Archie's World, a miniature commission

"Archie's World" in an early stage of progress, 3" x 8 1/4", egg tempera on panel
(click on the painting to see a larger view)

I have a special request to do a commissioned miniature painting of the lovely country estate of the Weiss family which is located in upstate New York.  It has been commissioned by Ricky Weiss, as a surprise for her Mom, Eve, (who is not on the computer often) and as you can see it will include lots of fun details, and the colors of Autumn. 

There is the house and pool fenced in with rose bushes, overlooking their own pond, and to the left, a bridge they have built across one end of the pond.  In the water are Rebecca and Daniel, Ricky's daughter and son, paddle-boating, and also Archie, a wild duck that their family nursed back to health, loved, and adopted as a pet.  Archie even had his own pool in the garage when the weather was too inclement, so it became 'Archie's world'.

The Weiss family and the Conners have known one another since the days when my father, Eve, and her husband Gus, all shared the same study group at NYU Law School.  In the 1960s we stayed with their family to enjoy the World's Fair in NYC.  So it's a great pleasure to be working on this painting for Ricky and Eve.

On another note, I formerly showed small work portraits on this blog along with my miniatures and other small paintings, but those have now moved over to my portrait blog.  Here is one of my small portraits in egg tempera, nearing completion, which you can read more about, along with others on Mona Conner Portraits

"Frances and Dylan", nearing completion