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Daisy Dog

Pastel on paper. 20″x16″

Here is a close up of her muzzle. Mmmmmm, please enjoy all that color calorie free! Isn’t it yummy?

And here Daisy is in real life, she has long legs, one ear the crooks down, loves to run, play and snuggle. She has a big, deep bark. “What is she?” People keep asking me. “She is a dog” I think to myself, but I assume people mean what breed, so I reply “a shelter dog”. And although I was unable to satisfy their curiosity about her breed, people are unanimously delighted by that answer. “Oh good, wonderful, those are the best!”

Daisy is my first dog – ever. My daughter begged for one for a couple years. I assumed I would be doing the lion’s share of the work, like I did with her brother’s Ball Python a few years back. I am happy to report I am not. The kids have been amazing, and since they go to school. Daisy and I still have a special connection I am delighted with. She lays at my feet while I paint, keeps the kitchen floor clean while I cook, rides shot gun for short errands, and helps me walk the girls to school, and reminds me to take breaks and play during the day. The sunrise is a pretty good reward for an early morning potty break.

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Grey Day

7″x5″ oil on panel. Plein Air

Meet Daisy. She is happy to hang with me while I paint, until we go on a hike together. As you see here, she is very relaxed, as she wedged herself between my legs and delightedly rolled on her back. Do not be fooled, she is not checked out. If you were to, walk up behind me onto this little peninsula, she would protect me with her life. She demonstrated this to a fisherman and a very friendly dog who weighed several times as much as her.

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Last One In Is a…

24″x48″ mixed media

And we jump into the next decade! I remember when my oldest was a young lad, and I figured out he would graduate in 2020, seems like yesterday and so long ago, both. And here we are, ready to face another decade.

Instead of making a resolution for next year, I challenge you to think bigger:

Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.

-Bill Gates
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Fleeing of the Innocents

14″x11″ pastel on sanded paper

They are all over the world, running, for their lives, holding on to what they can.

I have never seen a Christmas pageant that includes the part of the story where the wise men decide to go home another way, and King Herod, feeling threatened by a baby who may one day overpower him, has all the babies under the age of two killed in Bethlehem.

Yesterday was the feast of the Innocents. I remember them, and that poor mother, who traveled by foot and donkey 90 miles to fill out some government paperwork, then gave birth in a barn, and while there hosted King’s and dignitaries (yes I am sure it was an honor, but remembering my own days postpartum, the idea of this feels stressful to me) then she had to flee to Egypt to save her baby.

I painted this refugee as a mix of modern and ancient. She is Mary and a young Syrian mother. The background could be hills, or UN refugee tents. I painted her tired, panting, with cheeks flushed from the cold.

For the innocents who didn’t make it, and the ones still on the run, I remember you today.