Cicada Study

Cicada Study

5 in. x 7 in., acrylic on traditional-depth canvas    

$85 unframed (framing recommended)

This was a fun and interesting little study to paint.  Cicadas are magnificent little powerhouses of an insect.  Formidable but harmless, these are the creatures that create that familiar, sometimes deafening buzz during the hottest days of summer.  They have these little organs called timbels on each side of their abdomens and it's fascinating that something so tiny can make such an all-encompassing sound.  This iridescent bluish guy was clinging to the siding of my house by the back door on a hot July morning a couple of years ago.  I took a shot of him and decided to paint his portrait.

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Morning Glories

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas    

$100 (no frame needed)

It was summer and my neighbor a few houses down the street pulled over in her car as I was working outside in my flower beds.  Tragedy of tragedies, she had been weeding her extensive gardens and accidentally ripped out an unsuspecting Morning Glory vine.  She had plenty more, but hated to see this one unfortunate vine go to waste.  Could she interest me in said vine, since it would look so nice climbing up my lamp post?  When I heard that this particular Morning Glory had been part of a plant belonging to a past relative and that she'd kept it going all this time, well, of course I couldn't say no.  Off home she went, and shortly returned with the business end of the poor, withered thing wading in some water in a Solo cup.  I took it and unceremoniously stabbed it into the ground near the lamp post, and off my neighbor went, feeling better that she'd at least tried to atone for her involuntary Morning Glory slaughter.  I'm happy to say that it perked up, found the lamp post and the twine I'd offered it for grabbing, and by midsummer it had covered the entire post and trumpeted its presence with dozens of bright white blossoms.  And here they are, with golden heliopsis photobombing in the background.

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