Painter and a model 1923

Tadeusz Makowski made this painting of a painter and a model some time around the turn of the century, maybe with oils? I imagine the artist has captured a moment of exchange, or perhaps a moment of disconnect. I look at the surface and I think, what was it like to sit there, in the cold, posing, or to sit there with a brush in hand, trying to capture a body? He's got thick paint and thin paint all swirled together. Is he using turpentine? I can almost smell it. But what I really see, what jumps out, is the owl perched above the artist. Is it there to help him see? An emblem of wisdom, hovering over the creative act, or perhaps some other critter came to mind, maybe a bat! He is working here, and so am I. Isn’t that how it always is with painters? We’re all in this together, talking to each other across time, inspiring each other.