Fairground Sheep | 9"x12" | Oil Paint on Stretched Canvas | 2012
This painting was based on a black-and-white photograph taken by a friend at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine. The sheep were waiting their turn in a sheepdog competition, and I was drawn to how calm they seemed... especially knowing that peace could change at any moment.
Working from a black-and-white image meant I had to invent the color rather than simply copy it, which became an important part of the painting.
I was also thinking about the stylized animals found in early Italian religious painting... the simplified forms, quiet gestures, and almost devotional stillness they can have. I wanted these sheep to feel peaceful in that same way.