Interpretations - The Hare and the Fox - Christmas gifts

These two pieces have been constants on my work table for more than 2 years.  I gave myself a goal to finish them both and mount them for Christmas and to offer them to my daughter as a gift for her new home.  K.2 is a direct person and while working on the Hare, she had indicated that she would like to claim it as hers.  A loyal admirer of my work, it was validating and pleasurable to hear her be so adamant about wanting it.  What she didn't know was that I had already begun the Fox piece.  When both were finished in early December and I had chosen the framing for them both and mounted them, it was evident that they could not be separated and that if I was to offer the Hare as a gift, the Fox would go with it.



During the two weeks that these two pieces were completed and K and N had not arrived for Christmas, I displayed them on a wall in the living room so that my husband and I could live with them for a while.  It seemed over this fortnight that the Hare and the Fox had taken their permanent place in our home and in our life.  Each time we looked at the works, they seemed to speak to us in a different way.  I knew it was going to be hard to part with them when K.2 left to return to her home in Los Angeles.

Mentally, I was bargaining with her.  Why don't you leave them with us for a while and in exchange, we'll buy you a chair for your new place… or something like that.  It wasn't that I didn't want her to have them but more that I wanted to have a little more time with my new furry friends.

As it turned out, K.2 made the adjustment to my separation from these works easier.  She had come to visit with her own furry friend, Georgie Girl, her much-loved, delightfully discreet dog.  GG is a cross between a spaniel and a poodle, or this is what we have surmised.  K.2 had taken her from the refuge and gave her a home.  GG's start in life was sad, as most of the stories of the animals at the shelter.  In her case, she was abandoned and this hard beginning made her delicate and tentative.  With the love and attention that K.2 and her partner give her, GG is a close to perfect dog, never barking, shyly coming into our arms, responding quickly and obediently to K.2 and travelling well.  


But back to the gift of the Hare and the Fox.  What with a large suitcase, a computer bag, the dog carrier and handbag, K.2 decided that it would be difficult to take the frames back without risk of breakage, so she suggested (with some encouragement from me) to leave them with me until our next trip to California at which point I would bring them to her.

And so, The Hare and The Fox are now semi-permanently installed on our living room wall in a place that we can feature them and enjoy them for the time that they will remain with us.  

I have often said that each work is rather like a child.  I give so much time and creative energy to bringing it into the world, it is hard to see it leave the house.  In this case, they are staying on for a while longer, time enough for me to wean myself from them and finally say goodbye to them knowing that they will go out into the world and be enjoyed and appreciated in their new home.