no, really. why rabbits?

off duty, 30x48, acrylic on canvas, 2995.

My love and fascination for rabbits began with the book, Watership Down , a novel by Richard Adams (NOT the movie).  Feeling oppressed in their current community, a handful of rabbits who are considered weak or misfit, combine their individual strengths and natural gifts to escape, survive a long and challenging journey and begin a healthy community of their own.

And then, having always wanted a rabbit as a pet, Tucker, my favorite muse, became part of our family back in the summer of 2013.  See #thisistucker on instagram.

photo credit: Deborah Saul

I started by painting a small series of rabbits long ago but what's so important about making these rabbits so much larger than life?

One summer evening I was sitting with Tucker while he was inside his backyard corral.  I had been worrying a lot (something I do not recommend - EVER - but something I am prone to do).  I noticed that when I was sitting with Tucker, outside, I had no worries, that Tucker had actually relieved me of this obsession that robs me of living my life!  But how could a being so small and so vulnerable really do this?   By painting Tucker in a large format, I manifested the reality of this (for me).  Days later, I started painting Don't Worry, I Got This.

View my collection (in process) of giant rabbits HERE

monarch, 36x24, acrylic on canvas, 1950.

*initially posted in February 2019