Moo?

I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.

But I can tell you anyhow

I'd rather see than be one.
(Gelett Burgess, 1895)

A couple years ago I did a small acrylic painting of the purple cow.  I hung it on the wall and invited viewers to guess what it referenced.  Darn few viewers nailed it immediately, and only a few got it after a couple hints.  The poem is not as well known as I thought.

Everyone in my family liked Purple Cow.  It's the first poem I remember hearing as a child.  Somebody, one of my older brothers I suspect, modified it, and the new version got more play time around our house than the original.

I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.

But I'd rather see a purple cow

Than get hit over the head with a dull axe.

 
I thought Ogden Nash wrote Purple Cow, and told viewers of my painting as much.  Wrong!  He did do a parody, however:

I've never seen an abominable snowman,

I'm hoping not to see one,

I'm also hoping, if I do,

That it will be a wee one. 

Purple Cow

The painting has a couple things I like: the colors on the cow, the bumblebee on its nose and the cross-eyed/dismayed expression on its face as it observes the bee.  And lots of things I don't like: the tail appears to be frozen stiff, the body's too long - a bovine version of a stretch limo, the background isn't 'back' (got carried away with using a credit card as a painting tool), and the teats are misaligned.

It didn't take long.  A few days after I hung it, I found myself thinking, I gotta do another one.  A better one.  At first I was gonna do another purple cow, but no: been there, done that.  Such as it was.

Moo?

Acrylic on Canvas

11" x 14"

This time, I used an actual picture of a cow for guidance, rather than just slapping on paint and trying to make it cow-shaped.  Quite realistic, don't you think?  Especially the colors.