TBT: Le Coq de la Liberation

My first impression of the End of the Rainbow Valley many, many moons ago was the quiet. No city hum, no honking horns, no leaf blowers, no humanoids. But by the end of that first weekend visit I realized the noise was just different. Yes, there was stillness but inbetween all the nature noise was amplified. Today specifically one particular noise comes to mind and it was the rooster's. 

You see this city girl did not know roosters crow whenever they dang well please, not just that idyllic scene at dawn's break to welcome a new day. Translated 2 am, 3.. 4... whenever. And when you are staying in a house where all the windows are open because AC is non existent then it's like that rooster is in the next room.  Thank heavens for Natureman's youngest son being home for a visit where he just said that rooster has got to go. AND poof the rooster was taken on a ride and freed across the road from a chicken farm with a lot of both hens and roosters. Liberated to crow away impressing all those hens and compete with all the other roosters.


Now move forward to last year when the Milwaukee Museum of Art gifted tote bags to their patrons. There as its design was Picasso's 1944 Le Coq de la Liberation, (Rooster of the Liberation) in all its glory.  Magnificent colors and inspiration for the barn art I had secretly been harboring to create.

Last summer a great discarded pallet was calling my name in a business's trash area. It came home with me and by summer's end a sketch was in place. But silly me, the rough wood would not be forgiving if it wasn't primed first and all that sketch work had to be painted over. Ugh.  Well, as of this morning it has 3 coats of outdoor poly finish and will finally get hung. It won't get a barn wall due to its weight. Serious machinery would be needed to get it hung above the loft doors, hence it's getting a wall of the chicken coop so the girls, our hens, can also have some art. 

Natureman's statement upon seeing the final product was to the effect it had everything from the original painting but it was different. I retorted with a chuckle " Well, I'm no Picasso." 

And as you probably guessed, this is the closest a rooster is ever going to get to being in the End of the Rainbow Valley...