Frank Rain Leaf (Taos Pueblo) invokes the courage and strength of his own warrior background and that of his people with this painting on paper using watercolors and other paints. The image is centered around traditional weaponry, with Bald Eagle perched solidly atop it, feathers clearly articulated and wings rampant. Entitled Flight of the Taos Pueblo Indians — 1860 to the Present, he painted it in 2020, as Pueblo and people faced new challenges from the pandemic. It’s a hyperrealistic rendering of Eagle, sacred to so many Indigenous peoples and nations across this land mass and a powerful symbol of bravery and strength in the face of colonial adversity. Here, its talons grip a double-ended spear hung with its own feathers, a fringed buckskin quiver filled with bow and arrows suspended from its center and painted in traditional colors and patterns with Frank’s customary meticulous attention to the tiny details. The background is a warm, almost metallic gray, edged with a complex layered border with traditional motifs embedded at each corner; the sharply defined border lines and symbols are drawn and painted by hand in traditional colors. The entire painting is created with watercolors and other paints on paper with a broad white negative-space edge (no matting), held in a white composite frame under glass. Painting size including frame is 14-3/4″ wide by 11-3/4″ high; frame edge is 7/16″ high; visible area of painting is 13-1/2″ wide by 10-1/2″ high (all dimensions approximate).
Watercolor and other paints on paper; glass in composite frame
$725 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Note: Requires special handling; extra shipping charges apply
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