The Dancing Cow (Mary Poppins)

After I finish a complex painting, I usually paint a cow next.  I guess it's just a comfortable subject for me.  As I was working on this pretty red mama cow, she reminded me of something... or someone... a flicker of a memory that I couldn't put my finger on until she was almost finished.

When I was a kid I loved getting to order books from the Weekly Reader forms each month.  I still have a few of those that I loved the most.  I think I ordered and read Mary Poppins when I was in fourth grade... (the first time when I was 10... although I've been in fourth grade - on the other side of the teacher's desk -  about 30 times since :)

Mary Poppins... the book, not the movie... is filled with chapter after chapter of completely wonderful, crazy, irrational, zany, clever stories that somehow tie together perfectly.

Chapter Five - "The Dancing Cow" 
Jane is sick in bed, and John is watching out the window when he sees a red cow walking down Cherry Tree Lane.  Mary Poppins explains that The Red Cow was a friend of her mother.  She tells the story: The Red Cow was raising The Red Calf in her perfectly normal field. One evening she began dancing and couldn't stop.   Eventually she went to see the king who noticed a star had fallen and become caught on her horn.  He advised her to jump over the moon. It worked, but then she wished she had it back.  The Red Cow now spends the her days looking for another star.

Like every other chapter, it's filled with all sorts of details... the lessons she teaches The Red Calf... the types of dances the cow does... the king who has an appointment with the barber...

I came across a blog post from Random Thoughts who asked whether The Red Cow's story was optimistic or pessimistic? She never gave up hope of finding another star, but she roamed the streets never feeling satisfied without it.

Any thoughts?

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

Butterscotch the Cow

Do cows these days get names?

In books cows always have sweet appropriate cow names names... Flossy, Bessie, Elsie...

But, my dad called them #34 or #22 or #51... or whatever number was hanging from the yellow tags in their ears.  I think they only got a name if they were a problem, and then they got a Biblical name, not necessarily a compliment... I remember him referring to one cow as Jezebel because she was mean and hateful.  I remember another that had pink-eye so bad that Dad called him Blind Bartimaeus... I'm pretty sure that any cow that ended up with a name ended up at the sale barn pretty quickly.

There was one gentle "name" that I do remember.  As he'd walk through the cows to feed them or count them, he'd softly call, "Suk.. Suk.. Sukie... Suk.. Suk.. Sukie..."  I think it was meant to calm  and comfort them.

That kind of makes me want to change this little guy's name to Sukie. :)

(I'm trying to remember, but I think the cow in Little House in the Big Woods was named Sukie.  If it's a name good enough for Pa Ingalls, it must be a good cow name. Does anyone remember if that's was it?  The cow that Ma thought she was slapping on the winter night when it was actually a bear in the cow pen?)

Thanks to Vaughn Skinner for capturing this 

photograph and letting me put it on canvas.

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 12" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Three Silly Goats Gruff II

Did you miss them?  

They're BAAAAAaaaaack!

I loved the short time that Gladys, Gabby, and Percy hung on my wall the first time!  What a treat to have them back for a while!

My relationship with these guys began the first time I saw their photograph on a blog that I follow.

I had the best time painting them.  They practically talked to me while I was working on them.  Then they just made me laugh when they hung on my wall.  But, alas... someone bought them... 

Imagine my delight when I received this e-mail:

Helen,
     Hi! My name is Rebekah and my mom is Renee from the blog Southern Gal. My family (my husband and two little girls) are in the middle of a huge transition. It is our dream to have a little homestead of our own, but for right now that dream has to be put on hold. The three goats you painted so beautifully are mine, Gabby, Gladys, and Percy. Tomorrow Percy leaves us as we prepare for a temporary move into town. His "girls" will follow soon. I am quite emotional over this, not just because animals have a way of ripping your heart apart, but because of how him leaving causes the lifestyle change we are about to make to hit home. Over the next few years, David and I are planning to be very frugal  and saving money to buy land so we can build our own little homestead. But right now we have to leave behind our goats, chickens, bees, and garden.
     To get to the point, I want more than anything else I am planning for my new home to hang this painting of our three goats in a special place. I just feel like it would help us remember this sweet time with our very first farm animals and motivate us to realize our dream. I know the painting sold, but could you paint the goats again? You did an amazing job. We would cherish it forever. 

Now, what could I say? YES!
I hope Rebekah and her family have a big smile when they see "Three Silly Goats Gruff II" in person.

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Three Silly Goats Gruff

What made you smile this week?

These goats, especially the guy on the end, have made me smile every time I looked at them.  Once that one, Percy, was finished, it was hard to concentrate on the other two.  He just kept grinning at me and my paintbrush.  He's become my friend, and I just may have to paint him again!

Hmmm... What else...?

• Painting with my Tuesday-night painting friends... It's the best thing ever to have friends who paint together, encourage each other and laugh a lot.
• Watching my 10-year olds work so hard on their state tests... They couldn't have tried harder, and I'm so proud of them!
• Going to our church children's choir spring musical... 
• Seeing the daffodils by the driveway that finally got to bloom...
• Taking a selfie with my momma.
• Seeing the Facebook post of my nephew hugging his little girl on his return from Afghanistan.

A big thank you goes out to "Southern Gal" for letting me paint her goats, Gabby, Gladys, and Percy!  Visit her blog to read about and see more pictures of these goats and their babies.

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Mama Cow

What just happened?

Surprise!  
A baby!  
She has a brand new baby!
So sweet!
She hadn't even had time to lick the little thing all over yet.

I wish I could say she was happy to show off her little calf, smile her little bovine smile to show her pride in the little thing.

But the truth is, I think she was down right annoyed that I was staring, coming too close, clicking pictures.

I just couldn't help it.  You don't get to see a newborn too often.

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