Squeezing out a little paint and...in a little painting

A few more of my paintings have sold recently at Crossings (hooray!) and more works have been requested.  I didn't have anything that wasn't either hanging on my wall, not ready to part with, or not satisfactory, so I was forced (twist my arm) to do a bit of painting.

Finding both time and a place to paint is a challenge right now.  Now that it is freezing at night and days are dark, I had to move my "summer studio" out of the unheated, un-electrified granary. I ended up setting  an easel and  table up in my crowded office a couple days ago, with a drop cloth on the floor.  Despite the chaos in my office, having a canvas right there, staring at me, with paint ready to  swish a few brush strokes at any time, has been a pretty good strategy.  I completed a little (12-inch square) chicken painting, "Banty with a Blueberry"

and reworked a 16 x 20  piece from a year or so ago that I never was happy with.  I am pleased with it at this moment.  It's called "Pet Me."

I must be the luckiest person in the world -- I am living my dream come true learning to be a farmer and have had a job I really love, working with great people, for a cause I care about deeply (clean energy). The only  down side is that the farm and the job leave very little, if any, time for making art, my other passion. So, after much agonizing, I am leaving my job at the end of the year to be a full-time farmer and artist!  The other reason I am the luckiest person in the world is that my sweet spouse actually supports me in this risky endeavor. What a guy!