Mixed Media, etc.

I've been working on this painting for several days. I've tried to edit the color of the photograph to match the real thing, and this is as close as I can get. It's been fun, because I have used pastel on canvas, over acrylic paint. Originally this was another painting that I didn't want to keep (I can't remember which one). I thought I'd do an abstract, so I covered it with thick, colorful strokes. It sat in my studio for over a week while I lost enthusiasm for abstraction. I then thought of trying pastel over it. Then the lights weren't light enough, so I painted over the pastel, then put on more pastel. It's not evident in the photo, but there is a lot of texture on the canvas from all the layers of paint...........also a lot of color from all the pastel. I don't know how to preserve it, but it was a great time doing it.

I haven't been writing lately out of exhaustion, physically and mentally, over the chickens. Even now, I don't have the energy to relate the whole story. Consider pecking order, crowded chickens, fights, bad bloody wounds, escapes. Think of me trying to rectify the situation every way I could think of, and failing. The upshot is, though, that everyone survived and I have two unhappy girls in a chicken hospital of my own making (don't ask me where). The whole thing has been traumatic for us all.

Meanwhile, we have had a lot of rain and the snow is receding. Several of my plants are coming up, and the poor pink flamingos are now visible. Two of them met unfortunate ends during their hibernation period under the snow, but the rest will be fine once I put them on their feet. The world is cold, windy, muddy, and drab. We rejoice to see it.