“I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart.”
– Vincent Van Gogh
RESPLENDENT
As previously shared, I love a good challenge. Not only was I drawn to reference images of extraordinary detail, I no longer had an interest in painting on small canvases.
I came across the work of photographer, Ken Geiger and I chanced upon the most captivating image of a Grey-Crowned Crane. I knew there was no way I would get all the detail I wanted to on a smaller canvas. Here was the birth of my largest painting to date, completed at the very beginning of my art journey. Tackling this large piece was yet another milestone in my journey and pushed me to further my talent. I wanted to learn more and do more. I knew I was capable of more.
TITLE: Resplendent
MEDIUM: Acrylic on Canvas
DIMENSIONS: 36” x 48”
SUBJECT: Grey-Crowned Crane
DATE: 04-2019
STATUS: Unavailable
The Grey crowned crane is the national symbol and national bird of Uganda and is featured on their flag and coat of arms.
Flocks may include 30-150 individuals.
The Grey crowned crane is omnivorous bird, it eats plant matter, including fresh parts of grasses, seed heads of sedges, and insects such as grasshoppers, locusts and crickets, and worms, lizards, frogs and crabs.
Grey crowned cranes are monogamous and mate for life.
Many people have the belief that these cranes can bring rain, so they include pictures of cranes in their rituals to encourage the rainy season to come.
During the breeding season, these birds perform beautiful displays: dancing, bowing, running and jumping, while making low booming calls which inflate their gular sacs.
Populations of Grey crowned cranes are rapidly declining, due to degradation of habitat by human development, changes as a result of drought in several regions, the loss of breeding areas from overgrazing and the drainage of wetlands, and also the pet trade, egg collecting, use of pesticides and hunting.