papaw's sheep

(acyrlic on canvas, 2011, M.Elliott)

i am always reminded of my papaw's "farm" when i around barnyard animals. as a child i loved visiting my grandparents in north alabama and getting to go to work with my papaw. after retiring from the real estate business he opened a feed store, that wasn't much more than a dusty old four sided building with bags of feed stacked on top of crates sitting on the floor, an occasional litter of puppies or kittens out front and a barn in the back that housed chickens, sheep and goats, rabbits and from time to time a horse,

. . .but to me it was a farm full of imagination! i know my papaw would be pleased to see me painting sheep!