SPARROW HAWK
27 x 38 inches
Acrylic on gessoed panel
Private collection
Jane Peterson Award for Figure or Portrait, 62nd Annual of the Allied Artists
of America
First prize in painting, 1st Annual Great Lakes Regional Art Exhibition
This is a character study of a close friend who grew up in my hometown. Both coming from large families, we shared many of the same interests. One of these was watching birds of prey soar overhead in the surrounding countryside. This painting shows the subject as he appeared after spending a cold winter afternoon in the fields watching hawks. He came to visit me and was watching the birds feeding at our backyard feeders. The intensity of his stare began to take on the quality of a hawk searching for prey. The frequency of his hawk watching trips led to his being nicknamed "Sparrow Hawk," from which the painting take its title.