This is an older painting that I want to update.

It started with a call from my sister. She’d found a big canvas set out for trash pickup and had gotten permission from the owner to nab and keep it. Would I like to have a big canvas? Yes! She gave it to me and I repaired the hole that mice had chewed in it during decades of storage. It was stretched by a fellow who never got around to finishing the portrait of his new love that he built it for. Finally, he threw it out.

One of my daughters had a bad feeling about forests – that they’re dark and scary. I decided this painting would show that forests are friendly places.

Last decade I was just starting, so when I needed a girl to model for a painting mostly I sought internet pictures. What a waste of time! With a model at hand, one can get right to work.

X-ray this and you find 11 other people under the paint, but they didn’t stay in sight more than a few months. It is a stark contrast to my current  painting style. I haven’t decided the best way to renovate it. This is the “before” picture.