I will stay inside and paint today. I will stay inside and paint today. I will stay inside and paint today. I will . . .

Ruddy Duck at dinnertime, 6x9" watercolor

Here’s the last of the Morehead City paintings, at least until I trek down there again. I’m dying to get out and paint again en plein air. For the time being I’m confined to quarters, as they say in the military. I’ve been dragging my heels on a major portrait commission — three faces, 40x30”— and so in this hot July month, I’ve decided it a good time to tackle it. Problem is, in spite of air conditioning, I wilt when I don’t get out and enjoy nature and all her gifts. Soon the caterpillars will be on my fennel plant, ready to strip it of all its fine foliage. Reminds me of a book of poetry I illustrated when I was in college,

. . . And the lilies tall lean over the wall
To bow to the butterfly,
It’s  July.
by Susan Hartley Swett (published in the 1880’s)

For those who are within driving distance of Raleigh, please stop by The Little Art Gallery the evening of July 20. This gallery, that is my exclusive gallery representative in Raleigh, is participating in the event I’ve shown below. I will be there doing yet another painting of the Peace and Person Street Krispy Kreme. What could be sweeter?

 

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