Lady Mondegreen, A Black and White Cow

I'm snackin' light now
Crack a slight bow.
Just whack and bite now
Dragon fight, Wow!
I'm packin' right now
A stack of bright towels
A black and white cow!
This is the story of my life... making up words to fit, never mind whether they make sense.

I named this pretty little heifer in honor of my new favorite vocabulary word:

mondegreen - when a word or phrase is created after mishearing a poem or song lyric

Sylvia Write coined the word in a 1954 article for Harper's Magazine when she admitted to hearing the words of an old Scottish poem incorrectly as a child. She'd heard and imagined,

     "They have slain the Earl O'Murray And Lady Mondegreen."

Only that wasn't it!

It should have been:

     "They have slain the Earl O'Murray and laid him on the green."

This... is... MY... word!

It seems that there is no end to my lyric mess ups  mondegreens!

My poor husband just shakes his head and sighs when I sing along with the radio.

"Seen my sheriff broke and laid low..."

nope... it's

"Seen my share of broken halos..."

so sorry Chris Stapleton

"Whoa-oh, Johnny go..."

nope... it's

"Whoa-oh, China Grove..."

so sorry Doobie Brothers

"Hell fire up...'

nope... it's

"Elvira..."

so sorry Oak Ridge Boys

"Odor Uptight..."

nope.... it's

"Hold her up tight...'

so sorry Alabama

"Lookin' for my lost jiggery-zaw..."

nope... it's

"Lookin' for my lost shaker of salt..."

so sorry Jimmy Buffet

"Go smell a policeman..."

nope... it's

"Warm smell of colitas..."

so sorry Eagles

I could honestly go on and on and on and on with these.

And, yes, I realize that I sing words that make no sense at all.

I have to admit that I'm kind of jealous of Sylvia Write. How cool would it be to get to invent a brand new word!

I've decided that I have a disability, and it needs a name.

If dyslexia is difficulty with letters and reading and discalculia is difficulty with numbers and math, then my word will be dislyricia, difficulty with lyrics and songs.

So, exactly what does this all have to do with the cow painting?

Well, she is a lovely lady cow who needed a name.

I tried dozens of names, but none stuck.

When Ron said, "Call her Lady Mondegreen," it made me laugh out loud... My new favorite cow named for my new favorite word!

Original Oil Painting on 10"x 10" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Cinnamon Sky Longhorn

Does she look familiar?
This little longhorn loves to have her picture taken, is such a pretty little cow, and is really fun to paint.
She's Cookie Dough, and she's always interested in whoever is spending the weekend crafting and relaxing at Welcome Home Retreat in Weatherford, Texas.


THREE MONTHS AGO:
CHERI: I think I'm going to call our June painting weekend "The Longhorn Workshop." What if we all paint a longhorn?
ME:: I love it! I'm in!
CHERI:We'll do a couple of small projects, kind of warm ups.  Then we'll each do different longhorns.
ME: You know I love that! I can't wait.
CHERI: I've got an idea for this project.
ME: Great.  Should we come with one already drawn up.
CHERI: No, I want the canvases to be blank.  I'm going to teach you to draw them.  You'll love it.
ME: Ummm... no... I don't think so.
CHERI: You'll have to trust me.  You can do this.  It will be so freeing.  I've got some strategies that will make it easy.
ME: Yeahhhhhh... nooo... I can't draw.  
CHERI: Wait 'til you see this technique.  You'll love it.  It's kind of mathematical. 
ME: Ugh... This my pretend happy voice... 

THE MORNING OF THE PROJECT:
CHERI: Gather 'round, you'll see how quickly this can come together.
ME: I trust you, but... ugh...

It's all about thirds... horn tip to head, across the head, head to horn tip... then same distance from eyes to nose... then that distance plus half from top knot to nose tip...

Just block in some lines and rectangles... Measure from the center cross... Half way from top to bottom put in the eyes, lower than you think... Look for darks and lights...

 Go try it on your canvas... Thirds... Use a ruler if you need to... just get it on the canvas... 

She doesn't like it when she gets attention or bragged on... but my goodness... what a master... master painter... master teacher... 

... believes in her students when they certainly don't believe in themselves... until they do... believe in themselves...

Eventually, we had to leave watching her and move to our own blank... very... very blank... canvases...

Unbelievable... It actually looked like... well... a cow... but...

Deep breath... what was next... darks and lights??

Then frustration...
Every one was working hard...
I got quiet...
No one was looking... 

I don't know if...
... if I needed inspiration...
... if I wanted to relieve tension...
...if I was feeling rebellious...
...if I lost my mind...

But, when Cheri walked around and got to my canvas, she said, "My, that's bold!"

I knew when I started it would be worthy of either a spanking or a gold star... 

Once the background made its way from ridiculous to fabulous (in my humble opinion), I was still so frustrated with the cow, and I've painted many cows!

Cheri said, "Close your computer, and free yourself from the reference photo. Just change the angle of that cow and make her look at you straight on.  Don't panic.  It will be simple. She must have been standing on a hill. Just lower the back by bringing down that background an inch or two. Let's un-twist her by bringing her stomach out on the other side. Just wipe off some background and add some cow."
... so... so... simple... 

Thank you, my dear teacher, mentor, friend!

Original Oil Painting on 14" x 18" Wrapped Canvas.
[SOLD]

Mitten the Cow

She wanted to have her picture taken!

My husband and I went on a cow-hunting drive on New Year's Day. That means we picked a direction and drove until we found some cows willing to be still and look at me while I took their pictures.  Half the time they run away, but the other half the time they are curious enough to stare for a while.

This little gal was determined.  I have to be honest... I tried to avoid her.  She had this big mitten splotch right in the middle of her face... so...
So... I aimed my camera at other cows. However, this sweet little gal was focused on me and curious no matter what I did.  She grew on me.

As I was looking through all the downloaded photos, she was the star again and again and again.  
And... I was wrong... She is lovely... Her face is perfect for the canvas.  
I love her big mitten splotch.

Original Oil Painting - 16"x 16"
[SOLD]