Mad Rooster, 5X7 watercolor painting.

I think I can add this guy to the silly animals collection.

When my kids were small, we had a mean rooster named, Duke Rooster. A trapper brought him to our house, and asked us if we'd keep him. This trapper had been tying Duke by one leg to a tree, using him as coyote bait. When the coyote came in to get the rooster, the trapper would shoot the coyote. This trapper said the rooster had fended off so many coyotes, so courageously, he began to feel sorry for the rooster and was looking for a good home for him so the rooster could live out his days in peace.

We took Duke Rooster in. Which was fine and good until Duke became the tyrant of the farm. The kids didn't dare go outside. He had spurs that would win in a Boone and Crocket spur contest. We carried a pitchfork with us everywhere we went and when Duke squatted down and spread his feathers for a charge, we'd pick him up with the pitchfork and hold him until he got out of the mood. With his feet through the tines on the pitchfork, he couldn't go anywhere and he'd eventually get over being mad.

Duke roosted at night on the corral rails. We think a hawk got him because one night, he disappeared. For a rooster, he lived quite a life.

My grandma is dying. She had a massive stroke last weekend. She wants to die, she refused all life support. Her throat is paralyzed and so is one side of her body. She never wanted to live to be as old as she is, she wanted to die when my grandpa died but that didn't happen. She's been in a place where she was cared for as she couldn't live alone for a few years now.

I guess I feel as mad as this rooster one minute and as sad as all get out the next. I wish she could peacefully go to be with the Lord in heaven. Who knew she would suffer this long without food or water? And knowing how she would hate to live with IV's and feeding tubes and not being able to move and being to old to recover, how can we wish her to live any longer? And how can we, as her family, not respect her wishes? Even after she had the stroke, she couldn't talk, if a nurse approached her with an iv or oxygen or suggested a feeding tube, she'd get so agitated. She jerked oxygen from her face, she doesn't want any of it. Talk about courage to the very last. She always told us, "Don't worry about me, I'm a tough old bird." It's true, she is.

But how I'm going to miss her presence on this earth. She's the one person who taught me it's ok to have fun in this life. You don't have to take yourself or the next guy seriously. Drink a beer, invite your friends in for a party, go fishing and whoop and holler! Cook a huge meal that almost founders your friends and family and enjoy every minute of it. Dance until dawn. Camp under the stars.

She hassled me every step of the way over my paintings. She rarely liked what I painted. To her, everything had to be "real". You couldn't paint just the eye of the horse. You had to paint the entire horse. Mountains had to look like they really are, you couldn't interpret the way you loved that mountain by adding your own colors and style. Yet she's the one who gave me my first set of oil paints and nudged, prodded and poked me to keep painting. She was an artist herself, like her mother was before her and like I am now.

When my son called me last night, he said, "Mom, how are you really?" The first words out of my mouth, "I'm a tough old bird, Johnnie, don't worry about me." They were her words and I said them without even thinking... her legacy lives on and she'll always be with me.
donna

Rocking horse, ACEO art card.

Here's another version of the rocking horse, this one is an aceo card.
donna

Rocking horse, watercolor, work in progress.

Here's the finished image. I think maybe blogger was down when I tried to post earlier.

donna

Here's the final version of the painting. It's possible I'll put a couple more touches on it, but it's pretty much finished.

Donna

Rocking Horse, Work in progress, watercolor.

This is a close up of the rear end of the horse.
donna

Rocking Horse, WIP, Watercolor.

This painting is going through a lot of changes and each one seems dramatic enough to create another post for it. I think I'm pretty much finished with the background and the horse. Now to decide what to do with the rockers. I'm envisioning light blue washes to push some areas back and maybe another yellow wash to bring some forward. At this point, I've layered a very light transparent yellow and then Alizarin Crimson over it.

On the off legs, I outlined with green instead of bright red. I probably used cad red light to outline the horse. When I first transfered the drawing of the horse to this paper, I saw that red line around him. Don't ask me why, these things pop into my head and I have to get them out onto paper.
Donna

Rocking Horse, Work in Progress, watercolor.

I wanted a more velvety color of black than I was getting so I added a layer of cobalt blue and the paint was pretty thick. I didn't put the blue under the horse yet. I'm not sure if I will or not. I'll work on the horse some more to decide if I want to.

I'm now seeing this thin red line all around the horse. So here goes, that will be the next step. Then you wonder why artists want money for their paintings! So many layers, so much work...... to much thinking for my poor brain...ha. I'm joking. I do love what I do, but I still want to get paid for it. No different than a doctor who loves his job. donna