I don't have a painting for you tonight because I've been sick in bed with a fever and brutally sore throat. I have a doctor's appointment in the morning. I know that you hear it all the time, but it's true, it really is a small world. During my last exhibit at the Gryphon Cafe', my painting with the Pepino melon and Hyacinth bean got sold by one of the staff. It always saddens me when they don't keep a record of who buys the paintings, because I get an empty feeling not knowing where the paintings went. Without going into a bunch of psychological self-examination, I'm sure you can understand how every painting I do, no matter the size or subject, is naturally an extension of myself and I'll always have an attachment to it. So, when I got a call from a gentleman saying that he had bought the painting and was interested in one on my website, it tucked that anxiety away. Now the small world part...Peter came to the studio tonight and before he bought not one, but three paintings, we shared our backgrounds, not knowing that they'd be so connected. We grew up only blocks away from each other. Probably only separated by the fact that we went to different schools. The recollections were warm, bittersweet and sometimes hilarious. We're already kindred spirits, our lives running parallel all of these years and now, bam, we finally meet and become instant friends. Don't you love it when that happens? I often say that "I'm living the dream", and on days like today, when I feel like shutting the world out, but let someone in, more of that dream becomes reality. I've gotta go, I can't wait to call my brother and tell him all of the good stories. I'll try to paint tomorrow with the doctor's appointment, etc. Good night and thank you for everything Peter .

I contacted Blogger for help on posting photos, since now I can't post older photos that have already been published without problems. Sorry again. I'll try back tomorrow.

I don't know who's responsible for fixing the problems with uploading and publishing, but thank you very much. I've tried for over an hour to publish the photo of the painting that I did today. Last night I had problems publishing yesterday's post, but I was able to get it on here even though Blogger said that it hadn't been posted. Today it's the image. So until I can figure it out or Blogger gets it corrected, I'll just keep trying and save the images for you. Say a prayer that it gets fixed by tomorrow. Sorry. 'Til then.....Marans chickens and their eggs are amazing to me. They are French chickens. I've been fascinated with them for a long time and painting them for about a year. I've learned quite a bit about them in that time and especially now that I have a small flock of them. The chickens are so nice and easy. They're calm and friendly and really big. The eggs feed into my "egg thing", big time. They really do look like milk chocolate eggs. Some have freckles and specks on them, like one of them in today's painting, but most I've seen have even color. The darkness of the eggs, is due to the eggs spending more time in the hen's body, where the application of pigment is applied to the egg. This means that the longer the egg is in there, the darker it will be, it also means that the color can be scratched off. There is actually a chart for egg color that runs from 1 to 9. With 9 being the darkest and most desirable. The black copper variety of Marans (there are several colors and patterns of Marans chickens) are said to lay the darkest eggs. The thing is, the hen usually doesn't lay consistently dark eggs throughout the season. Usually her darkest eggs are laid in the beginning of the egg-laying season. The hens that consistently lay the darkest eggs, for the longest period are the most desirable and their fertile eggs bring big $$$.

So, having said all of that, mypainting di giorno is of three, of the four eggs that my black copper chicks hatched from. "Three French Eggs--Hatched", 7"x5", oil over egg tempera on gessobord, $50., framed. Sold.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back here. I can't promise it won't happen again, but I have missed being here.As always, so much going on, we've had adorable little chicks hatching, but they sure do stink up the joint! They're a lot of work but very enjoyable. Princess Leia/Senor went to be with her new husband since she turned out to be a girl and laid two eggs. She has been replaced by Frankie, a beautiful, singing canary.

I've spent a lot of time having all kinds of medical tests for the issues with Lyme disease. I'm back on antibiotics. I really like my new rheumatologist, Dr. Jennifer Kwan-Morley. She's really a blessing and I feel like she'll be able to help me. Isabella was here again for a week. She's my big helper with the chickens and the bunnies. When I took her home, it was the night for Gabriel and Jonah's Spring Program. I loved it. I got to see Krista and Josie also. We all had dinner together and Josie was very concerned about Isabella getting the correct beverage. She made it her job to keep the server on his toes. She'll be in upper management for sure. I predict Isabella will have a very bright future as an artist. Seriously, this child uses color and pattern in a way I've never seen. I know I sound like a doting grandmother, but honestly, she's got something special. I should mention here that I realize that my punctuation is all wrong, but if I make indentations, paragraphs or spaces, those weird "A" things show up. But the PITA part is that it doesn't happen until I'm finished and I publish the post.Mike Selverian turned 50 years old. Happy, happy birthday Mike! We love you. My Mother's Day was awesome. Jay Sr. and I went to the Italian Market and got Italian meats and cheeses, olives and tomatoes. We already had some special olive oil from Le Virtue, when we had dinner there a couple of weeks previous. Modi sent the bread, the prosecco and wine made it complete. We sat around the table and ate and talked for a few hours while we listened to Julius LaRosa, Frank, Dean and Louis Prima, then watched a movie. After that Jay Jr. made a delicious dinner of spaghetti and "gravy", seasoned with pork jowls. Very relaxing, just the way I wanted it.I sold a few paintings last week, which is always a shot in the arm. Thank you to my buyers. We had the first of our big chef's dinners on the 27th of April. There were several chefs preparing all kinds of rabbit, chicken and venison dishes. Jay Jr. did most of the sides and everyone else brought wine or desserts. Modi (sp?) made the bread. Oh man, what a fabulous kick off to the season. I can't wait for the next one. Penny, Cine and I had dinner at Georges' last week. We closed the place as usual. The food was wonderful. Jay had his student's recital yesterday, which is always a treat. We went to Maia in Villanova after. It was very good. He has to have both knees replaced and the date has been set for early next month. We've been watching movies on the weekends when we get a chance. "No Country for Old Men" left me with the need to see Javier Bardem in every movie he's ever been in. I'm so fascinated with his diversity as an actor. It's not a physical attraction, I just can't get over how he can play so many extremely, opposite parts, so well. It was Asser's birthday on April 30th. Happy birthday with our love, handsome!  

The "painting di giorno" or my painting of the day, is of the lovely, dark brown eggs that my black Penedesenca hen has been laying. She is the most difficult chicken I have ever owned. She just wants to be wild. After a month, I gave her the option to free-range with the rest of the flock. She decided to roam away all by herself to the neighbor's house...of course it's the only neighbor that would complain, so I had to go round her up and chase her home through a field of brambles and poison oak. She's lucky I love to paint her eggs.

"Penedesenca Eggs and Egg Cup", oil on gessobord, 6"x6", $50., framed.SOLD

I finished putting my garden in tonight, so I'll be back tomorrow.