Monday, March 15, 2010



Wild Rooster

Oil on board, 8" x 8"
$190 plus $8 shipping in U.S.
Email don@dailyartwest.com for purchase


There are wild chickens all over Maui. On a walk through the tropical forest these colorful birds seemed to suddenly materialize everywhere, darting from dense grasses and scurrying behind huge philodendron leaves. It seemed strange to hear their down on the farm clucking and crowing in such an exotic environment.

On another note: I'm proud to be a member of "Daily Paintworks," a group of twelve very capable artists. Susan Abbott, a wonderful painter from Vermont, recently joined our ranks. Check out her beautiful oils and watercolors at http://www.susanabbott.blogspot.com/. And take a look at the rest of the Daily Paintworks bunch at http://www.dailypaintworks.com/.

8 comments:

Chris said...

Hey Don;

Love your paintings. I look forward to them each day. Quick question: how do you photograph them? The photos always look so vibrant. Thanks; Keep up the good work'
Chris

SamArtDog said...

I think the chickens are on all the islands. I've heard many different explanations. They're all funny, ludicrous and completely plausible.
Hawaii is a goofy paradise.

Micah Neff said...

Oh gosh, this is great...and the story to go with it is funny...that would be kinda creepy to hear and see, considering I am in the deep of Amish country...chickens need to be in coops LOL

Katherine said...

I love this painting. Beautiful work Don. I like that he's roaming wild. What is it about farm animals? Here I am an abstract artist and I just love a beautifully painted rooster, cow or pig. I know I am not alone in this. z'up?

Don Gray said...

Hi Chris--thanks for your interest. I'm glad the paintings look OK to you, though I feel I need to upgrade to a higher level camera. I'm using a Canon SX110IS, a moderately priced 9 megapixel camera. It's fine as far as it goes, but to bump the quality up I really should have a more professional grade. I work on the raw photos quite a bit in Photoshop before posting.

Don Gray said...

"Goofy Paradise"--I love that description, Sam! Describes it exactly.

Don Gray said...

Hi Micah--yeah it is sort of surreal, especially if you're used to chickens being in barnyards rather than jungles.

Thanks for the comment.

Don Gray said...

Thanks, Katherine. You could say they are truly "free range" chickens, couldn't you?

Can't explain your fondness for barnyard animals...it's your "inner farm girl," I guess.