My Featured Painting - "Old Acoma Canteen & Wren"

~Old Acoma Canteen & Wren~
by
Lori McNee

Old Acoma Canteen & Wren
24×12
oil/board
$2200

SOLD

This still life painting is one of my all time favorites, so I decided to share it with you. The old Indian canteen is one of my prized still life vessels that I own. Believe it or not, I bought it off of eBay! I found myself in a huge bidding war over this piece, but the late 1800’s antique canteen has been worth the big purchase price.

I was inspired by the warm patina on the pottery and wanted to repeat that earthy feeling with the appropriate bird. Like Acoma pottery, the Canyon Wren is from the South West. Wrens are lively little creatures, so I chose a dynamic pose to add a sense of energy to the painting.

Pussy Willows can be seen in many of my simplistic still life arrangements. The white coloration of pussy willows is just enough to repeat the white from the canteen which helps to move your eye throughout the painting.

The background is primarily a warm burnt sienna and raw sienna with some cadmium red. I chose to cool the background with a touch of cadmium yellow and veridian green as it envelopes the bird, otherwise the painting would be too hot and the bird would be lost.

This post has now motivated me to paint another variation of this painting for my newest gallery! I’ll let you know how that goes…

 Thanks for the visit! Lori