I know this is somewhat off the usual paddling theme but I was so charmed by this painting that a friend on another forum posted that I wanted to share it. There are quite a few of us “solitary geezers” who may be spending our holidays alone and this image (by Welsh artist Dorry Spikes) resonated with me.
Yes, I know those are not paddles but oars (probably for a dory) but I love that the spritely cook is obviously a “water man” with his gumboots and traditional Welsh fisherman’s “smock” hanging at the door.
Yes! And, as EricHawk mentions, a dog. Since the cook is looking to the right, I prefer to imagine that off that way is his (or her) parlor area and both the dog and the cat are curled up on that green and red rug in front of a roaring fire.
My own fireplace is purely decorative but my pets know where to soak up heat (before it gets to me, unfortunately).
And maybe also in that parlor is the cook’s partner (as seen in the dual portrait on the bookshelf under the barometer) drowsing in a cozy chair beside the fire. Or perhaps the cook is wistfully recalling snowy evenings when that partner was still there.
Well I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving willowleaf. I would have invited you to our house if I knew you’d be alone. Typically we host Thanksgiving and some of my wife’s relatives drive to Michigan from the Chicago area but circumstances conspired against us this year.
We’re dog-sitting for Polly again. Turns out she likes the electric throw blanket on the couch.
That’s a charming picture! It reminds me a little of the Owl and the Pussycat cards that you (IIRC) posted here, which you yourself had painted. Which I loved.
If you paint a Thanksgiving one with a cat, please do post it here!!!
Thanks, Tom. As it turns out, my sis and brother in law, who are only 15 minutes from me, invited me over for supper today. Nothing fancy — first year their two adult sons won’t be there (one is getting married next week so is with his in-laws to be and the other is working his first year as a hospital pharmacist and volunteered for the overtime shift today so coworkers with families could have the holiday off.). So it will just be the 3 of us. But I am still not eager to be with crowds. Allegheny County covid infections are currently higher than they were during last year’s late Fall maximum and people are getting careless,
Enjoy your holiday and pat that furry pup on my behalf!
No T’Day cat cards, but I often feature the resident furballs on the Christmas/Solstice/Hanukkah season card. This was 3 years ago (only annual card handy at the moment)
Models shown below in their typical configuration.
I have been drafted (or volunteered) to do murals at times. This is the bathroom my twin nephews shared as they were growing up. It was blank “builder white” to start with and during one visit I decided it was a blank canvas that needed more color and quirk. The boys (5 at the time) were into sea creatures – they demanded the abyssal dark zone with the creepy bioluminescent monsters under the window. I added the two “catfish” and “dogfish” under the leaping porpoise to represent their pets. Their parents added the other decor, much of it artworks from Haiti.
The little red crab waving a paintbrush under the humpbacked whale is my “artist selfie” – I’m a Cancer, born in Crabtown, USA (Annapolis).
