Bird’s Eye View of Painting
The sun has come up in this cold corner of Europe so it is time to go out and paint.
Almost 9 years ago I moved to Kansas City and the first job I had was housepainting. Especially when priming outside I was Clyfford Still.
And now that I’ve left Kansas City I find that my first job again is housepainting - though in this particular case it’s all pretty much Ad Reinhardt
Again it’s a whole new vocabulary set I’ve been using. No longer will words like mud, caulk, and sheetrock work as I try to remember the words I used before going to America. Though on this job the only words I need are the ones I use talking to the animals.
The cockerel has just started crowing. Again. He started at 5am. You’d like it here, whoever you are. I saw a fox yesterday. He was hoping for a chicken. And on the lawn nearby a green woodpecker happily hopped around and licked up insects.
We don’t have the green woodpecker in Ireland. He’s a big fella. Much bigger than most of the woodpeckers I saw in the States. I’m pretty sure he’s bigger than the flicker too.
There’s a robin comes by and watches me paint. Remember we’re talking a European robin, not an American robin.
Anyway, ’tis time to numb the hand and spread the treacle.
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a flicker, but I hope so. Gorgeous!
Hmm.. interesting. Mr. Cork City and I argued for many years one night about the little bird in one of his beautiful photos. Having been foolish enough to ask what it was, he crowed with delight at my ignorance, “My God, woman, even school children know! Look again.” I asked if it was some kind of martin. “It’s a robin, silly.”
*sigh..
nice….
So what words are used instead of mud, caulk, and sheetrock?
huh? huh?
Plaster, silicone, and plasterboard. More or less.
I miss little robins. Big thrush robins are just all wrong.
The last time I was home though I saw a pair of robins fighting - they’re pretty territorial wee things.
Yeah Sam, as I hinted in that Differences piece the American variety is so different that it really messes with our associations for the little fellas. They are fantastically and ferociously territorial, so at the moment I have the same bird watching me every day. Lucky they like humans.