Persevere

I have to apologise for leaving this on such a somber note for so long. While I may not have posted anything here, I’ve been far from idle. Though there are times I complain about my apparent artistic ability (between it and the horses I’ve continuously avoided a more “sensible” career path), I have found in the last few years it can serve another purpose. When Monster kicked the wall her stall on her last day of officially being a three-year-old, in the process cracking a sesamoid bone, I knew I had to deal with the likelihood I would not get her to the races. I had a couple of choices: etiher sit around and feel sorry for myself, or throw myself into painting. So I got a lot of work done. That’s kind of what’s been happening the last couple of weeks.

This is my busiest time of year, next to the pre-Christmas commission season. There are several deadlines for juried shows in the U.S. happening in the next month, as well as local art shows on three consecutive weekends, starting after the long weekend. As a result, I have several paintings on the go, and have been working on finishing up some that have been hanging around for too long.

Tops on that list is a painting I started over a year ago and posted here several months ago. The working title was “Opening Day” but I’ve decided that “Persevere” will suit it much better! Many times I’ve wanted to trash this painting, and while it will never be one of my favourites, it was an exercise in perseverance, if nothing else. The grey horse in the painting, Judiths Wild Rush, was beaten a head in the race the painting depicts, but went on to be named Canada’s top sprinter, and has won the first two sprint stakes this season. The bay, Minister’s Wildcat, is retired and standing at stud in California.

Just an aside..."Persevere" is the name of one of The Proclaimer's CDs...you do know who The Proclaimers are, don't you?

Several other paintings are in the works. The juried shows I’m currently preparing for are the Draft Horse Classic in California, and the Harness Tracks of America Scholarship Auction, both this fall. Deadline for both is mid-June, so I’ll be able to show my proposed entries at a couple of the upcoming local events. If they sell, well, I guess I’ll be bypassing the U.S. shows this year. I can dream!

Stay tuned to see some of the new work. I’m making myself finish them before posting, so that I’ll stay motivated to finish them!