The kestrel feeds on other birds, mice, reptiles, and insects. The American Kestrel was formerly known throughout the United States as the Sparrow Hawk. Each print is numbered and signed by the artist. Granary, an edition of 100, was printed by hand on 100% cotton archival-quality Rives BFK paper, using a French-made Le Deuil etching press. In dazzling watercolor, the images impress as much for their impeccable realism as they do for their complex narratives. In this stunning but sinister visual universe, beasts and birds are not mere aesthetic objects but dynamic actors in allegorical struggles: a wild turkey crushes a small parrot in its claw a troupe of monkeys wreaks havoc on a formal dinner table an American buffalo is surrounded by bloodied white wolves. A closer look reveals a complex and disturbingly anthropomorphic universe, full of symbols, sly jokes, and allusions to the ‘operatic’ quality of traditional natural history. The thrifty avians are tolerant of humans and can store up to 60,000 acorns in a single hoard, even using telephone poles and fence posts to house their provisions.Īt first glance, Ford’s large-scale, highly detailed watercolors and etchings of animals recall the prints of 19th-century illustrators John James Audubon and Edward Lear. The print depicts crimson-capped Acorn Woodpeckers guarding their cache of acorns as the Hollywood Hills-and the famed Stahl House-are threatened by wildfire. Granary is a follow-up to Ford’s Calafia series, in which the artist explores California’s myth, folklore, and cinematic history. Working with master printers Peter Pettengill and James Pettengill at Wingate Studio, Ford used the traditional techniques of line etching, hard and soft ground, aquatint, spit bite, sugar lift, and drypoint to create this print.

Walton ford taschen