'One Turtle Dove'

"Christmas Turtle Dove"
8X10
Oil on Panel
NFS (for now)

Click on picture for a larger view.

Commonly known as Mourning Doves....my mother used to call them "Rain Doves" because they would always fly into the yard just before a rain came. Now I know them to also be the classic "Turtle Doves" from the 12 Days of Christmas. We have them hanging around our yard frequently. They are so beautiful and I love them, in spite of the efforts they make at grabbing the seeds we put out for the smaller songbirds. They waddle around and flee with noisy flapping when I let our dog out. Their colors are so subtle, yet I think they look very sophisticated in their soft browns and black spots. The blue around their eyes is a very beautiful blue...recalling that softest of sky meets the sea kind of blue.

Sorry for not keeping up with posts for a while. This thing with taking care of my Dad has really cramped my time. And while I am not painting as frequently, when I do have time, I am researching ideas and thinking of what to paint next. I recently went to a gallery crawl in Charlotte and feasted my eyes on wonderful works by other artists. And I keep looking at the websites of artists I admire, gathering as much as I can by studying their works. In fact, I think I have come up with a new malady....I am calling it "Admiration Paralysis." I can get so taken with other artists' work that I hit my head against the wall asking myself how could I ever be THAT good and WHY am I even doing this!!! But after beating myself up, I force myself back to the easel and tell myself just to dive in there and keep going. I am running out of time for Christmas cards...but may try to get this image done on a card to send. If not, I'll just send out some other cards I bought on stand-by.

Daily Painting Card Design, "Gift of Hope"

"Gift of Hope"
9X12
Oil on Board
Commission

Well, I know you thought Christmas was past, but this is Christmas future. As some of you know I was in the Stationery / Card industry for a time in my career. The Card industry does Christmas in the spring. The cards are designed and produced and ready for orders by the National Stationery Show in May. So as soon as you are past Christmas and glad to be done with it....there it is again.

Anyway, this one is a special commission. It hasn't been approved yet, so we'll see if it flies. In Charlotte there was a young girl named Hope Stout who had bone cancer. When asked what gift she wanted from the Make a Wish Foundation for herself, she answered that she wanted all of the other children to receive their wishes. And then she asked that enough people send money to achieve a million dollar goal. Well, Hope died shortly thereafter and broke everyone's heart.....including mine. Her goal was exceeded. Her parents set up another foundation in Hope's name. Next Christmas season we are hoping to sell a Christmas card to help make money for Hope's foundation and continue to give to the other children who have cancer. Keith Larson at WBT radio is tossing around the idea and asked me if I might come up with a card design to further the cause. So that's what I've been working on today. I'll report as the year goes along how this turns out and where to buy the cards.