My Sweet Pea

This was all Maggie’s idea.

Originally the intent was to have this composition
focus up close on my hands
shelling those beautiful peas
into a teacup.

I had the panel prepped
and the frame ordered
and it was the very last
of the paintings
for this years’ Granary Gallery show.

But when it came time to sketch it out
I couldn’t quite get the positioning of the hands right
just by drawing them in front of a mirror.

So I set things up in the new studio
and called Herself over late one night
to push the button on my camera.

She brought Maggie
who upon seeing the pea pod
came hurtling to devour the treat.

This has been Maggie’s first year in the garden
and after a crazy hot spell of a start to the season
when I feared the loss of all of the cool weather crops
we had a glorious run with the peas.

Both snow and shelling peas took off
and it became clear that Maggie LOVES peas.
She would sit patiently next to the trellis
waiting for me to catch up on our walks
and reach over the fence to grab her a handful of pods.

Just melted this old gardeners’ heart.

Back in the late night studio photo shoot
we managed to convince Maggie
to lay quietly beside Pat
as she snapped pics of my hands in different positions.

I sent them home when I climbed up to the loft office space
to look at the photos and see if I could work from them.
I needed one more take so back they came.

Something was amiss with the focusing on the camera
and the extra fussing must have annoyed the pup
because as I settled back onto my stool
and tried to hold my hands extra still
that little bundle of whiteness crept up
and came over to my side
and ever so gently she layed herself down
just as you see her here

with one paw on my boot
waiting patiently
my sweet pea
for her sweet pea.