Petroglyphs Under My Bed

The morning light that pours through the window on my left illuminate the canvas as The Killers crone softly anti-militarism sentiment while I work. Mixing the oils are the most satisfying detail in my project. When I achieve the exact shade of French ultramarine blue, my canvas will welcome its color graciously. This is my time. The house has not yet awoken, and I am alone in my pajamas.

I hear his tread on the stairs and stiffen. I do not look forward to his interruption and wish I had packed up my supplies and finished for the day already. But it is too late now. I automatically invert to my defensive mode and my hard shell goes up to protect me from his immanent jabs. I am sorry, the blue had been such a vibrant hue.

"Good morning. What are you doing up already?"
"Morning. I'm painting."
"I thought you put all that away."
"I had. But now it is time to paint again."
"Ugh."

The edge of my brush swipes the cadium barium red. It is such a strong color it instantly evolves my palate into mud. I have to start again.

"I made coffee . It's over on the counter."
"See now why can't you stick with cooking. Something practical that you are good at. Then I'd be eating a full breakfast right now."
"This IS practical."

I have a wild boars in my bathroom.

"How is that practical?"
"I like doing it."
"What is it anyway?"
"It's my idea of a kind of Vassy Kandinsky."
"Sure. What's that then? Polish for a mess?"
"No, Kandinsky was a modernism impressionist. Quite famous. Modern being up to the 1940's that is."

He dribbles the hot coffee from his cup down my back as he stands behind me unaware of his actions. No matter how much I mix, I cannot get my blue shade back right.

"He was famous for a bunch of eyes then, was he?"
"If you see eyes, then you are paranoid. Or just need watching yourself."
"You call that art, crazy girl?"

There are blueberrys in our unfinished sauna.

"You planning on hanging that in here? Your not going to hang that in here are you?"
I hear the anxiety in his voice. Has an cardium barium orange tinge to it.

"No. It is a gift. A housewarming present for my Sis. Practical art."

"Good. I wouldn't want to go to all the work of bringing in my elk head from the polebarn again." I can tell he is glad to have dodged this oil bullet.

When he is mad at me, the big old ugly stinky deer head comes in the house and is hung on the wall. I accidentally dip my brush into my own tea cup to clean, instead of the turpentine, and give up on my thoughts of blue. With a new brush, I pick up my viridian green. and paint straight from the tube. My sister will like it. Green is her favorite color.

"You know, if you want to paint something, why not a dog? My dog Clyde would make a pretty picture."

The Vikings that hang over our mantel is the only painting he likes and will let me display. The focal point in the picture is the worrier that I made resemble him.

"If you want to see more Clyde, just look down."
"He would make a great picture. Hang a dead duck in his mouth..."

There are northern lights in my grandmothers immigrant trunk.

"Yuck. Might was well take snap shots of road kill."
"I would hang a picture of Clyde over my desk in my office."

I once told my girlfriend he is my worst critique to my face but he brags of my so called ability to our friends. "It's better than him lying to your face and talking trash behind your back", she told me. She was dead on.

"Or paint one of our cows. Imortilize Wooly Bully on canvas long after we have eaten his last hamburger."

There is a male torso behind my Christmas dress in the closet.

"Why don't you go out and feed Wooly Bully right now before I decide to paint your ass a nice black and blue?"
"Good thing you have two hands there Munkay, cuse if you had to paint with your brush in that filthy mouth..."
"I'd be painting dead animals."

"You want me to make a pretty frame for that? I have some great weathered barnboards I could knock out a really nice frame with?"

"Barnboards are too early American to fit with modernism. No. But thanks."
"Ok then. I'll make the frame and you paint the cows playing poker."

Warm zinc yellow is hard to get out of hair. But it's a nice happy color.