Maiden Rock

imageHere's a picture that's been doing the email rounds (for some time, I think). The question is, is it a photograph or a painting? Well, if you look closely you can see that the areas on the side are sketched in and not that detailed. So it's a painting. If you tilt your head to the left you can see the shape of a woman standing behind a child. But Mary Alice, who sent me the picture, says that if you tilt your head to the right you can also see a big bird's head pecking on an acorn (though she admits you might have to be a birder to see it right off the bat).

Photos

Posted on Wed Aug 25, 2004


Comments

Cool! :coolsmile:
Posted by Shah  on  Wed Aug 25, 2004  at  01:01 PM
Definitely not a photograph, but it's a pretty cool painting ... and the bird pecking the acorn is more obvious than the woman and child, I'd say.
Posted by Big Gary C  on  Wed Aug 25, 2004  at  01:58 PM
Wow. this is really nice. I would love to have a copy - does anyone know the name of the painting or artist? An original link maybe?
Posted by jason steen  on  Wed Aug 25, 2004  at  02:20 PM
I can only see the bird and the acorn
Posted by Alex  on  Wed Aug 25, 2004  at  09:28 PM
oh, I see it now, kind of. just the woman
Posted by Alex  on  Wed Aug 25, 2004  at  09:29 PM
Yes, definitely a painting. I can see both perfectly clear. :cheese:
Posted by Shah  on  Wed Aug 25, 2004  at  10:31 PM
You can see man eating her head (in small version).
Posted by Alien  on  Thu Aug 26, 2004  at  10:21 AM
This clearly is a painting, and I may be going out on a limb here but if I had to guess I would suggest checking on the work of painter Bev Doolittle. Bev Doolittle is a painter from the Pacific Northwest (where she is quite popular--my mother has several) and she has long specialized in paintings that are more than they seem. One, for example, is called "eyes of the forest" that features a frontier ranger on horseback traveling through the woods while rocks, trees, and various shapes all form faces that are watching him. Doolittle is extremely gifted at hiding images into her paintings and creating dual messages or meanings within them. Water reflections are a theme she has used before. I would bet mony this is a Doolittle.
Posted by Ron T  on  Thu Aug 26, 2004  at  10:56 AM
Alex, if you can't see the woman and child--you must be on crack! ;*)
Posted by Dawn  on  Thu Aug 26, 2004  at  01:53 PM
Why is everyone noticing the bird and acorn more clearly. Obviously the artist intended the woman and child to be the subject of the peice. Im almost positive the bird and acorn are merely side products. I just wanted to say that I think there's one gifted artist behind that picture.
Posted by JimmyT  on  Thu Aug 26, 2004  at  02:14 PM
Here is a nifty little trick close one eye and look at the painting, it is beyond any doubt a painting, and you will notice the bird and acorn however if you close that eye and look at the paining with the other it obviously becomes a mother and child - It has something to do with the distinctions in the thought processes between each side of the brain - I find the the bird and acorn image is more associated with the leftside of my brain (my right eye) and that the people are more associated with my right brain (my left eye)
Posted by Jared  on  Thu Aug 26, 2004  at  03:43 PM
The artist Donald Rust does similar style paintings mostly using animals. I have a few of his works, mostly wolves and big cats.
Posted by Vic K.  on  Thu Aug 26, 2004  at  11:33 PM
It seems like a Bev Doolitle to me, however it also reminds me of the work of photographer Jerry Ulesman.
Posted by Vic  on  Fri Aug 27, 2004  at  01:36 AM
the way the color of the rock is and the light and mood of the painting is a little creepy
Posted by john  on  Fri Aug 27, 2004  at  12:52 PM
Has anyone noticed the baby cub right above the childs head?
Posted by Hilda  on  Sun Sep 19, 2004  at  09:01 PM
No, I don't see any baby cub.
Posted by Shah  on  Thu Sep 30, 2004  at  06:40 AM
🐛 ooooo....creepy.... :gulp:
Posted by troubledexperiment001  on  Thu Sep 30, 2004  at  08:02 AM
I have searched through all of Bev Doolittle's paintings and can't seem to find it. Does anyone know of anyone else that may have painted this? I'd really love to have a copy!
Posted by Leslie  on  Fri Oct 08, 2004  at  09:58 AM
I find it fascinating. Whoever created this painting is a genius, very creative and ver dark, if I may say so. I love it, wish I knew who the artist was. I will use this in my class.
Posted by gladys  on  Mon Feb 21, 2005  at  10:41 PM
I see the bear cub. You have to either print out the picture and hold it back a bick but yes, it is kinda sitting on the child's head. Actually it's butt is in the crook of the child's neck and it is facing the mother's elbow. What is even funnier is that it looks like the bear is wearing glasses!
Posted by Stephanie  on  Tue Mar 08, 2005  at  03:51 PM
🐛 i love bev's drawings i'm 14teen i do see the cub but it kinof look's like a racoon
Posted by KEELY  on  Wed Jun 22, 2005  at  10:22 AM
very cool drawing :ohh:
Posted by KEELY  on  Wed Jun 22, 2005  at  10:26 AM
i'm 14teen and can see the drawing very clearly of the maiden and the child but the cub look's like a racoon!
Posted by KEELY  on  Wed Jun 22, 2005  at  10:31 AM
I have been looking at a painting,that is quite old. It is called The empty chair.I dont know the artist.It shows a greyhound ,with its head against a vacant chair.If you stare hard and go a bit bos-eyed ,a image of a ghostly mans head, pops up .It is a bit spooky but wonderfull.It was left in a will, to a publican. Under the condition that it stayed in the small,local pub.I would love a copy.It is that good it makes the above look like a dot to dot.And as we have have seen, the above, is a nice painting.
Posted by mark furniss  on  Mon Aug 29, 2005  at  06:13 PM
Just left a comment about the greyhound, then took a second look.Just above the childs left arm there is an eye. This could be almost be a shark or snake, swallowing the pair from the rear.
Posted by mark furniss  on  Mon Aug 29, 2005  at  06:28 PM
This is most likely Bev Doolittle, who combines many figures in her paintings. It could also be Judy Larson, but my money is on Bev Doolittle. Go to her websites and just compare technique.
Magnificant painter. And in 2006 is still circulating the web as a 'prayer rock'.
Posted by Mickie  on  Tue Jan 03, 2006  at  04:03 PM
"The Empty Chair" is an Irish Wolfhound IF this is the painting you mean.

"The Empty Chair" by Briton Riviere, RA
Posted by Mickie  on  Tue Jan 03, 2006  at  04:18 PM
i saw this picture before, some thought it looked like a person praying
Posted by Eva  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  06:29 PM
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