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.

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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!

A Few More Chickens and a Workshop

I'm still enamored with "our" chickens. This page was sketched during their feeding time this evening.

I am seriously tired. Like please-let-me-sleep-an-entire-week-away tired. My in-laws came for a visit at the end of June. The motherboard/server at work that stores all of our customers' files, graphics, past ads, photos, logos, you name it, died and we had to start every project we'd been working on from scratch. (Yes, there was a backup but it took two days just to access that. Deadlines wouldn't wait.) A lot of overtime hours were racked up that week! Our IT guy took it in stride saying "Well, I didn't know if I could still pull 36 hour days at my age, but I guess I still can.". (and yes, our IT guy is waaaaay more tired than I am, so I shouldn't be complaining.) And then I just got back from a week-long painting workshop.

A painting workshop? I know, I know: poor me. But let me tell you; spending a week doing exactly what you want with like-minded people and fantastic instructors IS exhausting! My brain is so full. But it was an amazing experience. The workshop was held in Bend, Oregon through Art in the Mountains and our instructors were John and Suzie Seerey-Lester. I couldn't believe that I was able to take advantage of this opportunity - so often I can't afford to go to an art workshop because I'd need to fly just to get there, then rent a car, etc., etc., or I find out about the workshop after I've used up all my vacation time at work. This one was just a (long) day's drive away AND it was specifically focused on wildlife painting AND with artists whose work I was familiar with and who had good teaching reputations. I feel so lucky that everything came together for me to be able to do this.

I'll be blogging more about the workshop over the next few weeks as the experience sinks in. I learned so much and am now very anxious to put it all into practice. Here are a few pictures from the workshop to tide you over:

John Seerey-Lester starts a raven painting for a class demonstration.

Another day, another painting. The Seerey-Lesters put their all into the workshop,
teaching all day and then giving us extra instruction time in the evenings. Clearly they love to paint and love to teach. John also tells some great ghost stories.

Portrait of a Rhode Island Red

Never thought I'd be learning the names of different breeds of chickens! This one from "our" flock is a Rhode Island Red. She's very curious (nosey?), being the most likely of the hens to peer in our windows, turning her head to look in with one eye and then the other. I think she intimidates our cat a little.

A quick pencil sketch led to this pen and colored pencil study.

A Quick Update

We've officially settled into our new apartment! We're enjoying discovering all the little perks and quirks of our new home while still digging out from under the mountains of packing boxes. Madeleine is adjusting to her new habitat well. Here she is, posing next to the funky shower curtain we opted for. The bathroom walls are made of what seems like shower stall material, and are a pale lavender (see the lower left-hand corner of the photo). Since we can't repaint the room, we've embraced the odd color instead.


One of the many delights of our new abode arrived last weekend - our new landlords started a flock of chickens! This just happens to be something Paul and I have talked about doing ourselves someday, so we are enjoying this test run. Madeleine watches the hens through the window very intently, but I can't tell if she sees them as prey or just a curiosity. I'm sure there will be lots of sketches of the hens as soon as I can find my sketchbooks.


And the spring rains have arrived at last. It has rained every day for the last two weeks. It made moving a muddy mess, but we need the rain. Today I noticed mushrooms popping up in lawns all around town. These intriguing ones are from our new yard, and look like something you might see in a medical textbook on diseases of the, er, personal nature. I'll try to identify them as soon as I unearth the box that my mushroom field guide is packed in.


I can't exactly say when I'll be back to blogging on a regular basis again. My ancient computer isn't even set up yet; Paul and I have been sharing his. But I wanted to post a little about our new life and let everyone know that although this whole having-to-move process over the last few months has been extremely stressful, we are really thrilled with our new situation. Thanks for all of your support and well-wishes!