January 7, The Mustachioed Snowman with Turban

Nearly two weeks after being formed from the Christmas snow, the mustachioed snowman with a turban still watches over the whimsical yellow house. It's bitterly cold today so I dashed out quickly to photograph what remains of the dozen snow people. They're all still standing though a little wind worn. A thaw is forecast for a few days from now. That will be the most decisive of factors as to how long they'll remain.

This painting is 8" x 10" and as per my unique pricing system, $70.

SOLD

January 6, Sex Links

It's no secret that I like chickens. My little flock of 14 is made up of six old hens and 8 new ones, hatched this spring. The new ones are called Sex Links. Look it up if you're curious.

I've done several paintings of chickens over the years. Since I have 359 more paintings to do this year, plan on seeing more.

I had some difficulty photographing this painting. I've lost the natural light for the day (yes, it's going to snow again) so the colors aren't photographing true. The photo of the detail of the painting has better color than the full image. That's how things work sometimes.

SOLD

January 5, The Pensive Chef

Jim's is the creative mind in the family when it comes to dreaming up food events: the chocolate tasting, the Scotch nose training, the mustard pairings, the pickle fest, the Russian / Mongolian multi-course dinner, the Dutch oven camp dinner and the soon to be experienced Jamaican sauce event. He thinks long and hard about each culinary happening and provides the menus and recipes. Salut, Jim!

SOLD

January 4, Snowy evening in purple

Hilary says I lean toward a purple palette. Since I was already leaning in that direction, I pushed it just a little further and painted a snowy evening in purple. Since it's also a wooded scene, totally from my imagination, it also hints at Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening," a poem worth committing to memory. The painting harkens, too, of Frost's "easy wind and downy flake" with fantasy swirls of wind and snow.

This painting is 11" x 14" and as per my unique pricing system, $40.

SOLD

January 3, Portrait of a videographer

Pioneer Public Television's "Prairie Yard and Garden" came to tape a show at the vinegary last summer. Roger Boleman has been the show's producer,videographer and editor for the last 23 years. I took photos of him and the rest of the crew as they were taping Ron's segment of the show. I wrote about them for the Senior Perspective and you'll find it in this month's issue. You might also find it at www.srperspective.com. I used a photo of Roger to accompany the article. I like the photo and used it as reference for today's daily painting.

This painting is 11" X 14" and as per my method of pricing, day 3, $30.

SOLD

January 2 Edible art

Yesterday, we watched the movie "Julie and Julia." Ron lamented that, unlike Julie Powell's husband who could eat the results of his wife's challenge to cook her way through Julia Childs' French cookbook, he will have no such pleasure with mine. I dedicate this painting, a combination of his favorite builds-strong-bodies-twelve-ways white bread in the form of a sandwich folded and stuffed in a new pot Chelsea gave me for Christmas, along with an old paint brush, to him. Bon appetit.

16" x 20" $20

The first painting: Snow people

Here it is: the first painting of my challenge.

The pre-Christmas weather forecasters predicted volumes of snow. They were right. We haven't had a Christmas like this in years.

After the kids came home for the holiday, the weather warmed up and the snow was perfect for making snow sculptures. Christmas night. First there was a bonfire to finish the summer job of demolishing the kids' treehouse. As the flames licked up thirty years of memories, the kids (13 to 32) drifted off to revive their skills of snowman making. They wanted to make a huge one; maybe two. The snow was perfect and rolling the balls down the yard's slope quickly added to their girths. They grew too large to allow for proper stacking. They became a snow fort instead.

Michael and Beth stayed out in the dark, creating a whole family of snowmen. When Beth finally decided to come in, twelve snow people stood stonehenge-like in the back yard.

Overnight, the warmth wasn't kind to the snow people. By morning, several had tipped over. Since a cold front moved in the next day, it wasn't possible to repair them properly. Beth stacked chunks of snow, creating a landscape of mini-monoliths, the giant snowmen taking on the attributes of fortress walls.

Now, a week later, the snow people are still there, best viewed by last night's full moon. This painting is my tribute to them. Hilary says, "Mom, you even got the depressed one." So it is.

I'm reluctant to part with this painting. I like it. But, agreeing to let it go is part of the challenge. If you like it too, read the Dec.29 post to find out how to acquire it.

SOLD