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"Primary"
22 x 22"
Gallery Wraped Giclee Canvas, 2011
Red-Breasted Sapsucker
Artist Proofs $495- available directly from the artist.
How to buy
A very limited edition of seventy-five signed and numbered giclee canvases are available from The Greenwich Workshop for $495 each. Follow the link below to view or purchase.
Denman Reproductions from GW
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This piece came about when this beautiful red-breasted sapsucker flew into the window of a local art gallery and broke its neck. The owner was kind enough to call me, and this painting is the result. I wanted to honor the bird, and this dramatic trompe le’oeil treatment, the primary colors, and the symmetrical composition lend the piece an iconic feel. I was tickled that one of my students, a girl of just twelve years old who saw this in progress on my easel, immediately referred to it as my "crucified bird" painting. Sometimes all signs point to the need to paint a certain painting, and that was certainly the case with "Primary," and not just because the unfortunate death of this poor bird set the piece in motion. I had already laid my model to rest when I decided that the composition would not be complete without the fallen feather in the lower part of the picture. I was kicking myself for not having kept a tail feather when I remembered that my grandmother had given me an envelope with feathers she’d collected from her property perhaps a week earlier, and which I had never even opened. I opened it up, and sure enough, there was the tail feather I needed! Although the red-breasted sapsucker is not a rare bird, I had never seen one in my area before I undertook this painting, and here my grandmother had randomly found just the feather I needed at precisely this time. It’s extraordinary. To add to the magic, I was taking a walk not two blocks from my house a week after I finished this painting, when one of these splendid birds flew right across my path. It felt as though nature were speaking to me, giving me a little nod of encouragement and approval.
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