Raine Bedsole (American/Louisiana, b. 1960), "Rilke's Love Poetry", mixed media on panel, signed lower right, 24 in. x 80 in., unframed . Provenance: Callan Contemporary, New Orleans, LA; Collection of Noted Preservationist and Aesthete Dorian M. Bennett, New Orleans. Note: New Orleans-based artist Raine Bedsole is a prizewinner in the Florence Biennale and the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation public sculpture grant. Born in Mobile, Alabama, Bedsole spent much of her childhood on a farm, and her early experiences inspired a lifelong interest in nature. Natural forms and textures inform much of her work, which often includes nautical imagery. Her famous boats harken back to several historical references: Egyptian barques that ferried souls into the afterlife; poignant Norse longboats; Native American canoes and life-saving rafts. The recurring motif has a lyrical poeticism and hints at a mysterious narrative, a feeling further heightened by the layers of paint, texture, fabric and found paper incorporated into her work. In ""Rilke's Love Poetry" offered here, pages of poetry are layered into the background, blending material with myth and the power of natural form. Ref.: "Biography." Raine Bedsole. www.rainebedsole.com. Accessed July 28, 2020. "Raine Bedsole." Callan Contemporary. www.callancontemporary.com. Accessed July 28, 2020. Speer, Richard. "Raine Bedsole: Gallery Bienvenu (New Orleans, LA)." www.richardspeer.com. Accessed July 28, 2020.