Some Pig!

Some Pig!   arcylic, 07/21/11

I need to do some touching up, but I painted this pig yesterday during our roadshow.  He makes me happy~ looks so deliciously pig-smile-blissed out.  (I suppose 'delicious' is an offensive adjective for describing a pig...but no food intended.  Actually, I don't eat much pork anymore, just some of the fantastic sausage manz makes for breakfast occasionally. Even tho we live in the 'hog belt'- as a certain Ms. Ball calls it).

Anyhoo, it is hot, hot, hot here- we set up yesterday at 6am, lasted until about 12:30.  By then it was 100, with an index of 105- nothing to you Texas folks I know but you don't have a) the humidity  b) a fellow selling chickens set up next to you (the chickens were fine- he keeps them in shade and water).  c) knowing that you have a pack-of-stuff to reload during the hottest part of the day if it doesn't sell.  Luckily, a fellow came by and bought 2 of 3 tables full of smalls (random glassware)...Hooray!!!! This means that today I am supposed to go out to our shed and uncover some more smalls, BUT it is already almost 90, the shed is metal and....I'd rather clean the house some more and scrape up a few indoor smalls to sell tomorrow.  Smalls are my department- manz does the heavy work, the endless hauling and loading of furniture that we store in random places around the county.  (Merel's house, Dad's barn, the Horse Branch Community Club... we need our own barn)

Back to the pig.  I almost always paint when we are doing a roadshow- This summer I've had painting angst, commissions not turning out quite right (a dogg portrait took me 3 tries before the client was satisfied.  That drives me nuts).  I actually rejected the wedding painting- painting people is my least favorite thing ever until I learn how to do it right.  (I did have one brief sparking moment the enabled me to paint a kazillion mermaids back at the beach...but that mojo is gone.)  Now, no doubt influenced by my rural surroundings, I've taken to doing these quick animal pictures.  The chickens I posted earlier, this pig, the goat from last year.  There is such freedom and joy when I paint what I want to when I want to- entirely different from slogging through a commission. But this is my bread-n-butter money (for me-treats) so no doubt I'll do some more commissions before the year ends....I'd rather people just buy my pig tho, or the chickens.....

Saturday is going to be hot, hot, hot again, but we will set up (and to be sure, we do have our tent, lots of drinks, sunscreen ...but I can't paint in a hat to save my life) and I've promised the son-of-chicken-man (he is 9 and a sweetie- he raises and sells his own chickens, the fancy small polish kind with the fluffy feet and pretty colors) that I would let him paint with me.  We are going to have some kinda fun!