant Fishing on Nagara River