Two more birds, this time on little easel size canvases (3x3inch). First, a wren, which I've wanted to do for a while....and last Friday I figured out why. My cousin Lori was having an "estate sale" of all of her Dad's possessions that hadn't been claimed by any loved ones. I hung out with her for a bit during the sale, with another Uncle (Uncle Phil, one of the 4 brothers), and my cousin was showing us all of the records her Dad kept. Lots and lots of ancient documentation! One of the things he kept was copies of all the paperwork that went along with his mother's passing, my grandmother. Among that was the list of the "round the table" claims being staked by each of her 5 children...one of those children of course is my Dad. Her will stated that they would draw straws for a sequence, 1 through 5, and go around the table and state an item that they wished to take...keep going around the table until their wants were exhausted and then the balance of her estate could be sold. I remember my Dad asking me if there was anything that I wanted, so he could put it on his list. I told him that I liked the small framed painting of the bird on fabric that hung in her living room. Well, what do you think was #1 on my Dad's list of claimed items? "Framed Wren"! I forgot to mention that to him yesterday when we spoke....I really didn't think he'd make that his #1 pick, but he did. More evidence that he loves me! That wren has hung next to my front door since my Grandmother passed, which was in 1993.....more evidence of how much I loved her! (Plus, that I still really like that painting.)
I also painted some sort of robin, although I'm not sure that's a correct ID. I started both birds out with a background color, like I did for the water glass. I used Naples yellow for the wren and rose permanent for the robin. I love the wren, but am considering wiping off the robin. I put the second layer of background down around the robin, hoping to tone down the fluorescent pink with some graphite. It turned a garish purple color. Then I put some orange over top of that, hoping for something in the brown family. Not sure what color I ended up with. I leave for a training trip to Vermont tomorrow, and will reassess this one when I get home.
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| Nana's Framed Wren |
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| Changed the background color again after I got home! |
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