Title: Superior Forest
Medium: 2-D Acrylic on masonite
Size: 12″ x 14″
Movement: Fantasy
Series: Pigeon Lake
Circa: 1995
About the work:
Painted on masonite board on an island on Lake Superior. This small deserted island’s main inhabitant was the Mayfly. Filled with lush vegetation and large mangrove style trees, rooted in the sandy soil, I aptly dubbed it “Mayfly Island”. The Mayfly only lives for a day, just long enough to lay eggs to a new generation of Mayfly. Like the Mayfly, I had one day to produce a number of works. This was one such work. It depicts all the creatures I imagined would inhabit Mayfly island. Can you see them all? Hidden in the painting are several images, including a gnome, gorilla, Rhesus monkey, sloth and more. This whimsical exercise was inspired by “The Fair Feller’s Master Stroke” by Richard Dadd. As with Dadd, the figures are drawn entirely from the artist’s imagination. Only the trees, vines and roots are based in reality.
Sitting in the center of the island closed in from the surrounding waters of Superior, I found it particularly important to make the most of every minute I had in this tranquil environment. Keeping ever cognizant of the limited time the Mayfly had on this earth and how little time we all have.
