The Vegan

The final idea for this composition came after ruminating on it for a few weeks. Sometimes paintings come quickly and I rush to the studio to get them down and other times...well.. they may take a while to congeal. I've been disatisfied with the 'usual' and wanted to try something different so the acrylics have been put away for now and the pastels are back in use. This medium is the most comfortable for me and my favorite of all.... there's no hesitation about mixing to get just the right hue or tone when painting because the rich color sticks are ready to pick up and apply to the surface.. Only a handful were used because the terra cotta toned ground pulls the painting together and shows through in many areas. I made the support ground with Colourfix textured primer that was brushed on. Some of the brush strokes show through too adding an interesting texture to the pig's hair and skin.

Influences came from paintings by Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton.....and strangely enough, the beautiful blackboard menus I've seen in local restaurants, cafes and a big chain supermarket that uses painted blackboards to advertise throughout their produce sections. I admire the religious icon paintings of the Renaisance as well.

The pig's eye portrays a different feeling than originally planned...it was going to be more of a sneer...but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

When I showed this to two dear artist friends I got completely opposite reactions about the meaning ...

On a very personal note. One of my favorite Aunts passed away yesterday at the age of 80 surrounded by her loving family. When I was a kid she was the Aunt who always laughed and played with us. She was affectionate, funny and will be sorely missed. God bless and peace to you Aunt Joan.. I do hope we'll meet to play and laugh again.

Hogs and Boars

This weekend Freeport Square Gallery is hosting a benefit show and sale for the Freeport Historical Society. This is to benefit preservation and perpetual care of the Pettengill Farm Conservation Trust. This farm is not related in any way to my husband's family..unfortunately for us... just a coincidence. I submitted several paintings and studies for the exhibit called "Barnyard Art" and this oil called "Hamlet", is one of them.
This land trust is a 160 acre parcel complete with the original 175 year old farmhouse in a setting straight from a Wyeth painting. The fields and woods around the property are open to the public and contain shoreline on a peaceful estuary only a short drive from Freeport's busy shopping district. Steve and I took a walk down the road to see the farm about a month ago which winds gently through the woods for about a mile before opening up into meadows dotted with ledge outcroppings. I followed hoof tracks all the way in and longed for the days when I had my horse to ride through there too. The road sweeps around to a view of the little white cape stoically facing the inlet. It felt as if we'd been transported to another time and place. What a beautiful location for a homestead.
Sorry to say though...we were shaken from our thoughts by swarms of hungry mosquitoes ..so after taking a few photos we hoofed it out of there and made a mental note to return when the little buggers aren't there.
The Historical Society has plans to rebuild the barn that once stood not far from the house and finish restoring the home interior to use as a museum.
The property will be included in a series of local landscape paintings that I've started.
With so much turmoil in our country and the world today I firmly believe these special places are more important than ever to help keep us sane....yes...hogs and boars indeed....