Shadows on the Lawn   1995 
Acrylic on canvas, pine and birch frame  48 x 46”

   Many animals create order in their own worlds, but do not respect any order other than their own.  Bears eat honeycomb, birds will steal to build their nests, mankind does both and much more, and beavers, the great architects of nature, will even steal from other beaver dens for their own needs.
   This painting is about the chaos of nature and its relentless disregard for the best laid plans of mankind.  Here, the beavers walk over the nicely manicured lawn to get to a tree they want to use for their own purposes. 
   Compositionally, this painting is an homage to Grant Wood’s “Parson Weems Fable,” in which Parson Weems is holding back a curtain and pointing out a scene in which the young George Washington, axe in hand, is confessing to his father about chopping down a cherry tree. 
   It is an innocent act of destruction by a child whose actions are dictated by selfish desire, not respect or consequence.  It is the action of a wild animal.