Face Lifts, Everywhere!

"Joy! II" featuring the one and only Jubie.  11 x 14, still available on the Thirty Horses, Thirty Days blog

In the blogosphere, at least!  I decided to update my blog to a new template today - not drastically different, just trying to bring it up to speed to see if that helped with a few little issues I've been having with Google + . Then, because I really liked the look of the dynamic templates here on Blogger, but didn't feel it fit with this particular blog, I updated my Thirty Horses, Thirty Days blog as well, using the dynamic template.  I also added a couple of pages, which is something I haven't done here yet!

The new template for the Thirty Days blog better showcases the paintings I did for the project, especially if viewed in the Flipcard format.  Have a look and let me know what you think!  You can change the format from the drop down menu on the left hand side, under the blog title.  And if you're in the mood for some shopping....a number of the paintings are still available, for very reasonable prices.

Thanks for putting up with me while I slog through these changes!

This one I'm keeping....this is Monster's mom, Sass

Reassessing

If you are a regular visitor to this blog and have been checking up on me, I'm sure you've noticed there has been no new baby girl painting since week twenty-four. The filly herself is alive and well, so no worries there, but I'm admitting I have reassessed my decision to do this project for a year. The last painting marked the six-month point, and I've decided not to continue, because believe it or not, doing a daily painting once a week, for me, is much tougher than doing one every day like I've done with my Thirty Horses Thirty Days projects. I've found it doesn't have the same benefit, artistically, and I haven't been happy with the paintings themselves. I've been fortunate enough to have sold a number of my larger paintings in the last few months, so I'm finding myself in an inventory deficit in that department! This winter I need to do something about that! Never fear, there will be more Baby Girl paintings, and definitely photos. The one above was taken yesterday, when the sun decided to shine! She is very fuzzy and sweet right now.

I think we may have finally decided on a barn name for the little girl. While "Jelly Bean" was contemplated (her mom's nickname, Jubie, is shortened from JubeJube!) and in her tough-girl stage I thought about Zena, Warrior Princess :-D , I think it will be "Polly." That actually came about when she first had to walk across mud and wasn't too impressed with it - I told her it was okay, she would be running at Woodbine and it's Polytrack! I think Polly is a pretty cute name though. They may very well end up calling her Jelly Bean at the track though. Mom's reputation precedes her!

Tomorrow is closing day at Woodbine, and we're holding our breath and hoping good things for the final start of the season for the first UnStable homebred, Peaker. C'mon Peaks! After that the gang will go on holidays for a couple of months. Here on the farm, we'll be counting the days till foaling season. First mare is due in early February, so it's not far away. In the meantime, I have a Christmas commission on the easel, and half a dozen WIPs in the wings. One of my favourite comments? Sleep is over-rated!

In the meantime, if you are looking for any holiday gifts, be sure to check out my Etsy store for some ideas, or visit my online gallery, Red Willow Gallery. And, if you haven't seen it already, I have some of my daily paintings for sale on my Facebook page for very special prices. Tomorrow, December 5, is the last day.

Okay - back to work!

New Project! Fifty-Two Weeks

I've been pondering how to incorporate daily paintings into my schedule without committing to doing one a day, if that makes sense. While I really enjoy my Thirty Horses Thirty Days projects, it's tough when I've got the business of the horses on top of painting, so proposing a year-round thing isn't realistic. Yesterday a friend came up with a great idea, though, and I think it will be very cool!

Unless this is the very first time you've read my blog, you know that just over two weeks ago, we had a foal born here on the farm. She's the only one for this year, and already proving to be quite the princess. The new challenge? To document her growing up - once a week for fifty-two weeks, I'll do a painting of her. Yesterday's will be the first, when she was just a day old - and clearly already had mastered "The Look." My plan will be to do the painting every Wednesday, as that's the day she was born. I'm pretty excited about this. Hope you are too! Make sure you check in next Wednesday to see painting number two!

Background Noise

I joked on Facebook last week that I'd received some good news, but I wasn't going to share it yet. I had enough on the go, what with my Thirty Horses, Thirty Days and the income tax deadline. Now that the dust has settled from that, I'm preparing to ship three paintings south for the New Jersey Equine Artists' Association's Art of the Horse exhibit which opens on May 20th, 2010, with the opening reception Sunday, May 23. Getting one painting juried into an exhibit is an honour...three, well, that's just got me stunned – in a good way, of course. You'll recognize the three pieces - above is "Promises, Promises," then "Pause," then "Outside Chance." All are oil paintings.


The NJEAA runs this show every two years. I first took part in 2008, and was able to attend the opening when I made the trek to New Jersey to visit a friend. It was a lovely show and my little painting "Man on a Mission" even received an honourable mention. I wish I could manage the trip again, but my one and only in foal mare is due May 21, so I don't think I'll be going anywhere!


As a surprising bonus, the NJEAA asked permission to use "Promises, Promises" on the website announcement for the show (scroll down to see it), as well as on the show invites. You can guess what my answer was! Sometimes as artists we can go a long time without much news, and start to feel a little left behind, so it's nice to get a spring pick-me-up like this. The show is held in the Johnson Gallery of the Sommerset Art Association in Bedminister, New Jersey; if you're in the neighbourhood, be sure to take a peek! It will run until June 19, 2010.

The Duel

Things have been busy over at my Thirty Horses, Thirty Days blog, so if you want to see what I've been painting, take a peek over there! We've been blessed with some beautiful spring weather of late, and I've pulled out the fly masks for the horses. For the first time this year, I put them on the yearlings. Two yearling colts, to be exact. Then I started the stopwatch. How long before they got them off?

At first I thought they were going to disappoint me - I mean, make me proud with their maturity - as they grazed quietly, unaffected. Well, Leo walked around for the first bit like he'd never worn one before, with his head stuck high in the air - not the strangest reaction I've seen to a mask, but I thought if either of the two boys had a complaint like that, it would be Spider. It's Spider's mother, Clever, who put on the funniest fly mask-related performance I've ever seen, as she cantered around with her nose up, tossing her head periodically. Clever can be a little dramatic.


It was about 11:30am, then, when the match finally took place. Leo's mask is a new one, and it's pretty secure, so it was no surprise that in their little sparring session, he got the velcro of Spider's undone. It wasn't long before he had it over Spider's ear...


The Winnah!!! Leo shows off his prize.


And then, good friend that he is, he shares with his buddy.


That didn't last too long - the mask ended up in the dust, and Spider thought it was a time to work on Leo's, without success. Darn that new Velcro!


I have another of the new masks, which I'm going to try on Spider tomorrow - see how they make out with that. Just another day on the farm....

Feeling Cramped!

I think it's official - I've been painting too small, for too long! This week it's been a challenge to put out the daily paintings for my Thirty Horse, Thirty Days, and first line of defence is to do smaller paintings because there's less surface area. Problem is, after too many in a row, I start to feel like I need to run away screaming and waving my arms! I have also become, would you believe, a little tired of horse heads. There might be another chestnut filly explosion coming on - though I promise she will have a head, if that's the direction I go!

I was hoping to decide tonight what tomorrow's painting will be, but I think it's best to leave it for now. My head needs a rest!

What's The Formula?

The thing about my daily painting stint is, there are a lot of variables. I had a fellow artist ask me the other day which surface I preferred to paint on. On that particular day I said masonite (a.k.a. panel or board). Then today I was painting on Raymar canvas panel - which a week ago had lost favour with me - and at the moment it's my absolute favourite ground, because today's painting just fell off the brushes. I'm fickle, am I not? But do you think tomorrow I'll be able to recreate today's success? Doubtful!

I realize such things are probably in the artist's mind - I stated in response to a comment on the Thirty Horses blog that we artists are our own worst enemies, something that is not a newsflash! Some of us probably learn to deal with criticism because we know we're harder on ourselves than anyone. And I'm not sure it's wrong to be that way, as an artist. If we were always satisfied with our work, we wouldn't bother to try to improve, would we? With every painting we hope we get closer to where we want to be as an artist, and maybe every tenth painting, I know I might feel as if I've actually achieved a tiny step in the right direction. Tonight is one of those times. I'll enjoy that feeling while it lasts, because inevitably it doesn't last long!

You can see how the above painting turned out on the Thirty Horses, Thirty Days blog.

It's A Dog Show! I Mean, a Dog Art Show!

I just realized I'd forgotten to announce the Canine Art Guild's latest online show. The CAG is celebrating it's fifth anniversary this year, and I'm proud to be a member. Oops - that reminds me, I also need to send in this year's dues!

All of the paintings are 5 x 5 inches, and there is voting for the People's Choice Award. Have a look through all of the great artwork there, and make sure you pick your favourite! I'm having a hard time deciding, myself - and no, I'm not going to pick my own work!

My contribution to the show is an oil on masonite of my Border Collie, Swish. I adopted Swish through Border Collie Rescue Ontario right about the time Kim Santini and I started throwing around the idea of the CAG. Time sure does fly - I was thinking Swish was five years old, but she was a year and a half when I got her, so she's six! In true Border Collie fashion, however, she doesn't act it! Forever young, it seems - gotta love those BCs.

Don't forget, the April Thirty Horses, Thirty Days is ongoing on its own blog. The first paintings are dry, so I'm going to be adding selling prices to them. Those prices are a limited time sort of thing, because once I start framing them for shows, the price has to go up, no way around that!

Better get going on today's painting!

Crisis!

"What crisis?" ~ Leo

Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic. As I went to run a nozzle check on my printer, I discovered I was low on one of the inks, so couldn't do the necessary cleaning. Time to order ink - only to find out that all my usual suppliers are out of Light Cyan for the 4800, both sizes! Using an Epson 4800 as a reference photo printer is kind of overkill, but it keeps the printer going - the nozzles tend to get clogged when it's not used regularly. I have a colour laser, so I guess until I track down some Light Cyan I'll have to use that! Not near the quality as those off the 4800, but what can you do?

In the meantime...I'm exploring U.S. suppliers. I think their prices might even be cheap enough to cover what I'll get nailed with for shipping, taxes and duty! Now, how long will it take them to get here, I wonder?

On a more important note, Happy Easter to those who celebrate - "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 1 Cor. 15:54.

You can see the latest painting in my Thirty Horses Thirty Days, here.

I Should Be Sleeping...

I was up early this morning to feed the horses before going into Woodbine to watch some of the horses work, so by the time I got to my painting today, I really just wanted a nap! It's always fun to visit the "kids" in there. Today was Opening Day at Woodbine but I needed to get home to do stalls and, of course, paint, so I didn't stay for the races.


It's two days into the Thirty Horses, Thirty Days for this April, and I thought I'd show some early stages of the paintings I've done so far. Yesterday's was an 8 x 6 and at this stage I'm still working out the drawing. Today's was an 8 x 10 and after getting the drawing to a reasonable point, I've started blocking in colour masses. You'll have to visit the Thirty Horses, Thirty Days blog to see how they turned out - or you can visit my page on Facebook.

Really...it's time for be now. After this morning, tomorrow morning will seem like sleeping in!

Another Commission, Another 30 Days, and Yellow

I have to admit these days that I'm a little worried about how I'm going to fit everything in once the mares all come back, as I seem to be able to keep myself quite busy with just four horses in the barn. Either I'll become more efficient, or something will have to give!

I finished another commission last week - this one was an oil pastel, 14 x 17, of a Golden Retriever named Monty. I also did Monty's portrait when he was a puppy, so it was fun to do him again as an adult. I used to work almost exclusively in oil pastel, so this was like visiting old friends, though I admit it did take me a little while to warm up again! Oil pastels don't get the respect they deserve. Sadly, that's part of what drove me to work more in oils - well, that and the fact that oils don't need to be framed behind glass!


Tomorrow is April 1st, and I'm not fooling about doing another Thirty Horses, Thirty Days. I'm going to post the paintings over on that blog, so if you'd like to follow along, join the followers over there, or join my page on Facebook. Some will be for sale as we go, so this might be a chance to add a small original to your collection.

Yellow. You're probably wondering about that. You might remember that last May I went to Saskatchewan and took a workshop with Val Hinz. I've been using the palette she taught quite a bit since then, and more recently I've been exploring different yellows, to the extent that last night I had oh, twelve, on my palette. It keeps life interesting. Yes, that's what we artists do for fun!

Better get to it - hope to see you over at the Thirty Days blog in April!

PS - This is a little WIP I'm not completely happy with at the moment. I played with it in Photoshop (out of complete frustration, no doubt!) and I've decided PS can paint better than me...at least with this one! It may show up in the Thirty Days if I can get it sorted out to my satisfaction, we'll see!

Warming Up

We can't complain about the weather here in Southern Ontario right now - after our first real snow last week, we've had some very spring-like weather lately. Two of the commissions I've been working on are complete - one is all framed and I will take it to the post office tomorrow; the other we're looking at framing options. My next portrait is an oil pastel, and it's been like visiting old friends to go back to that medium!

I was determined to paint something today, and it was this evening before I got to it. I've decided, crazy though I might be, to do another Thirty Horses, Thirty Days in April, so consider this one a warm-up of sorts. This is an 8 x 10 oil on canvas, using my old faithful limited palette of ultramarine blue, burnt umber, cadmium red medium, titanium white and a touch of yellow ochre. The subject is a very pretty filly named Van Lear Rose, Canada's champion two-year old filly in 2008.

On a sad note, I learned today that an old "friend" died. Millie was an older Thoroughbred broodmare, and actully my Monster's "aunt" - she was a half-sister to Monster's sire, Tejabo. I actually did a painting of Millie and one of her foals a few years ago, which I called "Signs of Spring." I worked with many of Millie's babies during the time I worked at the farm she called home. She was a very pretty, sweet mare. Long may she run.

Just A Little Break

I'm feeling like I have several of my paintings in the 'uglies' all at once right now. I know it will pass, but I just wanted to do something small and quick today. I was up at the other barn to pay Monster a brief visit yesterday, and it was such a nice sunny day I took my camera along. While this other farm is less than ten minutes away, the landscape is different enough that it is probably a few degrees colder than my place, because it's not sheltered from the wind at all. I had trouble holding the camera steady! I didn't take a lot of photos because I got cold so fast, but I got a few shots that will inspire more of these little paintings.

This one is just 4 x 6 oil on Raymar panel -a tiny painting of a huge horse! Bellator is a young Warmblood gelding. I've photographed him a few times - once 'officially' for his owner - and I expect I will be doing another painting of him!

It's always good to take these litte breaks from the more serious paintings. I need to do more - I miss them! We'll see how April shapes up - perhaps another "Thirty Days" is in order!