Kitten in the Corn

 

This was a fun painting of a cat hiding behind the corn stalks in a field preharvest last year. This is a 12"x12" painting, so larger than I normally paint these square works. It is always a challenge to play with the light and how it comes through the field, playing off the stalks of corn and the kittens face. 

Charlie

 

This painting was completed this week while I have been visiting Iowa City cat sitting for my daughter. I had the photo of Charlie from last spring, hense the dandelion.  I think I did a good job making his fir look fluffy.  He is a eight year old Lhasa Apso with a great disposition.  

I plan to paint the two cats in the near future, Stella and Toki.  They were much harder to keep track of than I had originally thought.  Rather sneaky, getting into their food when they weren't suppose to.  There was a learning curve involved with these two.  

Intimately it has been a slow week as far as painting.  However, I finished a book on acrylic painting which I will write a review on soon.  I also made a trip to Dick Blick here in Iowa City to purchase Golden Acrylic Gloss Medium to cover the painting before I put the final varnish on it.  Occasionally I do not put a finish on the surface and let the Matt gesso remain.  Then when it is held to the light it has a shiny, matt quality to it.  Not sure at this point which I like better.  

Eulogy for a Lucky Dog

Payton  8"x8" acrylic on hardboard

This painting was completed about a week ago.  Payton is no longer alive.  She died rather suddenly of liver failure, but not before having one litter of puppies.  Payton was 8 years old when she got sick.  Within a few days she was gone.  But during those eight years Payton got to live free on an Iowa farm.  She slept outside in an insulated doghouse on the front porch and kept watch over the landscape.  She was never locked up or tied up. Her owner attended to her and took care of her.  And amazingly this spring she became pregnant for the first time and had a litter of cute little puppies.  One, Zoe, stayed on the farm. So, the loss of Payton is not as sad as it would of been if Zoe wasn't there to carry on.  Payton was in fact, a very lucky dog.