richards poey
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HIS BEAK CAN HOLD MORE THAN HIS BELLY CAN
American White PelicanEdition Size: Unique Piece
Material: Bronze on Black Granite
Size: 8" x 6" x 7"
The first day of the 2014 Eden Prairie Art Crawl, a lady rushed into our home studio and asked, "Are you the sculptor I've been following for several years? Would you be interested in sculpting an American White Pelican?"
Obviously I said yes. She wanted this as a Christmas gift for her stepdaughter who adored these beautiful birds. I did some research and found out that unlike the common Brown Pelican, they don't dive into the water to catch fish. Instead, they "troll," swimming along, putting their open beaks into the water to scoop up the fish.
The name for the sculpture came from Dixon Lanier Merritt's verse:
"A wonderful bird is the Pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week!
But I'll be darned if I know how the hellican?"
Amazing! The American White Pelican's beak can hold a lot—3 gallons: