Fable of the Five Birds

This was the first piece of the seven images in the Fables series that I completed in 2009. It will be included in an exhibit of collage and mixed media work curated by Peter Marcelle, owner of Hampton Road Gallery in Southampton. The exhibit will be at the East End Arts Council in Riverhead (www.eastendarts.org) from July 23rd through August 27th. Gallery hours are 10AM – 4PM Thursday – Saturday. The Arts Council is at 133 East Main Street in Riverhead, 631-727-0900.

Fable of the Five Birds contains elements of collage in addition to oil monotype, colored pencil and pastel. The small elements lined up on the bottom of the image are my way of adding “predella” images to the piece. In medieval and renaissance altarpieces small images relating to the main subject are often painted down below the main image and sometimes on the sides as well. Their function is to further amplify the subject of the altarpiece. For example, an image of Saint Frances will have predella images that relate stories of the life of the saint. Sometimes these small images are taken out of a large altarpiece over the centuries and are displayed on their own. In my Fable of the Five Birds I wanted to use this device to add depth and mystery. In all of these fable images in this series I wanted to create a strong sense of a possible story, narrative or fable. The fable itself remains a mystery, even to me.