Usually I work on paintings that are considerably larger than this, 24 x 18 inches is a favorite size. But I enjoyed doing the little Wild Turkey Portrait that you saw last month so I thought I’d try another. Here is Portrait 2: Porcupine. These portraits may become a series.

I don’t often see porcupines near where I live and I’m grateful for that because if I’m walking outside I’m nearly always with Tilly. She is a mad hunter and I would fear the outcome of a porcupine encounter. I’m certain it would be bad. However I have seen and photographed porcupines and I like painting them. Here is one in an autumn setting, beneath the surrounding plants that are going to seed, turning rust colored and orange. Two little frogs observe. A pale bird seems to have something to say.

Portrait 2: Porcupine
Acrylic on claybord
6 x 6 inches
$450

My Etsy shop is on vacation until March but if you’re interested in this piece you can let me know in the comments below.

Thank you for taking the time to take a look. As always, it’s much appreciated.

“Peaceable Kingdom. The Animals” detail.

This piece has taken it’s sweet time coming into being. I was sidetracked by several matters that took me away from my work. But here finally is the finished painting. It features the animals that I see almost daily. That’s me on a very good day, jawline tightened, with faithful Maggie in the center beneath a surge of blackbirds. In real life I was caught beneath that surge one morning on the trail with a flock of one hundred blasting above me, nearly touching my head. It was breathtaking. Here is a calmer version. I appear to be releasing a blackbird into the spiraling flock, insinuating myself I suppose, into this impossible scenario. Blackbirds, coyote, deer, black bear, fisher, turkeys, pheasant, squirrel, skunk, fox, rabbit, chipmunk. You’ll recognize my house in the background. The question remains, why are they all on the move? I could get political and say it has something to do with the damage we’ve done to our natural world and the list of soon to be extinct species I’ve been hearing about. But I actually think those crazy birds just got everyone excited.

“Peaceable Kingdom. The Animals.”
Acrylic on board
24” x 18”
$1500.

A reader made a suggestion that I add an audio feature to this newsletter. I kind of liked the idea so here goes. I wrote several versions of a script, all of which I tossed. They sounded too stiff and in the end I decided to simply talk about what I see when I look at this painting. Although I’ve called this a podcast it technically isn’t, not yet. You won’t find it on iTunes although, if this goes well, who knows?

ETSY SALE! Get free standard shipping on any purchase from May 30 through June 3.
The painting and prints of the image are available in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/693860112/peaceable-kingdom-the-animals-original?ref=listing_published_alert

https://www.etsy.com/listing/693858252/peaceable-kingdom-the-animals-art-print?ref=shop_home_active_1