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Ellen Cowie - The Early Years

The oil portrait of Dad I completed two weeks before he died in the fall of 1991. I used several photos that were taken before he was ill. It is very like him and it even had his nod of approval, which is likely what every child desires from their parents. In fact, my Dad softly said (he was frail as cancer was winning the battle) he liked the painting just the way it was and not to change it even though my nine siblings had a small suggestion for tweaking the portrait. I had said I might add the background of the cedar family room with the library behind him. He shrugged his shoulders and said if I wanted to but that he liked it just the way it was. About two weeks later Dad passed away and two months after that I was going to add the library behind him in this portrait. Strangely, the paint would not adhere to the canvas. At first I thought I was using acrylic paint over the oil which of course won’t work. I took out my tube of yellow ochre paint and ensured it was oil paint as I still had some acrylics in my paint box from my university days. Perhaps I had used the acrylic paint by accident. I cleaned the surface of the other paint off the portrait as it was balling on the painting. I started the brush strokes of the cedar walls of the library/family room again. It was incredible, but it would not go on to the canvas without balling and streaking. I laughed, took out my paint thinner and washed the new paint off. Okay, Dad, I thought to myself. You win. I won’t change the background. Generally, oil paint can be completely painted over. I have done it many times before that day and since. It is very opaque. There are complete paintings under some of my paintings when I ran out of canvas over the years. But I guess Dad really meant it when he said he liked it just the way it was!

View a wide range of Additional Artwork by Ellen Cowie.
View a wide range of Uniform Artwork by Ellen Cowie.

Ellen Cowie
Peterborough, Ontario
E-mail: ellencowie@yahoo.ca

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