Ever since the first day I met Ann, on February 14th, 1997, the woman had a strong affinity for “Bos Taurus” or otherwise most commonly known as “cows.” Bear with me as I sight a few examples of her love of this animal…

Example #1:

Ann’s dream (which I’m betting is a lot closer to coming to fruition than she realizes) is to own a farm. She’s talked about this ever since we first went out to get breakfast at the old Majestic Dinner in Atlanta back in 1997. On this farm, she wants the standard set of occupants, chickens, goats, horses, a few rabbits and of course the beloved cow. It should go without saying that Ann has a stronger love for animals than she has for most humans, but since you don’t really know her, I kind of have to state this.

I believe she already has a name picked out for this “cow.” I’m pretty sure she’ll call the cow “Betsy” even if it’s a boy. I say I’m pretty sure about the name, not because I don’t know, but Ann has a tendency to name animals before they are acquired by our family, but when they finally become part of the family, the original name more than likely gets changed to fit their behavior.

Example #2:

For the past ten years, all in our family, at one point or another have purchased a Cow Parade figurine for Ann. If you don’t know anything about them, they are ceramic cows painted in various styles by artists from around the world.

I can’t begin to tell you how happy she gets when Ann receives a new cow. She lights up a room like nobody’s business when you put one in front of her. She has quite a few of these cows, all on their own presentation shelf anchored to the wall and scattered throughout our home.

If you have kids, you may understand what I’m about to say… At times it feels like things come to our house for the sole purpose of being destroyed. It’s pretty much a running joke between us. So as you can imagine, with four daughters, anything that comes into our home isn’t truly safe from harm. There have been a couple incidents where a cow “magically” fell to the ground on its own from the shelf it sat upon. And of course, no one knew what happened.  In those times, Ann would become a tad disheartened by the loss, but in the end, I always hit the store within a couple of weeks and got her a replacement.

Example #3:

This commercial came out a longtime ago for Blue Bell ice cream (you can watch it here). I remember it coming on our T.V. one night after I came home from the office. In the commercial, a cow comes on the screen and starts to belt out various tones of “moo” like a professional opera singer. Ann starts laughing and in no time at all you can tell her stomach is cramping up from laughing so hard. This singing cow had such an effect on her; I couldn’t help but to join in. That cow has us laughing even to this day. On occasion, you’ll catch either one of us inserting that cow’s song into some conversation we’re having.

So in honor of cows everywhere and the love they fill so many hearts with, I present this cow. Every time I see a cow now, I hear Ann laugh a little because I imagine her seeing that commercial for the first time. I see her light up with possibilities of a future she’s always dreamed of and most importantly, I see her, just as unconditionally as I did when I first laid eyes on her… almost eighteen years ago.

Medium: Watercolors
Size: 6 x 4 (inches)
Materials: 90lb Cold Press Paper
Frame: Mini Wooden Shadow Box with Glass (4 5/8"W x 6 5/8"T x 1.25"D)
Completed: Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Artist: Adam Kiger
Represented By: Park View Gallery
Artist's Website: www.adamkiger.com

Who is Ann and what is 31 flavors of love?!