8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. You may assume, because this is a painting of a stuffed dolphin, that those round things along side of it are supposed to be bubbles. But in fact they are pearl onions! Elizabeth, who commissioned this portrait for her husband, suggested that I work an onion or two into the picture. Her husband has had Iuppa the Dolphin since childhood, and when he was small he was really into pearl onions. One day when he was little, he told his parents that Iuppa was very upset. When they asked him what would make the dolphin feel better, he said, “Give him an onion!” I don’t think that would work for me, but what I guess there is a lot I don’t know about wildlife.