"Little Church in Moonlight", 6x6, oil on panel, church , moonlight, full moon, nocturne, St. MAtthews Church, Chester Springs, Roots CAfe

"Little Church in Moonlight", 6x6, oil on panel

The first night that we arrived in Pennsylvania we decided to have dinner in a fabulous little organic/sustainable restaurant in downtown West Chester called "Roots Cafe" You can check out their website here. They pride themselves on good locally grown and homemade food and the ambiance in the restaurant is intimate and charming. There is also local art on the walls! Yay!

We had a great dinner and on the way back to our cottage in Chester Springs, I noticed a full moon in the sky and decided it might be a good night, albeit chilly , to paint a nocturne. As we came up the hill on Route 401 (Horseshoe Trail) I asked my husband to pull into the parking lot of the little St. Matthews Church, (which sits on a hill and is incredibly pretty to look at) and so he did.

The night was really chilly for this Floridian, (about 37degrees) and so I decided that I didn't feel like painting a nocturne afterall. But the full moon was bright and straight above the little church so we both grabbed our cameras and decided to take photos of the scene.

We were gone from the car for all of ten minutes but we did leave the car doors open. When we got back into the car it wouldn't start! I couldn't believe it. The Plein Air Brandywine Valley event was due to start the next day and I didn't have transportation! It is a dark, middle-of-nowhere kind of location by most people's accounts, but happily we used to live just down the road so I wasn't too worried by the rural setting. My husband , always the level-headed one, called AAA and they were out in about an hour to jump the car's battery. I thanked God that it was just the battery and we knew we would have to replace it first thing the next day.

Not the best way to start a paint-out, but at least I got this little 6x6 inch painting out of the adventure!

"The Owl and the Pussycat", 8x8, original oil on museum -quality gessoboard-nursery rhymes, paintings of owls, pussycats, moon, love songs, nocturne

SOLD S"The Owl and the Pussycat", 8x8, original oil on museum -quality gessoboard


Don't ask me what possessed me to paint this today. Other than the fact that I had runcible spoons on my brain, I have been thinking that I have been way too serious about my paintings recently and needed a little break from the world of serious.

So today I decided to delve into a place of whimsy, fantasy and memories of childhood nursery rhymes in order to create a new painting.

"The Owl and The Pussycat" was an all time favorite nursery rhyme of mine growing up, and I must say that I was duly appalled when I found out on a recent walk with my hubby that he had never heard of it. I was reciting the poem to him as we walked and he thought it was just plain funny.

"Funny?" I said. "I beg your pardon! I think it's a first rate love song!" I shrieked.

"Beg your pardon", he said quite humbled by my seriousness.

Although I always thought it was a bit suggestive for a kid's nursery rhyme, I'll always love it anyway.

Now wouldn't you just love to dine on mince and slices of quince and eat from a runcible spoon? I'd be happy just to dance by the light of the moon! (Not to mention those bong trees!)

If you are unfamiliar with this delightful little piece of prose, by Edward Lear, here goes:

The owl and the pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful peagreen boat
They took some honey and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The owl looked up to the stars above
And sang to a small guitar,
"O, lovely pussy, o pussy my love,
What a beautiful pussy you are, you are
What a beautiful pussy you are!"

Pussy said to the owl, "You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing.
O, let us be married, too long we have tarried,
But what shall we do for a ring?"

They sailed away for a year and a day
To the land where the Bongtree grows.
And there in a wood a Piggywig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose, his nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away and were married next day
By the turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince and slices of quince
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand on the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon, the moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

Postscript: a friend sent me this video today of a barn owl that looks a lot like my guy above. This video is just amazing- you've got to see this friendship between an owl and a pussycat!

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