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Water Is Life - King Fisher By Les Kouba

By Les C. Kouba

Water is Life Kingfisher by Wildlife artist Les C Kouba

This painting hangs in the main lobby of the Freshwater Biological Institute on Lake Minnetonka in Orono, Minnesota. Dick Gray, founder of the Freshwater Foundation, was instrumental in getting this project going. “We approached Les about creating a painting that would express the theme of water is life,” says Gray. “He was very enthusiastic about the project. He donated the original to us and the limited edition prints to help us raise funds.

“We chose the belted kingfisher as the subject of the painting. Les was intrigued with the idea of showing the bird in the midst of a diving thrust into the water. It was a scene few artists had dared to tackle. Kouba combined bird, plant, fish, and insect life into this painting, illustrating a complete biological cycle-‘water is life.’ “Jim Wilke of the Wilke Foundation was a well known amateur wildlife photographer and movie maker. We contacted him to help Les Kouba with the research.

Water is Life by Les Kouba A belted Kingfisher is the subject in this classic Les Kouba print. Commissioned by the Freshwater Biological Institute. Kouba wanted a bird’s-eye view of the kingfisher diving. To do this, Wilke set up his equipment in a tree top with a self-triggering camera so that it would record frame-by-frame the antics of the bird. The results were such that Les was able to create a painting that was absolutely correct in every detail. He once told me that it took more than 1,000 hours to paint this picture.

“After the original was completed, an edition of prints was made. We give a print to anyone who makes a donation of $1,000 or more to the Freshwater Foundation,” says Gray.

"To make the print truly unique, I figured out exactly how many prints there were and then I took the four printing plates and cut them into the exact number of squares so there was one square to accompany each print. This was proof to the collector that this print edition was truly limited the plates were destroyed. No one has ever done anything like this." ~ Les Kouba

Water is Life - King Fisher by Les Kouba is available for sale as a signed and numbered limited edition prints with a 27 x 18 vertical image size priced at $50 unframed.

Types	Dimensions	Edition Size	Price	Cart
Signed Artist Proof Print	27 x 18 Image Size	Artist Proof	Please Inquire	Click to Inquire

To Order Call:
763-494-8888