Wild Turkey

A friend with a particular passion for wild turkeys gave Jeff the bird that became this painting. Jeff had watched turkeys grow from an unusual roadside sight into a familiar part of his days. Their ungainly presence at a distance could give way, up close and in the right light, to an unexpected grandeur.

Warm light revealed bronze and copper feathers with an iridescent shimmer. Jeff found dignity in that richness, along with a strutting confidence entirely indifferent to his opinion. Wild Turkey grew from his effort to give that complicated, regal beauty its due.