When I was a teenager in Bakersfield, California, I was in 4H and raised pigs. Which turned out to lead to all sorts of guilt and feelings now later in life - but that's another story. The point here is that I have a very tender spot for those of a porcine persuasion.
My cousin Karen saw the painting I did of Melissa's sheep and chicken, and sent me a photo of a pig with the most irresistibly endearing expression. It's from a dear friend of hers who runs an animal rescue. I was just smitten, and since I had so much fun painting the sheep, figured I might try the piggy.
Now, I don't paint to try to create an accurate representation of anything. Photography does a much better job of that. I'm interested in the feeling, and colors. So this painting of Rosie doesn't really do her justice at all, but I really did enjoy painting her, and playing with all these lovely pinks and bristliness and light.
Not long after finishing the painting, I went on an unexpected adventure with my dad and met my cousin at Kindred Spirits Rescue Ranch, where Rosie and about 200 other rescued animals live. It's a really wonderful place, doing very special and dang hard work. Here, check out their website: https://www.ksrr.org/ . They can really use any help you can share, so please consider sponsoring one of the critters there, for yourself or for someone as a gift: https://www.ksrr.org/sponsor . Perfect size for everyone, and completely hypoallergenic!