Update for the Royal, 2009!

I know it's been a long time between posts. I supposed my last one explains part of it. Add to that the cold that finally got me, a week and a half ago! I'm hoping it's on its way out now!

Friday was the reception for the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair's Fine Art Showcase, where I learned my drawing, "Adjustments" received second place. With that comes an invitation to submit a design for the 2011 Royal poster. Growing up I used to always see the Royal posters and think about what I would do for it...so I guess now I need to sit down and think about it again!


Sunday I was back down to do an oil painting demo for the showcase. I'd roughly started the piece at home - a 14 x 18 oil on Raphael Linen Panel - and had the shapes of the horses roughtly blocked in. I accomplished what I wanted at the demo - well, besides the obvious of showing folks a little bit of how an oil painting can be worked up! I got some basic colour laid in, very muted, and now I'll enjoy developing the piece from here to make it a finished painting.

Lots of catching up to do now, from my NaNo word count, to the works in progress, to some details related to the barn and horses. I'll try not to leave it quite as long this time!

And Here We Go Again!

I'm late! I'm late! (Peaker)

Some of you might remember a year ago, on October 31, I was heading into what promised to be a very busy November. Not only had I decided to do a painting a day, and accompany each with a blog post, I signed up to participate in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, endeavouring to write 50,000 words of a novel. I managed to do all of it, somehow. It's looking like this November isn't going to be a whole lot more relaxing!

I wasn't really planning to do NaNo again this year, until my best friend and long-time writing buddy Sheri challenged me. I'd done the same to her last year but ended up going solo, but far be it from me to turn down a challenge, apparently, so I started throwing around ideas. When I hit one that inspired me, I was in. My working title for this new project is "Passive Transfer" and well, it's inspired by that seemingly endless breeding season we had this year. Yes, that means it's centered around horses. Surprise!

I won't be tackling a painting or blog post a day at the same time, this year. I have enough art commitments to fill that void, three of which start on Thursday, November 5th. First is the 140 Hours of Fame Art Auction, with my painting "Fresh Snow." Next is day one of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, at which my drawing "Adjustments" will be part of the Fine Art Showcase. And finally, Thursday night is the opening for the November exhibit at the AM Gallery in Milton, where I will show some originals and giclées. Add to that a few commissions in various stages...should keep me hopping

But, apparently, that's not enough for me. I'm also moving dear Miss Monster to a barn with an indoor arena, so that I will have absolutely no excuses to start riding again. It's the same place I kept her three years ago. Hopefully we'll start making strides towards something productive in that department! I'll take her over there tomorrow, and probably plan to ride on Tuesday. Monday I'll take my work down to the Royal, and Tuesday the work goes to the AM Gallery.

Hey, there's plenty of time! We get a whole extra hour tonigh to kick things of, as Daylight Savings ends!