"Yellow Bellied Sapsucker " 2001
Acrylic on canvas 20 " x 16 "

A member of the woodpecker family, sapsuckers chip holes in trees (maples and pines mostly) and eat the sweet sap that flows out. They will also feast on the insects that gather to eat the sap. Eventually, the holes in the trees allow diseases to enter and the tree will die. In this piece, the eventual demise of the tree is foreshadowed by the damaged leaf above the sapsucker's head, and the destructive nature of the bird is highlighted by accentuated head-feathers that take the shape of little devil's horns.