Cat Skull Bagpipe

Description

This is one of David Delamare's final paintings and one of his most compelling. It came about when I (his widow) happened to read a description of a fairy funeral by William Blake and suggested that David might consider painting the subject. David had no idea when he was painting this image that he was in his final year. But we never thought of this piece being about physical death. Those who are familiar with Peter Pan will remember the famous lines from the author J.M. Barrie. Peter Pan explains, "When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." Later, the boy who won't grow up explains, "Children know such a lot now, they soon don't believe in fairies, and every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead." David and I rarely attached any interpretation to a piece, but we talked about this one as possibly being about the importance of keeping wonder and belief alive. I also thought of it as a memento mori, a reminder to seize joy and inspiration while we can. I have long kept this piece for my personal collection, but have decided to let it go. The original artwork was painted in oil on stretched canvas. It measures 48x24 inches, and is priced at $14,000. Layaway options available. Prints of this image are available at www.daviddelamare.com