"Monumental" original painting by Texas artist Theresa Bayer
Acrylic
NFS
I had done a previous "Rabbit Monument" painting that didn't quite work, so I decided to redo it with a square format. I got the idea of adding the tortiose to give it a story element. Also the rabbits went from real live rabbits to stone monumental rabbits, which adds more to the story. Although the tortoise won the race, it is the rabbits who built monuments to themselves. The tortoise didn't get a monument; but is longer lived that a rabbit, and besides, staying focused is its own reward.
The monuments to the center and to the left are clay models I made. The monument to the right is a candy box (worth holding onto, IMO). The tortoise and frog are plastic animals. In real life, the frog is about twice the size of the tortoise. The rabbits are ceramic. The tree trunk is a bit of interesting wood I found. I set up the whole thing like a still life, then used photos for the rest of it.
