Broken Solitude - Whitetail

As the rising sun pierces the November fog, a mature whitetail buck studies his back trail. A sight, sound, or scent has broken the morning solitude. Another member of the woodland ecosystem hangs motionless on a basswood trunk, also alert for danger. This is the setting for Broken Solitude – Whitetail.

Basswood is a favored rub tree of whitetail in my part of the Midwest, and this clump is no exception. Several recent rubs glow in the morning light while another trunk wears a partially healed scar from a previous season. A feather and dropping reveal the presence of another cautious resident of the hardwood forest, the wild turkey.

"The original inspiration for the painting occurred on a bowhunt in southwest Iowa. While scouting a favorite section of woods I discovered a clump of basswood similar to the one in the painting, with several large trunks freshly ripped up by a buck. It was an exciting discovery both as a bowhunter and as a wildlife artist. I eventually got a shot at the rub maker but managed to miss him at less than 10 yards! My efforts as a wildlife artist were much more successful, as Broken Solitude – Whitetail has since become a favorite of many whitetail enthusiasts and art collectors. The limited edition print is currently selling for many times its initial retail price on the secondary market.

Due to tremendous attention to detail and exhaustive field research, Broken Solitude – Whitetail took over six months of actual painting time during a fourteen-month time span. My basement studio became increasingly cluttered as dried weeds, boxes of fallen leaves, lichen and moss-covered branches, parts of dead elm trees, bracket fungi, and turkey feathers and droppings accumulated.

Broken Solitude – Whitetail, one of my most popular paintings, was chosen by galleries as one of the top 20 prints nationwide in 1992."

- Larry Zach

Editions

Classic Paper

SN Edition: 1500 prints @ $145 (SOLD OUT*)
AP Edition: 150 prints @ $175 (SOLD OUT*)
Image size: 19.5 x 30