Chicken Chatter

Biscuit II (Buff Orpington)

Some of you may have noticed the burgeoning number of chicken paintings being posted of late.  It appears I have fallen into the exciting world of chicken portraits.  My daughter Grace (who builds frames for us) has started keeping chickens - not just plain old chickens, but exotic birds with wild and silly plumage, and loads of personality.  And the names!  Grace and her friend Tommy were very creative, and unfettered by gender-based conventions. The names are hilarious! It has been fun watching the whole process, from the fancy coop construction, including an automatic door, chicken cam, and a xylophone, to the new tractor coop where young adolescents are held until they get large enough to become part of the existing flock.

One day my dear daughter and I were sitting around laughing at the whole bird situation, and we came up with the idea of chicken portraits.  Each chicken was such an individual, both in personality and in appearance.  Truly, these birds are amazing, gorgeous, flamboyant and captivating creatures!  From the plumage that looks like a Carnival headdress, to intricate color patterning, to incredible multi-colored fluff, it was enough to make my brush vibrate.

So, I began to paint chicken portraits.  We decided on an Andy Warhol sort of idea, with a different, bright colored background for each bird, and the whole crazy thing started.  Grace shot photos from low angles to get the best view of their faces, and I started cropping photos and laying out boards of 12 x 12,” or 8 x 12.”  I found that I could do a painting group of 4-5 larger paintings, and intersperse the smaller chicken paintings between them. The chicken portraits were a lovely, playful break from the sometimes intense work of the larger pieces.

I think there are seven chicken portraits posted so far, and I have another five ready to go. And then…..!! Well, I hope you have as much fun as we did with this lively project! Maybe you could come up with a chicken dance, or write a chicken song, or tell a chicken story, or……