Painted in January/Februay, 2026. 12”x12”.
Acrylic on stretched canvas. Price $180.00 Cdn. Unframed
Growing up on a ranch involves working with a lot of different animals that you build connections with, on a daily basis.
My milk cow’s name was Buttercup. I bottle fed her for the first year of her life, then had to bring her in from the field each evening and milk her first thing every morning.
Spending so much time with an animal is a little bit like a marriage. You quickly learn how to push each other’s buttons. Nothing is as inane as fighting with a milk cow. Buttercup always managed to lay low in some hidden obscure part of the pasture that was a kilometer or more from the barnyard when it was time to bring her in for the evening. I’d want her to hurry up on the trip back and she would insist on a slow shuffle that would take forever (I once thought I could train her to be ridden like a horse, but that went nowhere fast). If I didn’t finish milking her in under ten minutes, she could use her tail like a bullwhip to hurry me up. And if it was cold enough, there was often a block of ice at the end of her tail and a swift flick was like someone throwing a brick at your head – literally.
Despite all the bickering, I have a lot of good memories linked to that cow. Summer evenings should be enjoyed at a slow amble, so Buttercup just forced me to breath and enjoy the golden hour to its fullest. Also, there is something Zen about milking a cow in a barn so silent that you can hear the soft patter of barn cats. The dust particles would float motionless in the air, highlighting the early morning sun. This was the perfect morning routine, a moment of quiet reflection before the start of a busy day.To honour Buttercup in this painting, I chose a moment when her look said “what took you so long to find me dummy”. I hope that this painting captures some of her character.
