I was excited to see Maria working this morning on a new piece, one that combines three of the most enduring images of our farm right now, Minnie the three-legged barn cat, the Red Hen from the Gulley Farm, and the now famous Fiber Chair that Maria has been working on every morning for two years.

I’m not sure what Maria is planning for this piece – it could be a hanging piece or the launch of a new potholder series, but it is exciting to see the Fiber Chair come into its own in the lexicon of Maria’s art and imagery. I think that’s how art works. She said this morning that she doubts she could ever bear to part with the Fiber Chair, but she is ready to see it as an image in her ever-evolving art.

Minnie is one of the great characters of our farm. I got her as a feral kitten, Maria, then a friend, went with me to pick her up. She has grown up in barns with chickens and we think she thinks she is a chicken. Several years ago, she was attacked by some unseen predator and had one of her rear legs amputated. She is an odd and verbal creature, she and I have an uneasy relationship, she and Maria are crazy about one another. Most days, I love her, some days I find  her loud and annoying.

She is a sweet thing, and she loves to sit in the Fiber Chair. The Red Hen came to us at the outset of the Syrian refugee panic, and she became a symbol of that to us in some ways, she and Minnie are fast friends. The Red Hen likes to hang out with the barn cats, and Minnie loves to hang out with chickens, so the friendship works.

Maria will decide today, I think, what to do with this neat piece and how to sell it. You can follow it on her blog. I am always excited by Maria’s work, always so proud of her. One of the legion of Facebook busybodies and yentas messaged me the other day and asked if I wasn’t getting jealous of Maria’s rising star as an artist, blogger and writer. A sexist message, I think.

Boy, is she blind and foolish. My biggest danger is from bursting with pride. This triad is lovely, and meaningful, I vote for a hanging piece, but I can tell you I will not be asked.