THE QUEEN HEN

                                     We Are Not Amused   Pastel | 4x6

I raised a few chickens in my Sacramento backyard years ago when we were trying to get the city to legalize them. I was even a member of CLUCK - the most aptly named acronym for an organization I've ever heard of - Citizens for Legalizing Urban Chicken Keeping.  We were finally successful in getting the specific wording changed from not allowing 'chickens' to not allowing 'roosters', and of course, sundry fees associated with that.  By that time, I had given my clucks away. Even tho I loved the eggs and especially my bantams -Millie and Fleur- I'd long grown tired of the smells: stinky in the winter rains and stinky in the summer heat - so much so that entertaining in my 'outdoor room' proved undesirable. I learned that each hen has a most distinctive personality and one of mine was a stern task master, alpha-female of the group who had this apt expression!

Painting notes: At ten pm, longing to snooze, I set about doing a quick painting to keep with the painting-a-day routine. I chide myself every morning for not getting to the daily painting; but these days, the days are devoted to tasks and to painting a dog portrait for an upcoming show.  Really hard to sincerely bitch about this, especially when I remind myself of working before I retired!  The majority of this 'fowl portrait' was done with Nupastels. They are a wonderful pastel for times when you're drawing more than painting.