17,000 B.C. Redux: The Black Stag, Lascaux, France Painting

"The Blag Stag" is one work of my cave art series that resurrects primeval art. To express my love of animals, nature, and ancient cultures, my pieces re-interpret the primal power and beauty of scenes from prehistoric caves in France and Spain. Most works of this series were fashioned while in my own "cave" during COVID lockdowns and an 11-month-long isolating illness. This particular piece re-creates one section of the Lascaux cave in southern France circa 17,000 to 15,000 B.C. The original Cro-Magnon shaman artists brilliantly coalesced the elements of the abstract visual languages -- composition, color, texture, line, shape, form, and pattern in their simplest expressions -- to fashion reverential masterworks of the lives, movements, and spiritual energy of the animals of their world. In my interpretation of "The Black Stag," I used modern painting methods, though the prehistoric technologies were quite inventive. My stucco base affects the uneven surface and cauliflower texture of limestone caves. The shaman used black charcoaled burnt wood to draw and shadow this magnificent 1,500-pound elk with colossal antlers 12 feet in diameter and 90 pounds (the largest ever known); I chose an understated dignified chocolate as the base color. By setting the deep creamy brown against a palette of stone, cream, and yellows, I aimed to create an antique-like sepia tone look to enhance the regality of the original stylized rendering of crowns and tines arched backward to heighten the body's curves. Gold leaf suggests a precious metal that might have been embedded in the original rock, a fitting complement to such a kingly animal, now extinct in reality but living forever in art. Framing is not recommended as it would hide the spillover of stucco over the edges as part of the creative process. Borders are painted a chocolate color, however, to attempt a framed look. Comes with hanging hardware.