Last night I felt another Oreo Cookie coming on, so I went with it. Whoever ate this left some really fine teeth marks, didn’t they?
This partially eaten Oreo came from a photo I took during the 2012 Oreo Cookie Contest that I sponsored during the RiverArts Open Studio Tour, an annual event held on the last weekend in April. Everyone who comes to my home studio and takes a bite out of an Oreo is automatically entered. Then I pick a winning Oreo, paint it, and name the painting after the biter – who is unknown in this case since they didn’t write down their name.
Day 5. Beverly Shipko, “Oreo Cookie – Anonymous”, Oil on panel, 6 x 6 inches.
I think it’s safe to say that this Oreo belonged to a child, based on the small teeth marks and creative way the cookie has been bitten in a few places – which is what makes this fun and unusual. The triangular piece of cookie on top somehow makes me think about floating icebergs and continental shifting (aka sea-floor spreading from college geology; a bit absurd, isn’t it?), both atypical associations for an Oreo . What do you think of when you look at this image?
Day 5 felt much better than Day 4 because I was able to incorporate some lessons learned and was psychologically prepared for working on a surface that was less than optimal. Today I put more paint on my brushes, which perhaps you can see in the white filling. I also used finer brushes than usual for the details, which was needed to get into the tiny “craters” on the surface.
At first, it was difficult for me to get started on this Oreo. Instead, I wanted to work on yesterday’s carrot cupcake and build up the texture of the nuts with more paint. However, I realized if I started doing that, time would fly by, I would get started late on the Oreo, and then I would miss meditation class, like I missed Downtown Abbey last night preparing for today (applying the pink ground in acrylic and sketching the image). Keeping in mind the spirit of the 30/30 Challenge, I put the carrot cupcake away in the corner where I wouldn’t see it all day and be tempted (to paint it, not eat it!), and focused on the task at hand – which took great self-control.
It was a good decision. I was pleased with the result and the process (no mishaps today with the velcro, which was a good thing.)
See you tomorrow – same time, same place.
