the traveling chicken

A long time ago I signed up to be a part of a blog called The Traveling Chicken where Ms. Chick and her friends travel the globe from artist to artist, and each artist paints or draws the chick in a new environment. But it has become more than a painting or drawing—each artist is weaving their own chapter in the story of the chicken that traveled the globe.

They are some very Lucky ducks! The Traveling Chicken + gang arrived at my house just in time for Fasnacht day. If I didn't know better I'd think they planned it that way! Fastnacht Day is an annual Pennsylvania Dutch celebration that falls on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. The word translates to "Fast Night" in English. The tradition is to eat the very best foods, which are part of the German tradition, and lots of it, before the Lenten fast. Fastnachts (pronounced fost-nokts in German) are doughnuts. And what better place for this cute little chick to pose for her portrait!

fun bunch

I am always looking for painting inspiration, either in my travels, in what friends post on instagram or Facebook, or when I get the opportunity to look through the photos on their phones (especially great when the friend is a photographer!). This is from my friend Lori's photos on her phone taken at a wonderful outdoor market, where she has a honey stand on Sunday mornings. I mostly paint from photos, just because it is so very time efficient...since I only paint for an hour or so at 5 or 6 am. Tomorrow I hope to try painting at a Plein Air event here in Lancaster. I am so looking forward to it, but I've never done it before...I think I'm up for the challenge. If what I end up with isn't awful, I will share it.