Home | Meet The Pelicans | Artists | Sponsors | Pelican Tales | Auction | Events
49: SHELLICAN
Sponsor: Clearpoint, LLC
Artist: Don Stewart
About the Pelican: The idea for the SHELLICAN came from one of Don Stewart's earlier ballpoint drawings, a pelican composed entirely of seashells. This is the first attempt by the artist to transform one of his humorous composite renderings into a three-dimensional design. The combination of bird and shellfish translated naturally into a sculptural format, featuring a Nautilus for the head, a bill of Razor Clams and Cowrie shells, Conch legs, and of course, Pelican's Feet. The bird's body consists of a Giant Clam with a Limpet belly and Sea Turtle back (not a shell fish, but certainly a sea shell), and Scallop shoulders with Oyster epaulets. The wings are a motley collection of Augers, Abalone, Clams, Snails, Scallops and Sand Dollars, dotted with Barnacles and feathered with Mussels. The overall nautical design fits neatly into the local environment of Fairhope; finishing the entire figure as a faux sand sculpture simply moves the concept that much closer to the beach.
About The Artist: Donald B. Stewart is owner/artist of the DS Art Studio Gallery in Homewood, Alabama. He creates and markets a line of humorous composite drawings as original art, limited and open edition prints, and hardbound books. In 2006, he was a Featured Artist in the Alabama Writer's Symposium, Monroeville, AL. In 2001 he was a Featured Artist at the Breda Jazz Festival, Breda, Holland. He has a BS in Biology and Art from Birmingham-Southern, a Doctor of Medicine from University of Alabama, and completed his internship and residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. "My drawings consist of big pictures made out of little pictures, with a little humor thrown in. If indeed it serves a larger function, my work may be helping to bridge the gap between comedy and serious thought. Humor occurs in the brain, where jokes work their magic by translating words (or images, or both) into unexpected mental connections. Sadly, I believe as a society we are becoming less and less accustomed to recreational thinking; we rarely think and smile at the same time, and our intellectual joy is often limited to the duration of a punch line. As an artist, I'm working to change that-one picture at a time." www.dsart.com
Pelican Pals | Pelican Story | Special Thanks | Directions | Contact Us
