WINTER SPARROWS
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
WINTER 2024
     Not many flowers are blooming in January, but we can always count on the camellias to bring early color to local gardens during this time of cloud and gray.  They are one of the few flowers I know that can be in bloom while the snow is still on the ground.  And as sparrows are here year-round, they make a fitting associate for the camellias.  Kacho-e, or bird and flower paintings, were highly prized in China and Japan for centuries, and Japanese woodblock prints of this genre were extremely popular during the Edo Period.  Winter Sparrows is my contribution to this long-standing tradition.  The initial inspiration for this painting came from looking nightly at a drum design print by Makah artist Nytom (John Goodwin) entitled Makah Nation.  The design for the surrounding borders of my painting was adapted from the Desborough Mirror, a Celtic bronze mirror dating from the period just before the Roman invasion of Britain and now housed in the British Museum.  Finally, the composition for the central design was inspired by the kacho-e prints of Utagawa Hiroshige, in particular his print A Titmouse Hanging Head Downward on a Camellia Branch.  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:  17 ¼ inches
                                  WIDTH:  21 ¼ inches

                                                           PRICE $500

Picture
Nytom (John Goodwin) Makah Nation silkscreen print
Picture
The Desborough Mirror
Gary Giovane
La Conner, WA
[email protected]
Picture
Hiroshige--A Titmouse Hanging Head Downward on a Camellia Branch