Bird with Ring and Blue House 2004

Stefan Caltia made this painting, *Bird with Ring and Blue House*, using traditional oil paints and brushes on a flat canvas surface. The painting has a dreamlike quality, with soft gradations of color and tone. The bird and the house are rendered with careful detail. The simple depiction of a bird carrying a ring above a blue house set atop a hill in a bowl could be interpreted as a symbolic representation of home, love, and nature. The labor involved in creating such a piece would have included stretching the canvas, preparing the paints, and carefully applying them to the surface. The smoothness of the surface and the subtle color gradations speak to Caltia's attention to detail and level of skill. The work challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft by elevating everyday materials to a status of high art.