Reckless

I have had a quiet and pleasant winter. I have read books to the kids by the fire and we watched lots of movies cuddled up under blankets. Nobody got sick. The cats didn't catch any birds. The weather was surprisingly mild. But now it is spring and I have a need for adventure. I have been looking at travel websites. A cottage in England? A old goat shed (renovated) in Crete? Hiking the Grand Canyon? Even getting out of the house in the evening would be a change. I feel reckless. So far nothing concrete has come of my need for mania but I have been living vicariously through these little mice. What could be more wild and exotic than scrambling around these glorious magnolia blossoms? Sure they might fall but they might also have the time of their lives!


Ha ha. I am feeling so reckless that I seem to have forgotten to paint the front paws of this poor little mouse. Don't worry. I'll fix it.


This painting is oil on panel and measures 14' x 11".


This painting was half finished and I was wondering why I had such a strong desire to make the composition flat, instead of situating the tree in a landscape with perspective and sky and overlapping blossoms. The reason came to me suddenly one night as I was falling asleep. I realized I was remembering a wallpaper pattern, torn from a magazine about three years ago. Sure enough, I found the picture in my files. It was like that Agatha Christie story where a woman wallpapers a room in her new home with poppy paper only to discover that the room had been papered with the same pattern years before. Wonderful and creepy! This paper is by Cole and Sons and was featured in an ad for Canadian Tire in Canadian House and Home.