Artwork / Crime Against Nature / Natural (White Ringneck Dove)

painting of white ringneck doves
Gwenn Seemel
Natural (White Ringneck Dove)
2012
acrylic on panel
10 x 10 inches

$1000

Painting white feathers, fur, or hair is always memorable for me, as it’s a matter of finding the colors in all the brightness. I did so with this portrait of a centenarian, this one of a woman at the coast, and this painting of a white dog. Below is the text from the book Crime Against Nature that goes with this image.

There are so many ways to be, but, no matter how different we may seem, it’s important to remember how similar we really are.

Birds belonging to the columbidae family are sometimes called “doves” and sometimes called “pigeons.” Which term is applied to which bird is based loosely on size, with the smaller birds tending to be referred to as “doves” and the larger ones as “pigeons,” but this categorization is not used consistently. Still, despite the fact that these terms are assigned rather arbitrarily, they have acquired cultural meanings: the birds we call “doves” are cherished as symbols of peace while all other birds of the columbidae family are reviled as dirty pests.

wildlife painting by Gwenn Seemel
detail image