The Grass Is Always Greener...

Patience the Cow

The grass is always greener... when you water it!

She looks patient, doesn't she.
I always think of cows as patient.  I supposed that's because of one of my favorite descriptive paragraphs in the world... When E.B. White describes the barn in Charlotte's Web.

 "The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell - as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world. It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease... But mostly it smelled of hay."

 ...Sigh...
He just makes you want to be there.

Cows have a way of staring right into your eyes. 
Do not have a staring contest with a cow... She'll win. 
She's patient. 
Look at that expression. 
She's saying, "You are standing at my fence. Please just take your picture and moooove along. Go on now. I'll wait. I'm patient."

Original Oil Painting on 18"x 24" Wrapped Canvas.
I've been talking to her since I painted her eyes.  I'll probably keep talking to her on my wall until someone decides she belongs on their wall.  
Click "The Grass Is Always Greener..." if you 'd like to purchase this big patient cow.

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]

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]

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]

Tank

Would you paint a brown and white boy cow for me?
Would you paint our Hereford show bull, Tank?

I recently discovered that these two questions are NOT the same.

Say hello to Tank!

Isn't he gorgeous!













So, here's how I learned this lesson.

My friend, Sarah, teaches 4th grade down the hall, and she's a city girl.  
My friend, Charla, teaches ESL down the other hall, and she's a farm girl. 

A few weeks ago, Sarah asked, "Hey, would you paint a brown boy cow for me?  I want to give it to my dad for Christmas."  
She found a reference photo, and I whipped it out.  It was fun and easy.  When I brought it to school to give it to her, I showed it to Charla.

That's when I got the other question.  Charla knows cows; she and her husband have a farm, and cattle are a big part of their lives.  She asked if I'd paint one of their bulls to give her husband for their anniversary.  She told me all about their bull, Tank... He came from Denver... he used to have a nose ring... he's gentle... 
She planned to go home and take some pictures that night when they went out to feed.

Now meet... Not-Tank.
I had the best time painting him.
It was pretty simple and didn't take long.

Oh, sigh... 
He was a great cow... but he wasn't Tank..
His eyes were too big...
His fur was too smooth...
His face was too skinny...
His nose was too long...
His ear was to pointy...
His chest was too wide...

It's not nearly as fun to edit and revise, but in the end it's worth it.
I love the finished Tank!

[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.

[SOLD]

We'll Just Have Salad II

How do you tell one cow from another?

This is what my husband (a city boy) asked as we passed a field full of cattle today.  I'd mentioned something about them being Hereford.  "How do you even know that?" he asked. I don't think a farm girl actually has to learn the difference between a Hereford, a Holstein, an Angus, a Charolais, or a Brahman; we just know.  How can you tell a Dachshund from a Chihuahua from a Beagle?

That made me think of how you can tell the difference between individual cows.  Well, a farmer just knows certain cows by their personalities, but generally they put ear tags in their ears.  I hated watching this process.  It was like watching my dad pierce their ears only it seemed awfully painful.   You can see that these ladies actually did have their ears pierced, but I decided that a big yellow tag with a number on it didn't get to be a part of the painting. (Ahhh... the power of the almighty artistic license!)

What I really, really wanted to do in this version (I painted it once before and wrote about that earlier this year. - Go have a look at the first "We'll Just Have Salad") was to give these ladies real earrings... yep, silver dangly ones!  (Go back and read ":) Sisters" and see about those silver dangly earrings!)

My friend Shelley asked me to paint these gals for her.  She is one of those kindred spirits or forever friends.  We're of different generations, from different places, lead different lives, and I see her less than once a year... but when we do see each other, there's so much to catch up on, so much mirrored in our ways of thinking.  So somehow during this process, I began to think of the two of these cows as the two of us.  (She would be the tall, elegant, lovely reddish one... hmmm... I wonder if that's why she ended up much more blonde than the real cow was... And, I'd be the short, stocky... and is she graying in the painting?... one out front.)  We... I mean THEY do look as if they are completely annoyed to be bothered and just want to get back to visiting with each other about whatever it is that cows talk about.

You see, I bought a pair of those dangly silver earrings for Shelley.  She told me that she wears them when she needs inspiration, feels feisty, or wants to feel brave.  I feel the same way about my pair.  So... don't you see how it was very hard not to put earrings on these cows!