Kings of the Golden Forest is a large oil painting on canvas of seven fallow deer bucks in a Sussex bluebell wood. It is 60 x 36 x 1.5 inches. The painting was inspired by the little glimpses I sometimes get of deer among trees. This particular group was spotted near Graffham on the South Downs (see the photo I managed to get before I followed them into the wood!). If you are lucky enough to see them when the bluebells are out, it is an aesthetic overload. The seven deer are lined up across the centre of a sunlit woodland glade. The blues and magentas hint at bluebells and there is a gold glow to the edges of the light coming through the trees, which adds to the magical quality of the scene. I see deer almost every time I go walking, but it never fails to thrill me and I never fail to admire the suddenness with which they appear and disappear. I love this painting as it has all the beauty of the deer plus the fairy-tale quality of sunlight in an April forest. The style is semi-abstract Art Nouveau. Painted on white-edged 3D canvas, ready to hang, no frame needed.
