Someone mentioned the other day that September is National Chicken Month. Is it true? I have no idea but it spurred me on to finally do one. I’ve never been interested in using chickens as subjects because the fleshy stuff on their faces bothered me even though I found their combs intriguing. I know people who have them as indoor pets or keep them outside for their eggs. These people often ask if I’ve painted one before or send me pictures of their birds. Occasionally I’m asked about doing this or that breed of parrot, but chickens have gotten the most inquiries. In fact, I received a request for more roosters after posting #20, above, on Facebook today. There have been multiple hawks and crows and owls over the years, so perhaps that will happen. After spending afternoon scrolling through chicken photos online, I found that as fascinating as the exotic breeds are, the basic white rooster with a grand red comb was what attracted me most. I did save a couple of images of fancier ones, but #20 is based on several haughty tough guys that caught my eye. With this piece, I wanted to get back to the lines and negative space that the Charcoal series started with and I’m happy with the result. Another result I’m sort of happy with is the outcome of the laser surgery I had Friday. I do see better in that eye - there’s still a bit of a yellow rim on contrasting edges like trees against the sky, but it’s not nearly as annoying as the obvious yellow halo that was there before. The yellow is only visible now in bright sunlight, and it may lessen even more as the calcium deposits that got zapped the other day continue to dissolve. Fingers crossed, it’s already a relief, and if not, I can learn to live with this thin yellow rim. They wanted me to come back for a follow-up in October but I had to postpone it until November since I’ll be in the UK next month. Unless of course the powers-that-be, who are rushing us towards the proverbial cliff, shut the airports down. Will they? Can they? Am I over-reacting? Maybe, maybe not. I’ll be pinching pennies this trip but am grateful to be going.

Only one bird this week, I’ve found having time and space between them helps the process. I also had the latest CoVid vaccine, almost as a political statement, and it knocked me out. These days, I feel like I’m living in an alternative universe and that what’s going on out there can’t really be happening. Then I remember this is why I started the bird series to begin with in 2017. They are, after all, at least to me, pint-size guardians and observers of us foolish humans. I did spend a few hours revamping my website (www.maureenmccarron.com) and dropped a page, moved another, then gave the charcoal pieces their own category. Also, since I noticed Archetypal Angels (archetypalangels.blogspot.com), my old Manhattan blog where I revise and repost these Substacks, has taken off again, so I put it on Linktree where more people can find it. Since then, my website stats took a big jump so all the SEO lessons a few years ago seems to be working. In the meantime, as I’m all about social media today, an interesting memory from 2023 popped up on Facebook this morning. It was from a post Kevin Sessums tagged me in about his visit with me at the gallery where I had a show. One of the paintings, Professor below, had a big spider meandering across the front. Here’s what Kevin had to say about it. "Her bird paintings have an eerie beauty, both otherworldly and of this world all at once. One even convinced a spider. I told her that was the definition of art: Convincing the spider.” Thanks Kev, onward!

Only one bird this week, #18, the raven above, because I’ve had a lot going on. For one thing, I was dismayed to read that Trump wants to take over the 9/11 Memorial the way he did the Kennedy Center and will soon do to the Smithsonian. I have already mentioned that the bird series started in reaction to his first inauguration. What I haven’t talked about is how I lived downtown and spent the Thursday following 9/11 at the police barricades on Houston Street handing out water and sandwiches to the first responders headed down the West Side HWY to Ground Zero. Mr Trump showed up in the afternoon because our crew was on the local news. When he tried to shake our hands, I turned my back on him. Then he pitched a fit when the cops wouldn't let him, in his long black coat and suit, through the barricades. I will not be showing you any photos from the 11th but here is one of the collages I did following the event when I was too upset to paint. There were a dozen in the series and ultimately I created a handmade book of them. This one is titled Femme Fatale, for I believe, obvious reasons. Onward.

Once again, there are three new charcoal pieces since my last post and because I can’t decide which one to leave out, I’m going to present all three. I have noticed how the ones I like most are not the ones that get the strongest reaction on social media. #16, the stork above, is hands down the most popular of the charcoal series and it has only been online for a few days. Not that I don’t like it, but I have to admit I’m surprised. These three in particular have shown me there is often a wonkiness - the oddly shaped head, eyes that don’t match, fantasy feathers - that keeps the birds from being anatomically correct. As I’ve said before, I’m not interested in imitating nature. A resemblance, of course, but my birds are about something more ethereal. In the meantime, I saw my cataract surgeon and I do in fact have calcium developing on the right replacement lens. He said it is not an uncommon reaction and I am now scheduled for laser surgery at the end of the month. It is supposed to be a much easier procedure with only a few days of drops instead of the month-long schedule I had to deal with before. It was a relief to find out I wasn’t over-reacting or being a difficult patient. And in other news, I’m happy to report that I was accepted as an associate member of The Newbridge Project, an artist organization in Newcastle Upon Tyne, where I plan to live once I get to the UK. My artist page isn’t up yet, but I have access to their events and programs, and hopefully will become part of the art community there. So, some okay news with potentially good results, and some good news for my UK future. Onward.