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.