Running Through Woods

Watercolor & 24-ct gold leaf on paper, 22 x 22 cm SOLD!

Here the influence is more from European medieval art. The deer and the birds are larger than the trees because in this story they are more important. Deer are often depicted in medieval tapestries. I have spent a lot of time researching and looking at medieval manuscript illuminations, such as those that accompany 14th-century French composer Guillaume de Machaut’s songs. The paintings of animals and trees in the Livre de Chasse, a French medieval book on hunting written by Gaston Phebus (circa 1387), are amongst the most beautiful I’ve ever come across. The oak woods in this painting are suggested by simplified tree shapes, but everything is entwined. The deer is running through the woods and the birds are spectators. What is she running from?

Detail