"GRASSLANDS HABITAT"

Original - 24" x 30" - $2000 SOLD

The Archival Photo Print reproducion of this painting is on 70 lb. Photo Matte Paper.
Each print is a conventional size for framing, the 3/16" white border would fall under any frame added.
Shipping would be at cost. Inquiries welcome. Soon to be available at the NC Botanical Garden, Chapel Hilll, NC

Paper size - 16" x 20" - $30 SOLD OUT
Paper size - 24" x 30" - $60 SOLD OUT

Detail

Statement:

Nature figures prominently in my work. My personal paintings reflect my interest in the environment. The overlapping, transparent image technique allows me to weave elements of nature together as they are connected in real life.

My main interest other than painting is native habitat. When I am not painting I am usually found in my garden. I am restoring both shade/woodland areas and one large grassy, sunny meadow. The meadow is the result of the city cutting a sewer easement through our property. The result was an unattractive mix of briars, honeysuckle and many other non-native invasive plants. I made a deal with the city if they would keep out, I would keep it mowed.

The result of this has been a great adventure in learning about native plants and grasses. I have eliminated any grass on the property that requires weekly mowing and replaced it with appropriate native plants that nourish the bugs, birds and critters that need it.

This print is one of a series of paintings I am working on which I call “Habitats”. The buffalo here is representative of a lost icon for all of us. Three hundred years ago buffalo roamed all across this continent and flourished on the grassy fields sometimes called prairies or meadows. In this I represented those buffalo not with a realistic rendering, but with a symbol. It could be considered a ghost or a sacred white buffalo.

The other creatures pictured here are all, and many more to be found in one of these varied landscapes with native grasses and wildflowers. These fields are good for the environment in that they require no fertilizers, minimal upkeep (mowing only once a year) and provide food for our dwindling wildlife populations. There is nothing so beautiful as a grassy field in the wind, like the ocean with it's waves of grass.

The horizontal middle section of grass in this painting reminds me of a heartbeat. Grasslands and their preservation may indeed be the heartbeat of our nation. Please protect and honor them.