The Society of Animal Artists Award of Excellence winner’s list reads like a who’s who of wildlife art: Robert Bateman, Carl Brenders, Simon Combes, Bob Kuhn, Daniel Smith and more. Andrew Denman not only received the Award of Excellence for the painting Twist in 2009, but for other works in 2003 and 2004 as well.

Andrew was chosen by the SAA in 2006 for the Don Eckelberry Memorial Scholarship. The resulting ten day trip to the Caribbean island of Trinidad and the Asa Wright Nature Center led to the creation of Twist. “While these Palm Tanagers were not remotely the most colorful birds I encountered in island’s lush tropical setting, they were among the most memorable” recalls Denman. “Although a ubiquitous sight, they had developed a completely fearless attitude and were frequent visitors, not only hanging from the vines immediately outside the terrace of the main building, but in the main house as well. They proved themselves to be shameless scavengers, cheekily entering the dining room to pillage unclaimed crumbs. I even saw nests indoors, including one amazingly nestled behind a refrigerator."

“From a design point of view, my interest lay in the beautiful play of curvilinear shapes and lines and the boldly abstract negative shapes they create. The addition of the swirling typeface emphasizes this concept while underscoring the graceful movement of the Palm Tanagers.”

This award winning work of art superbly presents the elements of style that have become Denman’s calling card: hyper-realism, stylization and abstraction.