Laura Wortley wrote, in her 1996 biography of artist Lucy Kemp Welch (1869 -1958), suffragette and illustrator of the definitive 1915 edition of "Black Beauty", that she painted "horses, not horseflesh" (emphasis mine).  That is, she depicted them as vital, independent beings, not merely extensions or possessions of their human owners. She preferred to paint the draft horse over the thoroughbred, "the natural type," she once explained, "fashioned by nature and not by man - full of faults, variable, beautiful, and lovable beyond words." (Wortley, pg 142.)

I always think of Welch when I look at my sweetie's paintings or sculptures of animals, be it of horses (she specialized in equine painting while attending art school in CT), dogs, bison or, in this case, chickens. Judy has a wonderful understanding of animals, from years of working with them, careful observation and study, and, most importantly, love.