Poster Image

Three children in swimsuits play with dogs in the water as three red-tailed hawks watch from above

$20

Item#: 2012SYR16

Purchase Details

11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.

You also receive…

An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.

Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.

Poem Inspiration Location

Red-tailed hawk sails high

poster information

Description

Red—tailed hawk sails high
Over kids and dogs splashing:
Elmwood Park summer.

Living on the edge of Elmwood Park allows me to hear children and dogs playing there all summer. I sometimes see the hawk sail up and out of the park and loop away, making me stop planting or weeding and imagine its view of us below. It reminds me of my neighbors' stories of wild turkeys trooping through their backyard and of the midnight deer standing on their back legs, front legs on our fence, stretching their necks out to reach as many of the leaves of my pole beans as possible.

When we came to Syracuse, I could tell that I would love the people, the food and the variable weather. However, the city's resident wildlife, snugged up against all the more predictable features of urban life, has been a fascinating revelation.

I really like animals. “Anything with animals” was how I chose which haiku I was going to do. Children's books are probably what I want to do. I also would want to maybe work in storyboarding for film. I grew up with the Disney movies. I think probably my favorite is “Lady and the Tramp.” I think I want to have an animal shelter someday and use my art to help get animals a home so that not so many unwanted pets have to be euthanized. I've made a couple of posters and donated them to shelters. Animals are definitely a greater influence to me than most of the artists I look at. I have a Shibu Inu, Kibu. He's the yellowish dog in the painting. He's pretty much in everything I draw, I think.