Winter Mist – Great Horned Owl – GICLEE CANVAS – AP 9/40

33″ x 20″

“Most of my paintings are reconstructed from a variety of experiences and sources.
But this incident actually took place outside our dining room window. It was on a foggy
day during a midwinter thaw. “This is the time of year when great horned owls do much
of their territorial hooting. Because it takes a long time for such a large owl to reach
maturity they must begin nesting during the snows of late winter. Although they normally
hoot at night, this particular day was so dull that a pair of them were actively flying
and hooting outside our house. This vocalization accounts for the thrusting pose with
the throat patch fluffed out.

At first, I painted this bird on a large, interesting stump. However, in spite of the hours
spent doing the texture of the stump, it gave the bird a posed, almost stuffed look.
So, I scraped down all my work and put in the diagonal branch to give it a dynamic thrust.
The clump of beech leaves at the top of the picture is to emphasize the same effect.”

May Common