Jan Sorenson
Doe A Deer, A Female Deer
Acrylic
30 x 26
This painting was done while visiting with my sister Barb, who lives with a family of deer lovers. Her family hails from a rural area where deer roam freely.
Consequently, many animals are involved in accidents with traffic. Many evenings her family identifies the location of a herd spotted while driving. She and her husband often pack a dinner and drive back roads to watch and admire the graceful animals. They have binoculars in their home to view newborns in Spring, watch the bucks as they claim territory, and smile as the doe teaches her fawn about the wonders and perils of life.
They also love the taste of deer. They make delicious jerky, sausage and roasts. They harvest abundant meat, as they also harvest wheat, corn or other produce they farm. One consequence is several trophy mounts on the walls inside their home. If you inquire, bragging rights are lively and interesting. My 10-year-old niece fully participated in the harvesting and preparation of 75 pounds of meat for their freezer for the first hunting season of 2013.
My urban life doesn’t interact often with these animals. While I sport a log cabin look in my home, I choose quilt wallpaper as an accent. I loved painting this beautiful doe with long eyelashes as an alternative to taxidermy. It is my toast to the hunters who help keep the roads a little safer from an altercation with this animal. I am grateful to the Department of Natural Resources who help to control the precarious balance so deer don’t starve.
The painting was a test to allow myself to not “fill in the box,” to leave some lines undrawn, some areas to the imagination. This painting won the People’s Choice Award at a recent exhibit.
For Sale: $650
Muddy Waters
Acrylic
30 x 26
Muddy Waters is the famous “father of modern Chicago blues.” He started playing the harmonica but by age 17 he played the guitar. He hails from Mississippi, got his name from is grandmother who found him playing in the nearby muddy waters of Deer Creek. Some of his more famous songs are “Gypsy Woman,” “Little Anna Mae,” and in 1948, “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” and “I Feel Like Going Home.” His signature tune became “Rollin’ Stone.” His hits include “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” and “I’m Ready.” Muddy reigned over the early 1950s Chicago blues scene, his band becoming a proving ground for some of the city’s best blues talent. He influenced a variety of music genres: blues, rhythm and blues, rock n’ roll, hard rock, folk, jazz, and country. He helped Chuck Berry get his first record contract.
On April 30, 1983, Muddy Waters died in his sleep. A Mississippi Blues Trail market has been placed in Clarksdale, Mississippi designating the site of Muddy Waters’ boyhood cabin.
For Sale: $650
Wolf
Acrylic
30 x 26
This painting was done after research about Isle Royale, a small, isolated island near Upper Peninsula, Michigan. It is home to a unique predator-prey relationship between wolves and moose. The two species have had virtually no human interaction, as the island is protected by national park status, and there is little migration of animals into and out of the island. The unique single predator, single prey allows for precise research on predator-prey relationships and of the fluctuation of the two populations. Since 1958, scientists have conducted an ongoing study of these two animals.
The population of moose and wolves fluctuate frequently and dramatically through the years. Wolves prey on calves, the aged, injured or diseased moose to increase their chances of a successful meal ticket. Between 80% and 90% of moose deaths on Isle Royale can be attributed to wolves. Wolves’ #2 diet preference is beaver. Beaver love aspen trees and create aquatic sanctuaries for the growth of macrophytes – a yummy meal for the moose. The wolves also love the tasty treat of snowshoe hare but they are so darn hard to catch. Snowshoe hares forage for much the same vegetation as moose.
Should scientists intercede and introduce a new family of wolves? Should scientists not intervene and just hope for a bitterly cold winter where the wolves might travel 15 miles across the frozen ice to establish a new habitat? The inspiration of this painting was in hopes of a very cold winter, like 2013/2014 where another pack of wolves would naturally find plenty of delicious moose meat.
For Sale: $650
Contact the Artist:
uforik613@gmail.com | www.artworksbyjansorenson.com