Actual size   Framed

Moorhen and Cypress Traditional Miniature Acrylic Image: 2 3/8" x 5 1/4" Frame: 8 3/8" x 11 1/4" $875 (s/h not included) Available through: Decoys and Wildlife Gallery (908) 996-6501 I find cypress trees to be very mysterious and romantic. They are tall and slender, with canopies draped in delicate hair-like webs of Spanish moss. Because they grow in a kind of swampy gumbo, cypress trees must develop tremendous bases to counter-balance their heights and keep them standing. Whether parts of old worn stumps or living trees, these root systems can be most interesting, with deep crevices, gnarly grain and craggy bark. The Audubon Swamp outside Charleston, SC, has acres of these trees. One evening while visiting the swamp, I noticed an abundance of Moorhens literally turning the place upside down, poking under every leaf and pebble. I couldn't resist combining the two subjects and painting them in the romantic light of a southern evening.