Where The Pikas Hide, 2021

Name: Where The Pikas Hide by Maple Leith Art | Buy Artworks | Artlimes, Art & Design
Brand: Maple Leith Art
SKU: dmhPLSuTrRZtZh7Ng
Price: 297.5 CAD
Availability: InStock

Maple Leith Art

Acrylic on paper

Original Artwork, 10.16 x 15.24 cm

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£196.85

✔Signed by Artist

✔ Certificate of Authenticity

✔Framed

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Offered by
Maple Leith

Canada

On Paper > Abstract

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About Maple Leith Art

About the Product

About Maple Leith Art

I’m an artist, an athlete, an outdoorsman, an animal lover, a loyalist, a Canadian.

I’ve been called a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal by multiple woman. I’m a gentleman.

I have a degree in Fine Arts from The University of Western Ontario.

I’m from Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

I have lived in four of Canada’s 10 provinces. I currently live in Fernie, British Columbia.

Home is U.W.O.. Home is Toronto. Home is Shambhala. Home is Alberta. Home is British Columbia. Home is Canada.

I’m genuine.

I admire Diego Velazquez, Andy Warhol and the Great Vincent van Gogh. I respect Velazquez. I love and hate Andy. I have a kinship with Vincent. I look up to Rembrandt, Michael Snow, Yves Klein, Franz Kline, Claude Monet, Mark Rothko, Lawren Harris, Tom Thomson, Emily Carr, Laurie Anderson, the Group of 7, Ai Wei Wei and Banksy.

All of the animals and landscapes depicted in my work I have seen and photographed myself.

My personality is colourful. I love the colours of nature and how they enhance the quality of life. I make art in respect to what I have deep passion for. I create paintings and 3-D mixed media artworks of Canadian animals in addition to landscapes, as well as the abstract exploration of colour. I make art about Canada and the beauty of colour.

Leith, B.F.A.

About the Product

The second of a series of works about where I love to hike and snowshoe in the mountains of BC, Canada.

On several occasions I have seen a Rocky Mountain Pika sitting on a rock watching me as I walk by. Pikas are small mammals that are closely related to rabbits and hares. Pikas live among rock slides in places of elevation in the mountains. They are curious but skittish and they keep their distance. When a predator is present, pikas let out a loud high pitched "eep" which echos among the rocks and valley walls. The cry is surprizingly loud considering their small size.

I once played chase with a pika in Banff National Park. I had no chance of catching him as he would disappear into the rock slide in which he lived. He would keep popping up just out of reach, only to disappear again. Seconds later he would reappear a few meters away. After I was tired and sat down, he came closer and closer, and kept "eeping" at me - he wanted to keep playing.

Recently I hiked to Silver Spring Lakes near Elko, BC. Three small lakes are set a in narrow valley, one after another. Near the end of the third lake you can see the ridge of the mountain above you on each side. The colours of the rocks glisten in the sunlight: browns, coppers, bronzes, reds, golds. The rocks are imposing, beautiful, dangerous and peaceful.

As I sat quietly eating my lunch, I listened to the animals and birds that live there. I watched a hawk overhead land atop the trees. Pikas could be heard in the background warning each other of my presence. On the hike back there was something large foraging in the trees above me. I never saw the animal, but I could hear it disturbing the forest. It was likely a moose or a bear which are common in the mountains.

After I returned home I painted a small series of metallic coloured works inspired by the rocks and lakes of Silver Springs.

Small abstract work on paper, framed and ready to hang.

Small paper work that can be hung in whatever orientation that you choose. Image will appear differently depending on which way that you hang it. Consider the image as I display it, then rotate 90 degrees and look at it again. Find the orientation that speaks to you. This is part of the joy of abstract painting.

My signature appears on the front of the work and my Certificate of Authenticity is included.