Tea with the Hedgehog

In the early 1990s, during a ramble around Europe, I bought the tiny Hedgehog that’s in this painting in Germany for my daughter Tracy. It was one of Tracy’s favorites and she kept it in her kitchen until she passed away tragically in 2012. Since then, the Hedgehog has been keeping me company in my kitchen and makes me smile every morning when I’m fixing my coffee. I knew that sooner or later, like most of the things I surround myself with, that little guy would end up in a painting, and here he is. The idea for the painting hit me like a hurricane wind. It happened like this:

A friend had given me the wonderful book “The Elegance of the Hedgehog,” by Muriel Barbery. If you like Paris, and or French culture, you will love this book. I certainly did, and it gave me the idea for the painting. So, I set the book on a shelf and put Tracy’s Hedgehog on top of it. I needed more color, more interest. My late wife, Deb loved to drink tea, so I found the “Tea for One” teapot and cup that I had given her probably as a Christmas present years ago, in a cabinet full of “stuff.” I dusted them off and set them on the shelf with the book and the Hedgehog. The color was perfect. I wanted the background to look European, like the walls of centuries-old buildings. I just kept dabbing odd colors and creating various textures; just basically “winging it,” but it set off the smooth and shiny teapot and cup. The weathered red shelf (which I also made up) added a nice bit of color, and the yellow French napkin set it all off. I think Tracy would have loved it.

Original painting: 11 x 14” $3,000.

Giclee prints on canvas: Limited Edition of 100 S/N : $250