When I was a boy I saw the etching - "Young Hare" 1502 by Albrecht Dürer. I was captivated by it. I can't say it directly inspired THE SULTRY DOE, but it was the image I had in my mind as the clay took shape in my hands.
"Doe" and "buck" are the gender designations for male and female hares.
THE SULTRY DOE is a numbered, limited edition of 25. Approximately 6"x5" Bronze on walnut base. Numbers 1,2 and 3 have already been sold. Each piece is $ 480 excluding S/H. Please contact me to purchase
As I worked on this little sculpture a story started developing in my imagination. I used to spend as much time in the bush as I could when I was young. I liked being alone and my senses were super tuned-in to nature. One of my favorite things to do was to see how close I could get to birds and animals without them detecting me.
Their first response is not to take off running; hares crouch down and freeze. The only give-away is the frantic, shallow breathing. They pin their ears flat against their body, muscles tight as a coiled spring - ready for an explosive escape at the last second. I've seen them do it on a flat gravel road!
Journeying back into my childhood something came to me.
It
was at the river where the air is always slightly cooler than that of
the surrounding bush and where the grass is always lush and green. I wasn't being particularly careful or quiet. Grasshoppers were clicking and whirring and other insects were buzzing and chirruping when I rounded the bend and suddenly saw her. She just lay there. She was not startled or afraid. She was not going to run. She was not even crouching or hiding...
"...The sultry doe was
stretched out across the soft green grass. Her elegant
body perfectly contouring the curve of the embankment.
Eyes half closed she lay in the afternoon sun like a
string of low-slung pearls. She did not know I was there…then again, maybe she
did…"
