Combover

Combover. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". ©2019.

This cutie lives at River's Wish Animal Sanctuary, along with Precious the sheep, Blue the goat, and hundreds of other animals saved from terrible fates and allowed to live out their natural lives. So few animals get to do this. It's heartbreaking. Visiting the shelter always gives me mixed feelings. It's comforting to spend time with the lucky few who make it to the shelter. But I can't help but think about the legions more who don't.

 I eventually learned that this gentleman's name is... KEVIN! 🤣

See the time-lapse video of this painting here.

Redbeard

Redbeard. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". ©2019.

Last week I got the opportunity to spend a few hours taking photos at River's Wish Animal Sanctuary, one of my favorite places! Hundreds of rescued animals make River's Wish their home, including but not limited to: horses, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, ducks, geese, cats, dogs, rabbits, donkeys, miniature horses, miniature donkeys, and of course, chickens.

This girl was a stunner, all black except for a bunch of deep maroon feathers below her chin. I don't think I've ever seen feathers that color before, almost identical to that funky purplish-red color some women dye their hair.

She was a good model, although, like many of the lucky souls at the sanctuary, she was almost too friendly! My biggest struggle photographing that day was getting far enough away from the curious creatures to focus. Everybody settled down eventually, though, so many more River's Wish residents will appear here soon.

Flo

Flo. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". ©2019.

So, what does a chicken have to do with cocktails, you might ask?

Surprisingly, there is a connection. This particular chicken, whose name is Flo, loves to sit in a chair with her people on the front porch during cocktail hour. She was doing just that when I took the photo I used for painting reference.

Flo is a retired chicken that I "rescued" when her original person, my friend Teya, wanted to get another batch of chickens after the first group stopped laying. Now Flo enjoys things like arugula and popcorn while hanging out with her new friend Ché, the Portuguese water dog. She is every bit as intelligent, inquisitive and disapproving as she looks.

I had so much fun painting her, I suspect she and her animal friends will begin to take over this blog. I've apparently become kind of a lightweight when it comes to painting cocktails. I need to mix in some other things to avoid getting sick of them!

Here's Flo with me after getting her ear infection treated: