My Two Hens

"Quietly - with low level coos and the odd cluck Mother hens Sheila and Betty moved in closer - their plan to raid the meal sack firmly embedded in their crested heads."

A few weeks ago, Jennifer and her husband from The Wayman Family Nest hosted a Give Hope Adoption Auction to help fund their journey of adopting a little one from Ethiopia. (They raised over $2,500.00!! Congratulations, guys! And best of luck, you'll be in our thoughts and prayers.) A great cause, tons of fabulous items like artwork from etsy? Sign me up!

I had the honor and pleasure of bidding on and winning this 8 x 10 Hen original watercolor painting by etsy seller eastwitching. It came in the mail last week and I am in love!



I can't tell you how excited I am to have someone's original painting! I'm a watercolorist too, so this is even more special for me.

eastwitching is the shop of artist Alison Fennell from South Wales who specializes in watercolor animal paintings and custom pet portraits. I love her mission too:

"Animals Matter. This is what this shop is about - raising awareness and appreciation of animals, painting them and selling art that helps protect them. At eastwitching I am using my art to help people to appreciate animals and the integral part they have in our world. I hope to help raise awareness of animal rights, reduce suffering and cruelty by being able to donate what I can each month to several international charities as a result of sales on Etsy."

Wonderful work, a wonderful heart. I'm so glad I found Alison through this auction!




These two hens are awesome. And they are so my watercolor style. The thing I love about watercolors is that they are so light and fresh and vibrant..you can only go so far with the paint before it starts to get muddy, so soft layer upon layer is added (light colors first, building up to darker colors), with not a lot of room for error. The nature of the paint and the water lends itself to not a lot of fiddling around with...it is easier to let the paint do the work for you, running and blending and creating lots of interesting, organic texture. It appears that Alison is a master at this:)


My two favorite things about this painting are that you can still see Alison's pencil lines where she sketched out the hens (so cool!) and the lovely whimsical splatters of turquoise paint.



I can't wait to hang Sheila and Betty up! Thank you for sharing your amazing talent with us, Alison!



Did any of you participate in the Give Hope Adoption Auction? Did you win anything?