She’s behind my chair as I write and finish this last Painter’s Note though it is the other end of the day from this painting and the light is different on her fur
and she’s really tired of me sitting up here in the loft all day.
Maggie’s favorite treat is still sweet peas and this spring I planted them close enough for her to help herself.
She still loves her sticks and keeps a stockpile by the studio front door to share with special guests.
She’s fearless in the face of woodchucks and tolerant of chipmunks.
The first of the New Paintings for this year’s Granary Gallery show is ready for the reveal…
Hands down the happiest part of our lives right now is Maggie. She’s an amazingly fun addition to our tiny family and she certainly keeps we two old ladies on our toes and in our cups with laughter and life.
The Painter’s Notes tell the story behind the friendship between dog and sparrow and Maggie always has a favorite stick nearby. Part Tigger, part mountain goat, her joyous and helpful spirit is my constant shadow and her youthful exuberant spirit is tamed by Herself’s calming nightly massages. So it is only fitting that the first painting up on the blog should be this bright light of a companion. She sets the tone for our brighter horizons.
My New Muse – 24 x 18
This is our Maggie.
The happiest wiggliest friendliest most curious most lovable thing in our lives.
Seven wonderful months old as I write this today… she was two months younger when we sat together early one morning in the studio kitchen watching out the door to see what would become of our day.
What was that ?
We both turned our heads towards a flicker of white.
Well Maggie was the first to see it.
What caught my attention was that she kept turning from me to the porch back to me until finally I got up to go see what it was that she could see.
Just beyond the porch perched on the wire statue of Beatrice… who used to watch over us on the log cabin porch… was this little sparrow.
And, as you can see, in her beak was the craziest white and wild feather almost twice the size of the bird.
I was almost as excited as Maggie was.
And with her persistence I snapped a pic just so I could remember the proportion of bird to feather and feather to bird.
Then I gave her a big pat on that tiny furry white head and nodded a thank you to the chorus of Muses watching from behind my shoulder as they gave their new apprentice a proud and raucous round of applause.
Has it really been over two months since we last visited ? Well how’ve ya been ? I hope well and that you are still being safe out there. Please tell me you’ve been vaccinated. I hope you are enjoying the benefits of some time with old friends and new adventures.
We are taking baby steps as we navigate the brave new world. Visits outside with the fully jabbed and picking bunches of beautiful flowers growing in the gardens.
INside however the pace has been anything but slow and cautious. With all three galleries back open and eager for new work the brushes have been flying. Though we are not, once again due to the pandemic, traveling north to Martha’s Vineyard, the Granary Gallery is going on with the show so the paintings had to make a run for it.
The best part of last year’s painting delivery nightmare was meeting our driver Nathan and this year he once again has came to our rescue and all the paintings for this year’s show are safe and snug in a studio in Western MA awaiting the second leg of their journey when the gallery van will pick them up and tote them to the island. We are jealous that they will feel those ocean breezes but thrilled to have made an enduring friendship with Nathan, his wife Thanh and their new pup Ali.
Here’s a snap of Ali listening to Pat’s stories…and her heart.
And here she is riding shotgun on the painting delivery.
But before we begin the annual rollout of all those Granary pieces I’m pleased to share two NEW paintings which are, as I write, winging their way out to Denver.
Gallery 1261 is having a Small Works show which opens on August 14, and the New Paintings may arrive in time for them to take to the LA Art Fair this summer.
Without further ado I give you… Onion Moon Rising – 12 x 13
You seasoned patrons and friends will by now have checked out the new website features and be able to swiftly navigate to the Portfolio section and down to the Painter’s Notes to read the backstory on these little teacup mysteries.
While you do that I’m going to get back to work editing the images of the next batch of paintings which my camera managed to capture before they were framed and packaged for their road trip.
May your summer be full of rose sniffs and your kitchen filled with zucchini.
