DIMENSIONS: LENGTH: 27 inches HEIGHT: 25.75 inches |
WATERFALL SCREEN
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/ RED OAK FRAME (WINTER 2012) We had an indoor fountain which became the “watering hole” for our cats. The cats loved to drink from the flowing stream, with the algae-covered rocks in the fountain adding their own particular flavors. When it was full, the fountain sometimes got the wall behind it wet. For years we placed a piece of cedar behind the fountain to keep the wall from getting wet. This cedar originally was the top of a firewood box that we bought in Seattle back in the 80’s. The box eventually fell apart from heavy use, but the top remained in good shape to be used in its current form. It seemed only fitting to paint this waterfall on the cedar. Hopefully the cats appreciated it. I started to think about painting a waterfall with a tree extending over it back in April of 2011. After that, I looked to be inspired by several of my literary sources. Japanese woodblock prints are some of my favorite works of art and those illustrated in Ukiyo-e; 250 Years of Japanese Art, by Roni Neuer, Herbert Libertson, and Susugu Yoshida (©1979, Gallery Books 1988 edition) are always a source of ideas and inspiration. Hokusai’s prints from the 1830’s were very helpful; in particular the waterfalls depicted in “The Poet Li Po” and in “The Kirifuri Falls in Mount Kurokami” (pages 294-295). Another source of inspiration came from a book I was given as a gift when I “retired” from cooking at Café St. Clair in Memphis, back in 1979. Friends at the restaurant gave me Roger Dean: Views (©1975, Dragon’s Dream Books). Roger Dean’s amazing “landscapes” are filled with great images, but the waterfall shown in The Wizard” (pages 69-70), was very helpful. In the Arts & Crafts tradition, 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.
PRICE $560 |