Monday, October 12, 2009

Monday's Jackrabbit


Another week begins with a cool, cloudy day. I may not be a fan of the cold, but if it rains, (which it might) I will not complain. We haven't seen rain in far too long. Even the desert needs rain, every now and then. When we don't see rain, the native creatures get creative in their quest to survive. This morning, when I went outside with Mr. Pono the dog, I discovered that one of the drip hoses for my plants had been pulled out of the ground and the end of it had been chewed off. Part of the hose was in the middle of our dusty dirt road. I have learned to bury the irrigation system, but clearly even that won't protect it from the thirstiest of varmits. If I had to bet on who the culprit was, my money would be on the beloved jack rabbit. They are cool-looking and have wonderful ears, but they are also known to eat any landscaping plant known and basically cause gardening mischief.

I have still been hard at work in the studio, but this is my last week of oil painting before the Art Tours. For those of you who aren't aware of it, an oil painting can takes weeks or even MONTHS to dry completely, depending on how thick the paint has been applied to the surface. I don't want to end up with a bunch of wet oil paintings when I have people wandering through my studio. That's just asking for messy, oil paint disaster. Knowing that my days of oil painting will be interrupted is enough to make me feel desperate and slightly panicked. I am so much in the groove of the painting process right now that I dread the idea of this interruption, no matter how needed it is. I guess that is what you might call a painting addiction.


I leave you with a photo of one of the newest oil paintings. It may not be finished yet. I am still thinking about it. It measures 24 x 30 x 2.5 inches and I have titled it "The Elements." So far, it has met with mixed reviews.

6 comments:

ArtPropelled said...

Poor Jack! I feel so sorry for wild animals when their food and water resources are low. When the monkeys are hungry here they will even attempt to eat lemons which they clearly do not like.
I like your latest oil..... It looks finished to me. Wait a while and you will be sure.

High Desert Diva said...

This reviewer loves it!

Can't believe you got such a great shot of the jack rabbit! And it doesn't surprise me in the least that he dug up the hose....

Archie and Melissa said...

hi karine!
oh i LOVE your new painting! so inspiring!

pink dogwood said...

Thanks for stopping by my place - love this painting. Now I will go and check out rest of your blog :)

emmet said...

love the compostition of this new painting. this "split frame" is something i haven't seen from you before. great shot of the thirsty bunny! i miss you.

Unknown said...

Just a little update: The line splitting the painting into two parts was not straight, so I fixed it today. I didn't notice until I posted the photo on the blog! Thanks for the comments, everyone!