I love being here at Cape May and painting for the owners if Congress Hall. There are days, however, when it is distinctly less than glamorous. Yesterday, for the first time in my artistic career, I found myself painting in a pigpen with genuine muck underfoot. I used to ride horses, so it's not a totally foreign environment, but I certainly didn't pack stable boots for this trip.

I was painting the adolescent piglets through the Dutch door of their hutch. A friend asked recently for a photo of my set up. Here it is, complete with two milk crates to sit on and an appropriated, upturned bucket for a table. Often I just sit with the inflatable cushion on the ground, but that was not an option under the circumstances.

Here are the finished piglets

Today was much more comfortable. I was up and out at 6:30 to do four more paintings at the farm, but wandering among blueberry bushes is much less taxing than trying to keep all your gear from falling in muck.

Then I had the artist's version of a working lunch. One of the illustrations on my list is a fancy lemonade, so I ate while I painted. The beet and goat cheese salad here is marvelous.