One down. One to go. July 21st, 2007

It was a perfect day out there today. A little bit of a breeze, sunshine, lots of laughs, real coffee, and Boko bakery baked goods. Oh, and the Minto Park Art in the Park went okay too. We'll see how it ends up tomorrow. With shows, you just can't tell until it's over. This makes me want to talk shows and show lore and show wisdom gained over 16 years of doing shows, but not tonight. I'll have a headache if I do. And I still have tomorrow to do. And that's show stuff too. It comes down to basic survival skills: drink your water, eat good food, get a good night's sleep. And probably for me tomorrow: don't forget to wear your sunglasses. My eyes are really tired tonight.


Here's my set-up from today. I use a lot of sticks, (1x2's) to hang my paintings from. When we put them up this morning it felt a little like a jail cell. I've never thought that before. I may change my setup now that I thought that... I can't imagine anything more effective and inexpensive though... and lightweight. If you click on this image you'll be able to see what I had there today. A decent sampling of things. I was pleased with it overall.


So I thought I'd show you something amusing from the show. Oh! First off, it was little dog heaven! There were so many small dogs that when a big dog came by it looked like a freakish giant of a dog. I always find it amusing to remind myself that every little dog we see is descended from the wolf. I was reminding my neighbours of this all day long, to see of they can see the wolf-like traits in those little dogs, even if they are well hidden.

What made me laugh was the dog named Muffin. I painted this painting of a little dog that I called Muffin (more on him later)

And then, right after set up, someone was walking their little dog and they called him by name: Muffin!

The Muffin painting came to be last weekend at the Ottawa Farmers' Market when a man lifted his little shaggy dog up to greet noses with the same kind, but different colour shaggy dog who was riding along in her master's carry bag aboard a walker. The two dogs greeted right in front of our stand and then we overheard that one dog was called Muffy and the other Buffy! Strangers to each other yet united in spirit. All that created Muffin the painting. See where ideas come from? That's how it happens for me when I'm lucky.

And here's my favorite painting that I made new for this show.

My animals or characters often reflect my own state of mind. They're like my wishes sent out into the world, and this little guy is stretched out, belly showing, at peace and relaxed, but something's caught his eye. Hard to know if he's getting up or not.

I'm getting up and going to bed. Right now. Adieu.

Relax

acrylic on canvas 24" x 36"