'Hermione' © Tracy Hall 2008 watercolour on board 2.25" x 1.75"
I'll kick off the new year with a fond farewell. Over the holidays we said goodbye to my daughter's pet hen who succumbed to old age. So I painted a little tribute to her in miniature, doing what she liked to do best. She was insanely broody and would sit on anything. Or nothing, it really didn't seem to matter actually :) She wasn't blessed with the most dazzling intellect, but she more than made up for it in character. The dogs were terrified of her. Hens make very good pets if you were wondering, and she'll be missed. This is a photo as the new scanner hasn't arrived yet and the old one died (again).
Here's a photo of the heron flying past our house on New Year's Day as the sun went down (about 2.30pm; no, really). I hope you all had a peaceful holiday and let's hope the coming year is a good one despite the grim predictions!
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7 comments:
Hi Tracy,
I have chickens also and love looking at the patterns on the feathers...I hardly ever can leave the barn without new feathers tucked in my pockets! My best broody hens were Silkie Chickens...just wonderful birds.
I've always wanted to do some paintings and haven't yet. Nice job on this hen, she looks so cozy.
Hi Mary - well, you must get to some paintings of them! The barnevelders (like Hermione) have wonderful feather patterns that I really like.
We don't have silkies, but agree they are fabulous creatures. Our best ever broody was a bantham of never-quite-fathomed parentage named Miss Marple. We do try to stick to pure rarer breeds, but odd eggs keep creeping in :)
Well maybe today I should take my camera with me to the barn? Check out the entry on my nature sketching blog, under Jan 2008 called "In the Barn" You'll see my chickens and I wrote about a childrens fairy tale.
I am fascinated by their faces, the different wattles and combs even brothers and sisters can be born with. And their eyes...maybe I'll just do eye studies! That'd be spooky looking.
I'm sad because I feel I should give up my chickens for a time, I'll be away for three months and the cost of corn has skyrocketed! I'll miss the free range eggs though :-)
WOW, what detailwork. You really have found your niche doing them.
Oh she'll be missed for sure! What a charmer! I wish we had room for chickens. They must be a thrill to paint! (I do like painting on their eggs though...)
I'll check that out, Mary. Feed certainly is expensive now...but still think the eggs are worth it.
Thanks so much Doris. Mary your egg paintings are amazing!
fabulous chicken painting and a sweet story.
Chickens fascinate me. Always so busy.
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