Yesterday, you saw my oysters on the half shell Lazy Susan which I made for my father's Christmas present. Today, Mom's gift takes center stage.
I grew up along the Eastern Seaboard, thanks to my dad's military service. Though I now reside in Texas, I am often homesick for the delicious fresh shellfish that was in abundance for most of my life. As a sweet reminder of our time near the Chesapeake Bay, I painted this Lazy Susan for my mom. (Actually, this was originally for Dad--sorry, Dad!--but I struggled painting all those crustaceans and Christmas loomed. I switched his subject in order to ship in a timely fashion.) Thus, Mom has the crabs (the Lazy Susan crabs, that is).
I am obsessed with backgrounds lately (as some of you have already commented)! This time, I did something completely different--"encasing" a technically correct rainbow trout on (and in) ice cubes. It took a few hours to render the cubes; ultimately, I am quite pleased with the result and find the painting more interesting with this change.