On a visit with 100 year old Cled Frank, a lifelong Davidson County resident, Dempsey Essick became fascinated with and old stoneware crock that the Frank family used to store perishables in the cool spring house to avoid spoilage. This was before there was such a thing as a refrigerator or even the electricity to run one. Dempsey borrowed the crock for the centerpiece in his spring print release. He created a small scene with items that were handy, a quart Coble milk jar because Cled once worked at Coble's Dairy, an old coffee can found on the premises and an old wooden Pepsi crate to stand in for a table. The pansies and daffodils were added because it was spring. The Carolina wren was pure whimsey and reflects Dempsey's love of songbirds.

The entire scene only occupies a small area next to an old shed on Cled's homeplace. As you would expect, Dempsey's rendering of the flowers and all the other elements of the scene from the old coffee can to the wood grain on the Pepsi crate and the weave of the table cloth, are true to life and faultlessly rendered.

Look for the hidden hummingbird image