Giovane Cedar Art
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  • PAINTINGS 1
    • Waterfall
    • The Frog Poet
    • Ginkgos & Waxwings
    • Eagle's Pride
    • Spring in Bloom
    • Flower Moon in May
    • Northwest Rain Kosode
    • Snow on the Beach
    • It Only Takes One
    • Scattered Fans
    • White Circle of Silence
    • In the Spirit of Serizawa & Kubota
  • Paintings 2
    • Autumn Introspection
    • Bats' Lunar Playground
    • Foxgloves Reaching for the Sky
    • Plum Tree on a Snowy Night
    • Autumn Moon by the Sea
    • Chickadee in the Snow
    • Down by the Stream on a Lazy Summer's Day
    • 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
    • The Guardian
    • Crows at Sunset
    • Cormorants
    • Skagit Scene
    • Dream Birds
    • Curious Crow
    • Hydrangea's Final Bloom
    • Pine Island
    • The Four Guardians
    • Circle About the Moon
    • Eelgrass Nursery Rhyme
    • Cedar Green Man
    • Serizawa's Kimono
    • Cats United
  • Paintings 4
    • Dance to the Moon
    • As Autumn Approaches
    • Echizen Crows
    • The Spirit of Fallen Camellias
    • Temple Hawk
    • 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 >
      • Cedar Waxwing
      • Spotted Towhee
      • Stellar's Jay
      • Evening Grossbeak
      • Red Breasted Nuthatch
      • Black-Capped Chickadee
      • Cardinal
      • 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
      • 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
  • Catalog
  • Sold Paintings
  • Gifted Art & Personal Collection
  • Night at Marymere Falls
  • Eagle on a Pine
  • Skagit Landscape of the Mind: Full Moon at Midnight
  • Eggplant Harvest
  • Tomatoes & Wisteria Entwined
  • Running the Waves
  • When the Salmon Run
  • Autumn Deer
  • Dunlin Flight
  • The Fox Spirit (kitsune)
  • Crow on a Snowy Branch
  • Skagit Landscape of the Mind V: Winter's Cool
  • Trees IV
Picture
LINGCOD GUARDIAN
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
SPRING 2016
     One of my favorite classes to teach at Neah Bay High School on the Makah Reservation was Advanced Biology, and I can thank Ron and Julie Johnson for influencing me to have the confidence to teach it.  This advanced class gave me the chance to learn alongside my students.  Together we experienced and studied the diverse ecosystems which make the Olympic Peninsula so special.  I was able to take my class and work out in the field on many occasions because mountains, forests, and the coast were our “backyard”.  It also gave me the chance to integrate Makah culture into the curriculum as we learned Makah words for flora and fauna and discussed how these local resources were used traditionally.  Every spring we studied the marine environment and went to local tide pools to study intertidal zonation.  One year I had a memorable personal experience while collecting data at Midway.  Midway is a secluded beach half-way between Neah Bay and Cape Flattery reached by driving out the Cape Loop road from the north and then hiking down to the beach.  The class and I were in the process of collecting data when I received quite a shock.  I had just gotten down by a big rock next to a deep tide pool, and as I looked into the water, I realized that there were eyes staring back at me and in a very threatening way.  It was a lingcod, and its big mouth filled with sharp-looking teeth was enough to make me jump back as if it were about to suddenly jump out and attack me.  Momentary surprise abated, I was then able to just enjoy the up-close-and-personal visit with the fish.  As it turns out, male lingcod aggressively guard their nests to prevent predation on the vulnerable eggs and young hatchlings.  Without the adult’s diligence in standing guard, the eggs would soon fall prey to a variety of predators who would jump at the opportunity to feast on them.  I think it is a lesson to be learned by all parents regardless of species.  I decided to paint this past experience after being inspired by hanging scrolls from the Japanese Rimpa School.  When I looked at Ogata Korin’s Cormorant Fishing in Exquisite Visions: Rimpa Paintings from Japan by Howard A. Link and Toru Shimbo (©1980, catalogue No. 18, page 83) I thought this subject would work well in a vertical format.  In homage to the Rimpa School, I also wanted to use a tarashikomi-like effect, applied both to the rocky areas and the larger seaweed, with the hope of creating more interest.  For the water, I used strips of color to represent the flowing tidal currents of the pool.  I have used this effect before in three previous paintings, Diving Birds (Summer 2013), Fishtales Box (Winter 2015), and Playful Seal #2 (Fall 2015), and have liked the results.  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:           HEIGHT:  26 inches
                                   WIDTH:  10 1/4 inches


                                                               PRICE $400
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