Bird of Columbia and New Tributary

This is the story of some black and white pieces.

I was thinking I'd make a diptych out of these two 24 x 24 inch pieces.  The backgrounds are mostly black with some greys and a hint of red.  For whatever reason I decided they needed to be two individual pieces.

I tried.  Also, this photo isn't great.

 The one on the left became "Bird of Columbia" based on a friend's observation that the image looked like a picture taken from a Bald Eagle nest cam in D.C. that was live at the time.  (Bird of Columbia is another term for American Bald Eagle, and this title is taken from a poem I found online by Charles West Thompson.)

Check out the beauty on the right!

It is currently part of the annual River Market Regional show at the Kansas City Artists Coalition.

Bird of Columbia, 24 x 24 inches, 2017

 So, I thought I finished this other one at the same time (not completed in the image above) even though I was never quite satisfied with it.  Maybe because it reminded me too much of a pair of legs?  But I called it "Tributary" because...it looks like a split in a river. 

Tributary, 24 x 24 inches, 2017

 Here they are installed in Ann Arbor.

They were not actually right next to each other.

After looking at it for while I reminded myself that I am The Boss and Ultimate Creator of my own work, and I make the rules, and break them.  So I filled in the gap and it just feels so much better to me.  I like leaving a little hint in the corner of space/land/air.  I retitled it "New Tributary" because that's totally accurate to the object itself, and a person can extrapolate from there if they want.

New Tributary, 24 x 24 inches, 2018

I'm going to be reworking more pieces because I just can't help myself.

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