#370 • Gus' Rocking Chair

Click here to purchase this painting #370

http://www.claudiadiller.com/blog.htm

It's a beautiful end-of-the-day summer afternoon. I slowly climb back up the hill to the house after a long day in the garden, looking for some cool shade and the solace and comfort of my favorite rocking chair on the front porch.

As I round the corner, I stop short. Rats! There's a cat spread out in my rocking chair! It's our neighbor, Gus. He beat me to it again. I have a love/hate relationship with Gus. He poops in my flower beds, but is one hell of a mouser.

Bug off Gus, I say, stepping up to confront him!

I got here first, he replies, yawning and looking up briefly from that nice thick cushion with his big emotionless but gorgeous yellow eyes.

C'mon Gus, I'm tired. I just want to sit in my rocking chair for a bit - get a load off, you know?

He slowly puts his head down on his paws, closes his eyes and purrs softly in to his nap, claws locked in place. It's been a tough day, he sighs.

Damn! How does this happen, I ask shaking my head as I ease this tired old body down on a hard porch step.

It's winter now and Gus' rocking chair was put away in the shed last fall. I don't have to deal with the insufferable little beast until spring. But I gotta say, I think I actually miss loosing out to the old rascal.

Gus' Rocking Chair • 8" x 8" acrylic framed to 12" x 12" • $250

#369 • It's Just Laundry On The Line

Click here to purchase this painting #369

http://www.claudiadiller.com/blog.htm

It was a beautiful summer day on Vinalhaven. We were stretching our sea legs one afternoon, when some laundry lightly lifting and settling on a line caught my eye and ferried it over a scene people pay thousands of dollars to see in person. It was simply ordinary household stuff hanging out to dry in front of an old white house with an old gray fence set in an almost all wild flower garden with a lawn that could use a mowing.

It's what made Martha Stewart rich and famous. She took what we already had - but had taken for granted, remembered it in some expensive-looking-reminder-of-the-good-old-days packaging, and sold it back to us for an enormous amount of money, convincing us it was a brand new idea.

It's Just Laundry On The Line • 8"x8" acrylic framed to 12" x 12" • $250

#368 • For the Firsts

Click here to purchase this painting #368

http://www.claudiadiller.com/blog.htm

Carrabassett Valley is one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever meander through. Fall gets top billing when it’s lit up like a foliage cinema set only a higher power can imagine. But winter is when the valley really shines, literally, with ice a snow, and the cool steel blue of the mountains is the prevailing state of mind. Winter is the season reserved for wild things and those who live here year round, those who venture out to elevate their standing with the elements, always to be humbled.

When the weather has turned just this side of brutal, I'm reminded of those pioneers who took the challenge way before a lot of us were even born. This sketch, sans telephone poles, is for them - the firsts who dared make the trek before skis had edges, pataguchi made quick-dry, and ski lifts turned all of us soft.

For the Firsts • 9" x 10.5" acrylic unframed • $250

#367 • Those Peaceful Creatures of Belgrade Lakes

Click here to purchase this painting #367

http://www.claudiadiller.com/blog.htm

There's a horse farm on Route 27 just outside the village of Belgrade Lakes. It was sold off to some folks who had a few horses too. But then they posted a political sign that utterly destroyed the concept of a little piece of heaven. They're gone, unfortunately their vote is not, and a forlorn looking sale sign is what now describes the property. It's been that way for a few years.

I will immortalize those classic white outbuildings before they become some ugly else. God - I hope someone saves it. There's something about horses in a field that gets to me. They're such beautiful, peaceful creatures.

Those Peaceful Creatures of Belgrade Lakes • Acrylic • $250