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When we moved from the suburbs to the country here in Poway, California one of my dear art students gave us her hens from her suburban house because of her neighbors complaining about them. I always wanted hens and fresh eggs and it was a joy to get these new silly creatures and even more fun to collect the eggs everyday.

This painting is of my youngest daughter Olivia with her favorite hen, Ebony. I will always cherish the memories of her interacting with these creatures and all her pets that she has had along the way. I had to do this painting the moment I saw her holding her hen. This is a studio painting and was done in the studio from a photo I took. (because doing it plein air would have been a disaster since the hens are really hard to catch, let alone hold for more than 2 minutes!). The photo was fuzzy because Olivia was moving around a lot so I also had her pose in the studio to get her face better.

The best part of the painting in my opinion is the memory of this special moment! Think about that! Art can be so precious because it captures the precious moments. A painting goes beyond a photographic representation because it has feeling and soul in it that you can not get with a photo. If you have a special memory or photograph that you would love to see created into a beautiful work of art, think about doing a commission of it. I love doing such commissions for my clients because I know that such a painting will become a heirloom painting that will capture a special part of their family history. 

This painting won the  "People's Choice Award", this summer at the Del Mar Fair.