"Up With The Chickens"

(and other works in progress)

Up With The Chickens 24x24 (in progress)

Hi!,

"Up With The Chickens" is well on its way to being finished.

Once again, my favorite part was the texture of the linen table runner the bowl sits on. Very therapeutic.

I also layered on a few glazes to create more depth, smoothed out the edge of some shapes, and added detail to the eggs.

I made the inside of the bowl more bluish, even though this particular bowl is light brown on the outside.

I take liberties with reality like this quite often.

The hardest part is waiting for paint layers to dry. I ask you,...

What's an artist to do?

Start another egg painting, of course.

Actually, it's more about having mixed a lot of color and hating to waste it.

So I started four. Below are the other three.

"Cracked" 5"x5" Oil on linen

I started "Cracked" last week before the big one with the bowl of eggs.

It's part of an experiment with adhering Belgian linen onto a Dibond (aluminum core) panel.

I did the last two teacup paintings this way also.

Half-shell and feather 5"x5" Oil

Not yet titled

I really want to call this one

"Chicken On The Half-Shell"...

But it's not an oyster after all.

I am sure that by the time it's dry and ready to find a new home, I'll think of a better title.

Three Egg Omelette 10"x20" (in progress)

"Three Egg Omelette" was almost an afterthought.

Sometimes those go quicker than works I plan and ponder over for weeks.

I had been saving the shells each time we breakfasted on fresh eggs.

I started playing around with them yesterday after I had gone as far with the bowl of eggs painting as I could for one day.

It has a long way to go before I finish, but at least I got the values down and the first color layer blocked in.

I'll add a feather somewhere in the left third once everything else is finished and dry.

March has been a rather quiet month, but that's about to change.

April's calendar is filling up fast.

With warmer temps come more opportunities to paint outdoors.

I'm painting another nursery mural.

There's also a great birding event at Ford House on April 13th.

I'm holding another Sparkling Art Card class via ZOOM on April 27th with a focus on roses. I have four people already signed up for that.

Sparkling Canary Card, by Sara S. (image used by permission)

A young woman, Sara S., came to the last two classes, and then sent me this lovely art card that she made with paint left over from her kit.

It seems people are still making good use of those.

I wish you could actually touch this pretty card.

Sara made it so velvety, shimmery, and delicate.

If you are thinking about joining us for the April class, but would like to see and touch a physical swatch/sample before you decide, reply to this email with 'Send me a free sample.' I'll get that off to you asap.

Exciting stuff ahead.

In the midst of the busy, be sure and take time for birdsong!

Jan