I'm going to paint Nigella. She will be lament. Stormy translucent greys tipped with jade and frost, built layer upon layer to catch the subtle nuances of color, brilliant sea foam greens and golds layered on top of gold leaf a la 'pictura translucida' to catch the opal's fire that they contained, a thin, so thin cut of a line of something more vivid then burnt orange for the rings of her eyes. I found one shimmering feather on the bathroom floor this evening to remember her by. The canvas will be atleast 4'by 5' and it will be my greatest color field/emotion field to date.

I just went for a walk, whistling our contact call. No luck. Now I'm having a good cry. I'm glad the tears have finally come. No more brave face. I'm sad and it hurts. The night before last, when I turned the light out to go to sleep she flew down onto my chest, I scratched her head, told her I loved her and she flew back up to the top of her cage to go to sleep.