Signed, lower right. "There is something both regal and ridiculous about tom turkeys. I wanted this portrait to have an early American feel so I painted the pecan leaves as a border and outlined the leaves in gold. I was thinking about Benjamin Franklin’s thoughts on the turkey. While he never proposed it as our national emblem (although it is a great story), he did think that turkeys were respectable birds compared to the morally questionable eagle: 'For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage…'" -MC