Small paintings...

I Will Return, 7 x 11, acrylic on raised panel $135.

(part of my show at Sautee-Nacoochee this month)

For the past month, as I stewed over not having a vehicle, I couldn't seem to get myself working on anything but smaller pieces. I think (subconsciously) I needed to know I could accomplish something every day - and working in smaller formats allowed me to feel productive in the face of uncertainty.

After nearly a month and having replaced several parts as well as the engine or main computer, the problem with my formerly trusty van turned out to be a short under the motor mount that sent surges and/or low voltage to the various electronic parts, eventually ruining most all the switches and a motor or two. It was a bear to find, obviously, as it only occurred during the sort of driving that would cause the motor to rock in the mount (steep hills, hard braking, or revving the engine really high) - none of which I do if I can avoid it! The diagnostic equipment only finds obvious problems - rather like having an x-ray for a metabolic disorder - it ain't gonna show up...

And now after a couple of days of driving about in a rather preoccupied state, I have lost my camera!! Granted it's not the best camera - but the last thing I need right now is an expense, especially one due to my own carelessness.

Carelessness - now there's a word that really doesn't apply - I care lots! I'm just absent minded and easily distracted when there are lots of people around. I remember being very insulted as a child when I was admonished for carelessness. It was usually a matter of focus, just as it is now.

And without my camera, I cannot post the photographs of some of the newest pieces - so here are a couple I've not posted before...

Black Bird/Black Wind, 12 x 12 drawing in crayon and graphite (nfs)

And this little painting is titled "Renaissance Chick". This was a case of having this funny little ornate frame with only a postcard sized opening. So I painted the chick to go with the frame, thinking no one would ever buy it - and yet, someone did!

Back to painting I must go. I've a deadline for a commission coming up fast.

A sideways glance...

If you've ever raised chickens, no doubt you've seen how they cock their heads from one side to the other. Perhaps their eyes don't allow the best view straight on; after all, their faces are so pointy, they end in a beak! Or maybe - like me - they have a "good" eye and a "bad" eye (without corrective lenses, my vision is 20/400 in my legally blind left eye). So, perhaps chickens check things out with a far-away eye and a close-up eye, just like me - but unlike me - they must roll their entire head from side to side to size things up. Now I know a chicken has a tiny little head and a tiny little brain perhaps the size of a pea. My brain has to switch from the right lobe (eye) to the left lobe (eye)to "decide" which image to process. Do chicken brains have lobes? Split-pea takes on a whole new meaning.

Giving 'em the eye, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas

My two disparate eyes send wildly different images to my brain - one much more in focus than the other, depending upon distance. I can almost feel my brain switching eyes much as one shift gears: pause, shift, go. Most of the time this happens subconsciously, but there are times when this becomes uncomfortable - as when one's focus shifts from an entire room, to friends across the table, to the small print on a menu. Because the lenses in my glasses are so different, the size of the corrected images differs enough so that once again my brain must choose the best (sharpest, clearest, most meaningful) image. I usually just remove my glasses, thus eliminating distance vision - and making the near (left eye view) world of friends and menus the only options available .

I read with my (bad) left eye, too. Even though I am distance blind in that eye, my close focus is superb - vastly better than that of my astigmatic right eye. So whenever I read, or do closeup work on a painting, I'm lenses free. But if I need to walk about or look out of the windows, I must grab my glasses once again.

Sometimes I think my extreme visual orientation is precisely because of my impaired vision. I value that which I can see more than anything, because I know that without corrective lenses, I would be severely handicapped. I don't want to miss out on the world around me, so I look and look and look until I can see clearly...

Funky Leghorn Strut...

Funky Leghorn Strut, 11-1/2 x 13, acrylic on panel

This matronly hen will go on sale at the Heritage Center this week unless she struts right out of the picture.
It's been a pretty good week. I sold When Trees Bleed, and Poised, and the two little Tuxedo Cats painted on tin - and - A Bear Board; literally two bear cubs painted onto a wonderful old weathered board that was 12" wide.

It was fun painting this. My goal was to keep as much of the natural texture and color of the board itself. I painted only the parts that weren't part of the "tree" or bears. I love the fractured ends and the actual holes left were knots fell out. I don't know how old the board actually was, but it will endure yet as another form of "tree." Size is approximately 42 x 12. Tres rustic...

Black Croad Langshan Rooster

Black Croad Langshan, 15 x 20, acrylic on panel

This is the one I painted for another Heritage artist. Lucky for me he left it to hang in the gallery for a bit so I was able to photograph it. The Black Croad Langshan is an endangered livestock breed. Originating in China, this feather-footed fellow is entirely black with iridescence in the hackles and tail feathers.

Painting chickens is pure recreation!

Spring peeps... plover chick...

It's going to be an interesting couple of months... Last Friday I went for training as a "Lister" for the 2010 census. It's temporary work (I hope) to help tide things over and I'm happy and lucky to have been chosen. It will probably mean a lot less painting - but I'm going to keep to a schedule of painting in the evenings. Likely they'll be smaller works like the one posted here. I hope to be able to work four ten hour days so that I can be working on the outdoor mural job two days a week. The clients are not in a hurry, but I want to finish before hot weather, and in Georgia we see the 90's by mid June.

In addition to my Black Bird series, I've got a thing for little chicks. I think it stems from having raised several of those poor little dyed Easter chicks as a child. My dad used to bring a few home each year much to my mother's distress. That was in the days before folks were aware of how awful things were for the baby chickens. Ours were relatively lucky, as my siblings and I knew how to care for them. I still remember how they looked as they feathered out with those outrageous pink, blue or green pastel tips on their feathers.

I've been gathering up references and working on a few of these here and there - and last night I completely reworked this one. I changed the background color and the shading of the down feathers further away from reality and more toward the lavender, periwinkle, and russet colors that felt right. I just love the huge feet of baby chicks. They look a bit like children wearing their parents' shoes - or, in this case, feet.

This little painting is 8 x 10, acrylic on gessoed panel. I'll be posting it for sale on buypatrice.

Cute Kitten Picked On By Baby Chicks - The most amazing bloopers are here
And then, just for fun, I found this video of chicks and a kitten. All too small to know they could be enemies... It reminds me of the time I ordered six dozen chicks from chicken breeder catalogs - and fifty of them turned out to be roosters... So much for "random selection."

And for irony: Here are a few more of my favorite chicks: And if you like that one, try this one.

Henfeathers, acrylic on canvas 18 x 24

Henfeathers... available $575.

desperado

acrylic, 4" x 6" on board. $175.00. To purchase, email me for details.

This might be one of my all time favorite paintings. The surly expression is certainly indicative of the little fellow's thoughts about his future...