Jacey Rivers

Studio Concentration Seminar

The Hunt

“Go afield with a good attitude, with respect for the forest and fields in which you walk. Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will cleanse your soul and make you a better person.” -Fred Bear

This series is a reflection of my personal experience growing up in nature and hunting with my father. Walking along the stone walls that scatter our property I listened to stories of the Red Gods and the communication of the forest. The Red Gods are the protectors of the land and animals in the forest, they oversee all animals, including deer, or the “ghosts” of the forest, as my father claimed. They seem to appear out of thin air and leave just the same. The Red Gods decipher what animals are sacrificed and at what hand. My father taught me their lessons of respect and his beliefs of conservation and affection for the forest, and especially the animals whose lives we take. Taking the life of an animal is never taken lightly. It is the forest’s ultimate sacrifice and our greatest thanks, it is a deep connection and understanding with the environment. As Fred Bear said, “Immerse yourself” in the forest, I found peace at sunrise in a treestand, listening to the animals chattering, encasing me in their world. I learned to listen, to hear a blue jay’s caw as a warning, and began to question the forest’s sudden silence. 

Through the use of non-local acrylic paint and abstract shapes I was able to portray the complexity of the forest and my connection and place within nature. I drew inspiration from my childhood and the work of Jessica Franks and Stephan Quiller. Their use of non-local colors in nature helped me to see the woods around me in a new light. 

My art aims to immerse the audience in a spiritual connection with nature and to tell the story of the hunt. I sit in the bottom right corner and aim as the spirit of the forest stands over me, blessing me and sending the Blue jay to warn the forest of my arrival. I take the shot and celebrate the hunt with a prayer to thank the animal for its sacrifice, and thank the Red Gods and our ancestors for their assistance and blessing and the allowance of the cycle of life to continue, and the cleansing of the soul to begin. 

Looking Through the Scope,

taking a closer look of the Landscape and Wildlife throughout the Series

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Detail of The Watchers, 2020
Acrylic Painting
3’x5′

A large white deer looking over me, representing the spirit of the Red God’s and my ancestors watching over me. The deer is stern, showing understanding of sacrifice of the chase. On the deer’s back is a Blue Jay taking off. They are the messengers of the forest, they are a signal of something approaching, and here it is on its way to warn the forest of me. 

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Detail of The Warning, 2020
Acrylic Painting
4’x3’5

A blue jay swoops down to the riverside above the deer grazing under the mountains. When the deer, or as my father would call them, the Ghosts, appear, they do so almost seemingly out of thin air, which I represented in their transparency. A deer pick’s it’s head up in lue of the warning.

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Detail of The Prayer, 2020
Acrylic Painting
3’x5′

I combined my hand with that of the Red Gods and the mountain in the shape of a prayer to show the respect I have for the act of hunting. The Deer lays dead in the grass, with the Blue Jay below to symbolize the relationship and acknowledgment of life lost.

Previous Works