However, the day before my surgery I had a phone call that did give me something to think about as I am recovering. There is a new group in town - "St Michaels in Bloom." They are actively working to beautify our little village. Several planter baskets have been packed with flowers and are visible on a walkway in town. Also, they have sold 20,000 daffodil bulbs (and are ordering 10,000 more to sell) which will be planted everywhere! Next spring they will sponsor a daffodil weekend.
Which gets me to the phone call...they were looking for someone to paint a crab holding some daffodils to use for their logo. A mutual friend had given them my name as someone who paints fanciful crabs. For the past several years I have painted crabs for the St Michaels Art League Banner program. 'Mikey' has eaten ice cream, skippered a boat, held an anchor...why not hold daffodils?
What a delightful challenge. I began picturing a gardening crab...holding daffodils and a trowel...and of course, wearing a straw hat. This group did not have a specific deadline, so I had some time to work on it. I did a quick sketch (very rough) and sent it to the group.
A week or so ago, I met with a couple of people on the committee to talk about this more. Since they are not a garden club - we decided to go with more daffodils and no trowel.
This was the first 'sitting.' It's sometimes hard for me to critique my work when I am on top of it. It helps me to take a photo and then look at it apart from the original painting.
I like her 'attitude', but the daffodils got lost! It was too yellow and orange... back to work. If I darken the underside of her shell and add a little more ink around the flowers...a tweak here and there...
Voila! Mikey has a girlfriend! Don't know her name yet. Look for her to appear around town next spring. It's been a fun project. They will have a website up and running in the near future. Google 'St Michaels in Bloom' and see what might come up.
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