"Putting the Chickens to Roost"
Oil - 30" x 40"
2008

These are my uncle's pets.  Only the eggs go onto his table.  The last chore that he does each day is to feed them, water them and put them up for the night.  The scene is set in the twilight of late evening.

In Marietta, where I live, the local KFC was constructed with a large edifice that takes on the form of a chicken's neck and head.  The structure is known locally as the Big Chicken.  Now that it has been repaired the beak once again slowly opens and closes.  It became a local landmark almost immediately in 1963 and a great fuss is made of it.  So, in jest, this is my big chicken painting.

Rural chicken houses and enclosures are not built but rather they get thrown together in a rough fashion as is evident here.

For the curious all lines and edges were painted free-hand without mechanical aid and all measurements are empirical.  The line widths do vary just a bit.