“Let Us Rejoice ~ Ruby Throated Humminbirds & Red Buckeye,” Original painting copyright Susan A. Walton ; currently available only as a giclee print.

The original art was inspired by the familiar Bible passage “This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” The artist also drew inspiration from a visit to Dillard Mill, a functional relic that is part of a state park near Salem, Missouri.

A pair of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds hover around a Red Buckeye with a blast-fractured mill trace rock face behind them; it is lit up with many bright hues of dappled sunlight to soften the story the stone has to tell.

Around them are a variety of plants the artist uses to represent some of the ideas that went into the painting: bedstraw, oak, ferns, violets and more combine to form a private refuge. Symbols of love, strength, life, and faith contrast with the broken rock.

It was painted for a very kind, very hard working man named Marty who wanted it as a gift for his beloved wife. He was especially kind to my parents while doing work for them and years after the work was done, he showed up out of the blue, checked to make sure everything he had done was still operating as it should, and a while after that he returned again and made her day one tough week by bringing her a an orchid tree he had grown and some other plants he knew she would like. She, my greatest art critic, was going blind and he wanted to lift her spirits. Inspired by his act of kindness, I poured some extra effort into this piece in gratitude, praying that the couple’s marriage would be blessed.

#WildlifeArt, #SAWaltonStudio, #AcrylicPainting, #Hummingbirds