Radiant Rhino

“Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.”
– Ruth Gordon

 

Radiant Rhino
5″ x 7″ Golden Fluid Acrylic on Ampersand Clay Board

This was so fun!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happy rhino before. 

We had some drama at our house last night.  There was a very young spotted fawn in our font yard.  He was just standing there, on the hill near the edge of the woods.  He was all by himself and just standing there.  We were really worried about him.  Where was his mom?  There was another doe and an older fawn over near the driveway, but he didn’t go to them and they didn’t seem to care that he was standing there all alone.

I think a full hour passed.  We were beginning to worry about nightfall and bobcats.  He even laid down for a bit, then stood in the same spot again.  We couldn’t imagine why his mother would leave him all alone.  (We were watching all of this from inside the house so we wouldn’t scare him.)  It was as if before she left, she told him to not move from that spot.

Then, after what seemed like forever, a doe appeared.  She stood quite a ways from him.  Then he saw her and recognized her and took off like a shot!  He ran to her and dove under her legs, wiggling all over and wagging his little tail like crazy.  He nursed frantically, wagging that tail the whole time, until she got tired of him and moved away.  He was so happy!!  I have never witnessed anything like that in my whole life.  I just had to share! 


Here’s the base coat of the rhino.  (yes, Carol…. you should try it)

About Ruth Gordon

American actress Ruth Gordon is best known for her roles in Harold and Maude and Rosemary’s Baby. She was born in Massachusetts in 1896. At age 19, she moved to New York to pursue acting; she performed in plays for the next 20 years. She and her first husband, Garson Kanin, wrote five film scripts for Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, including Adam’s Rib, which was based on the writers’ own marriage. She died in 1985.