"The Wren's Gate (Carolina Wren)"
Oil on board
18 x 24

through
Lovetts Gallery
Tulsa, Oklahoma
918.664.4732

This painting reminds me of a fantastic (albeit early and chilly) morning in Charleston, South Carolina. I was exploring the Isle of Palms with two artist friends, Julie Bender and Ray Brown, when we noticed a stretch of boat docks with waterfowl perched along the pilings. We all spotted something that piqued our interest and headed off in different directions to capture reference material. At one point, I thought I had captured just about everything and was talking to Julie while Ray was being silly, skipping down the boat dock, when I noticed the gate to a private dock — a gate that encompassed some of the elements that I look for in an interesting perch for my subjects like rhythm and repetition. And as I shot this last reference of the day, I thought, “What a great morning out with two of my good art friends on the Isle of Palms and I just found my next painting … PERFECT!”