Let's talk chickens.

Henrietta
18x24" oil on canvas $600

Those of you who follow this blog with any regularity are, by now, acquainted with Henrietta.  She's the Barred Rock chicken who came running up to me the minute I stepped out of my car at Prairie Creek Farms, and she is simply adorable.  You should see her strutting around the farm, occasionally bedding down in the soft garden soil to lay her eggs.  When I visited the farm, Lisa gave me a dozen farm fresh eggs laid by Henrietta and her friends.  The eggs have large dark yolk that, according to Lisa, add a rich color and flavor to anything you bake.

The reason I visited the farm in the first place was to get references for a few commissioned pieces Lisa is envisioning in her home.  I've been excited about this project for months, and now that my show is over I've got time to do it!  I plan on doing a full feature on the blog once the paintings are finished and hanging in her home.

Speaking of commissions, have you ever had a vision for a piece of artwork in your home?  Perhaps there's an empty spot on your wall you'd like to fill with something specific to your taste?  I've been taking on more and more custom work all the time and would love for you to be a part of it with me!  Let me know your idea(s) and we can brainstorm together to fill those empty voids in your home with something original and personal.  My email is Michelle@TheArtofMichelle.com if you'd like to chat!

studio days

 In between cups of hot apple cider and steaming pots of beef and cabbage, I've been redesigning my studio to accommodate these larger canvases I think I've been mentioning a time or two.  The oil painting area is set up now, and I've been taking large chunks out of my days to paints swans and trees the sage green grass.  All the things I tend to day dream about.  Then there are those large chunks of time I spend painting houses and children for custom portrait buyers.  Honestly though, a girl can only sit for so long before she needs to get up and go for a long walk with her incredibly handsome husband, whom she misses during his week-long-work-trips across the country.  I love those walks.  They give us a chance to talk about our future, our present, our longing for a family (someday), and what's for dinner.  We talk about our days and what the week ahead holds.  Do you have a time for this kind of chatter with your spouse?  It's so important.  I don't know what I'd do without someone like him to talk to all time.

Oh and speaking of hot cider, can you believe it's almost October?  I can't even tell you how excited that makes me- not just for the perfect weather and Autumn smell in the air, but for a much needed break!  I can't exactly call it a vacation, but I think once October hits my painting life will slow down a bit.  Maybe I'll even take some time off!  Just sit around and drink hot cider and read my new "Shapes and Shadows" book of poetry.  It's older than the hills with crackly yellow pages that smell musty when you lean your nose over it to read.  Copyright, 1898.  I feel like I'm stepping back in time just to hold it in my hands.  Here's the first stanza of a poem in the book called "Dreams":

My thoughts have borne me far away,
To Beauties of an older day,
Where, crowned with roses, stands the Dawn,
Striking her seven-stringed barbiton
Of flame, whose chords give being to
The seven colours, hue for hue;
The music of the colour-dream
She builds the day from, beam to beam.

Do share some of your favorite poets!  I'd love to hear.  Oh, and those are pictures from Picasso's studio and his dog.  Aren't they fantastic?  I'll show you more soon.  Now go and build your day, beam to beam.  :)

canvas!

Ok I get a little excited about a fresh canvas...I love the creamy color, the thick rough texture, the sound it makes as my brush bounces along the surface.  I found these old paintings I did in college and some folds of unused canvas in a bag that I'd been storing in some box somewhere in the abyss that is our basement.  Let's just say, these old canvases needed a new life.  So, I pulled the old off the frame and stretch and primed some new.  Not that I'm an oil painter or anything.  Because I'm really not.  But sometimes I think I just need an outlet, like a great big canvas and a set of huge brushes to loosen me up a bit.  I tend to get transfixed on the smallest details of my tiny watercolor paintings that doing something big and different sounds scary in a fun way.

So, I've decided to break out the oils and play.  I have only a vague direction and a few simple ideas.  For now, let's just call this a warm-up exercise.