I entered the Francis Hardy Art Center's annual spring salon this year, and I didn't get in to the final cut. It felt odd to not be IN after having reasonable success over the eight years that I have been painting full time, though this is not my first rejection and probably won't be my last. I take pride in the fact that I had the energy to bother entering. Along with about 59 others -my entry was juried out. I celebrate all my friends who win awards, get cash prizes, blue ribbons and great solo shows, it takes a lot of work to get there, energy and passion fuel the success, but the rejections and doubts can take hold and multiply, so I celebrate the act of just showing up, sometimes that is as important as getting first prize.

This year a chicken- inspired whimsy of a painting entitled Pick a Little Talk a Little was my entry, I got these chickens from a wonderful artist and friend, Bonnie Paruch who paints like a dream, she gave up her chickens for personal reasons and I happily accepted them as a source of entertainment, and joy, which I sought to convey in my painting. Those chickens have been a great source for study and observation, they are somewhat creatures of habit, they are not totally stupid and they are in their special God-given way, beautiful birds. I love my chickens, and maybe I didn't do them justice with the oil paint. Maybe the background was wrong, maybe their legs weren't articulated enough to please those who strive for anatomical correctness. But I called in to the Hardy, got the jurors verdict and within an hour the chickens were back home on a wall, happily keeping company with my Australian Magpie Family and another Winter Wren. Birds of a Feather, they have come to roost in my house on the farm on High Plateau and I am happy. Now on to other things, I just finished my 6" painting for the Hardy's fundraiser, last year it was chickens and roosters, this year its a bromeliad plant and a tropical bird. I have to admit, I feel better about it all.

I had a chance to sell this painting this weekend. I decided to hang on to it a while longer though. Its a great reminder of why I don't use a clothes dryer, clothes lines have character, and provide opportunity to hear the birds, smell the air, assess the morning on a purely sensual level and you can dry your clothes at no expense, the sunshine and air is free, at least for now. It is a prayer flag that is seldom witnessed these days, I am trying to avoid sounding nostalgic but the clothesline has gotten a bad rap in some communities, meanwhile, my own line that was here when we bought this place has drawn comments of admiration from many visitors so I am inclined to keep it, and the painting, for awhile longer.