Wednesday, July 14, 2010

In Memoriam


I am very sad to report that one of my muses died yesterday. We're not sure of what or how. Yesterday morning she was fine and then our landlords found her dead under the coop yesterday afternoon. She was such a beautiful chicken. I hope that she is now in a vast eternal cornfield with lots of grasshoppers and no foxes.

**************************

I know that I had given you a workshop teaser last week, and then haven't posted since. Well, as these things seem to go, I was so excited to get home and start trying out all of the new painting information I learned at the workshop and then I promptly got sick. At first I thought it was just an annoying summer cold coming on, but no, it was my body telling me that I'd overdone it for long enough and I needed to take it easy whether I liked it or not. It is rather hard to argue when you feel like you've been hit by a freight train, so once I could crawl home from the work week, I basically slept the weekend away. By Sunday evening, I finally felt like I had enough energy to start a painting. My chosen subject matter will probably not surprise you.


I've been pleasantly surprised at how much information my brain was able to retain from the workshop and I could instantly see a difference in my painting. The lighting for this photo is not the best, but hopefully you get the idea. I am looking forward to continuing to practice more techniques from the workshop and trying to hone my painting skills!

6 comments:

Heather said...

Gabrielle, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your hen. She's so beautiful, and the painting you shared of her is incredible! Very life-like. I hope that you are feeling better after your "forced" resting time. Hugs to you.

Elva Paulson said...

My sympathy! I once had one hen, a delightful Rhode Island Red named Daisy Mae. .... so I know what a treat it is to have a relationship with one.

Hilke Breder said...

Sorry about your loss, Gabrielle! Have you ever seen the PBS special on chickens? It's amazing! Anyway, I checked out your blog after you left a comment on mine: your's is terrific; so I signed up to follow it.

Laure Ferlita said...

How sad and mysterious. She was a lovely hen!

Love the painting!

Hope you're feeling better soon!

Ken Januski said...

Very nice painting. And sad as the occasion is at least you do have this painting of her.

I hope you do better than my wife with going on vacation and coming home sick. That's what happened to her and it's only now, 10 weeks later, that she's starting to feel well enough to think about going back to work. But it was the same thing I'm sure, just pushing herself too hard until it all caught up with her. I wouldn't write about this except that thankfully she's finally getting better!

Eve said...

Oh so sad for the loss Gab, but that sure is a fine portrait!