THE FOWL WOMAN

Having been raised on a farm in Michigan, where my parents raised chickens, cows, pigs and where the horses did all the work before a tractor was purchased in the 1950’s, I especially remember the chickens; notably the obstinate and cocky rooster and the reason we had chickens in the first place…eggs, of course, and every Sunday, the family enjoyed a chicken or two for dinner.

During the 1980’s while living on five acres in Eagle River, Alaska, I decided to teach my children farming values and how to raise chickens, ducks, and geese of their own.  I’m not sure they thought it was such a fabulous idea, but they did learn quite a lot that summer. 

Fall was in the air, and my husband decided to take the “rule of the roost” goose and get him ready for the Sunday dinner table.  All the fowl gathered close to the fence while this procedure was taking place.  The chickens’ necks grew long and a look of fear came into their eyes!  After the goose no longer stirred, the lone rooster in the pen started to crow!  “I’m the boss now!  I’m the boss now!  Over and over he crowed!  This is the scene that inspired this painting (many years later) of the rooster, bright colored and “cocky”! 

The family goose feast was super for supper and the memories linger on. 

I hope you enjoy the story of "The Fowl Woman" and the rooster painting.  As always, I would love to hear from you.  Do you have stories to tell?  Here's hoping you tell them!

Being a farmer’s daughter, “Make hay when the sun shines” was always taken literally.  There is nothing worse for a farmer than to have it rain on the hay as it rots quickly once it is cut.  The weather played a huge role during cutting season.  Now, being far away from the farm, this saying means something totally different to me.

Some people say this proverb means, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today”, or “the early bird catches the worm.”  I suppose these would apply to laziness, but to me, it has more to do with your state of mind from the sun factor.

How do you feel on sunny days?  Are you vibrant, energetic, and happy or basically a ball of fire?  How about on a cloudy, grey and dismal day?  Isn’t it quite the opposite of how you feel when the sun is out?  Don’t you just want to sit down to read a book, lazy around the house, or if you are at work, doesn’t it feel like you don’t accomplish much?

I recommend every artist to paint something everyday to see how the weather affects artistic thinking and how much more you can produce on a glorious sunny day versus the cloudy, gloomy one.  If possible, do a painting a day for a few months or a year and keep a log of the weather and what you painted on your calendar.  This gives you the opportunity to see how the weather played a role in your moods and how your varying moods affected your paintings.  It is very interesting to see the results!

Do as much artwork as you can when the sun shines, for I guarantee your artistic rhythms will be at their best. 

As always, feel free to contact me.  I would love to hear your successes.  Thanks.

Sunset Painting – Bull’s Eye

Here is an explanation on how to paint a sunset in watercolor with little or no drawing.  To sketch this, it only took five lines; the tops of the ridges and the two lines at the base of the hills.  Easy.

You will need to stretch the paper onto gator board or use a watercolor block.  If using a watercolor block, be careful not to touch the edges of the paper with your fingertips when manipulating the watercolor. 

Wet the entire sheet of watercolor paper until it is pretty well soaked with puddles starting to form.  If you live in a humid climate, this will stay wet for quite some time, but in Alaska, the paper dries out quickly.  Needless to say, laying down the paint has to be done quickly as well.

I chose three colors to apply:  New Gamboge, Quinocridone Rose or Permanent Rose and Cobalt Blue were each blended into puddles about the consistency of milk on the palette.  First, apply the yellow in a circular area just right of the center.  Clean off your brush, and apply the rose into a circular area somewhat larger than the yellow, covering part of the yellow, but being careful not to cover all the yellow in the focal point.  After cleaning your brush again, apply the blue over some of the rose and into the edges of the paper.  Be sure to apply enough paint….don’t be bashful!  Watercolors always dry lighter in color than while wet. 

This step is very important!  You should have a lot of paint on the paper, and it will need to be moving around on the surface for the blending process.  If the paint is not moving, squirt water onto the paper to liquefy the paint.  Take the board or block and start to tilt the board up, down, sideways to watch the paint flow together.  Still try to keep the bright yellow area untouched by the other colors.  A squirt of water into the area will push the unwanted color away.  Continue this process until you notice the paint starting to seep into the paper and there are no longer any puddles moving around.  This will take several minutes.  If you run off some of the paint during this process, the painting will become light in color and will lose the vibrancy.  Let the paint dry until the sheen starts to disappear.

The background hill was painted on while the paint was still cool to the touch, and was painted with some rose mixed with blue and applied very thinly.  The second hill and foreground trees were painted with a somewhat thicker mixture.  To get the appearance of low bushes on the middle hill, a wetter brush was applied to the waters edge, pushing the color up from the shoreline. 

Let the painting dry, sign it and you are finished. 

You may want to do several of these backgrounds for future use.  If you need a quick painting for a gift, the painting is more than half finished.  Have fun with this!

The last entry on my blog was about “spring fever”.  It has been hanging on way too long, and it has caused a change in my normal painting patterns.  Instead of picking up watercolors, I started a painting on canvas using acrylics. 

Pink peonies seemed to be calling to be painted, and I had a great reference photo from last summer.  This bunch of peonies was of the single variety, with the sun brightly shining on the curved petals.  The pattern of the flower petals looked like it would make a great composition. 

The sketch was done loosely directly on the canvas with pencil before the initial base layer of paint.  Everything was going well, and it was great fun.  Using a large flat brush and dark greens and blues, the leaf pattern in the background was started in a somewhat haphazard and loose style.  Since normally I paint in watercolors and watercolors dry lighter, acrylics soon posed a typical problem.  Even knowing the acrylics darken as they dry, I still find it difficult to get them light enough.  The leaves were worked on for many days before I was completely satisfied with them.  The flowers were so bright compared to the dark leaves; they looked like they were off on another painting.  Persistence prevailed!

Every day of working on this painting was frustrating!  There were at least two rather sleepless nights, which made painting the next day even more challenging.  However, I didn’t want to give up on the challenge!  I finally signed the painting today, so I consider it finished.  My critique of the painting is brutal.  But, somewhere out in the world, someone will think it was painted for them.  Indeed, it was.

May your challenges give you a better understanding of your gained knowledge. 

ps  Please feel free to make comments; I welcome them!