Or at least, to what passes for normal around here most days, after taking 14 paintings to Ottawa for a fundraising art show/silent auction last weekend.
It was great fun seeing some of the paintings from the last couple of months all hanging together in a public space, and even more talking to so many people who had nice things to say about them. The paintings will continue to hang until the end of this week, and hopefully many will be hanging in new homes after that. When I left on Monday afternoon, several had been spoken for already. It's a bit of an odd feeling looking at some of the paintings that felt so much a part of our lives this last little while, hanging on our walls, and knowing they won't be coming back - of course, empty spots on the walls are rare around here, and can be a great motivator for getting something new started.
It was such a scramble these last few weeks trying to get the last paintings finished and everything framed that I haven't added them all to this blog - so here are the last two that were finished just before the show:
Bantam Rooster
The companion piece to the little mille fleur hen, a portrait of my favorite of the roosters that live next door. A tough little guy that will take on anything on two legs or four, he's not a bird to turn your back on. He reminds me a lot of a rooster I had years ago who was the scourge of the farm, putting humans, dogs and horses to flight with equal determination. Four pounds of bad temper and utter fearlessness, clothed in the most glorious feathers - that's a bantam rooster.
Reading on the Rocks
acrylic, 11" by 14"
This is the larger version of the small "Summertime reading" study I did a little while ago. It was a lot of fun to do, I really enjoyed working with the shapes and colors of the rocks, and the strong contrasts. And of course with winter pretty much here - we had the first major snowfall of the year today - remembering the last summer, and looking forward to the next, makes the short, dark days seem a little less gloomy.
