Muse vs. Muse: The Faceoff!

I was reminded today that I hadn't painted Monster yet this month, and she might be mad about that! Somehow I'm not sure my choice of reference photos is going to make her happy. The shot was actually from a couple of years ago, and I've already painted a few of the images from the same shoot. The other horse is Gladys, aka "Gladzilla." Gladys is big and athletic and flashy, and I've done quite a few paintings of her as well, though nowhere near as many as I've done of Monster. Still, Gladys has worked her way up to the number two muse around here, and I've always seen this image as the two of them facing off. Of course both of them better watch out, because Gracie has the potential to oust both of them!

This is 5 x 7 oil on Raphael linen panel, and my only deviation from the limited palette was a bit of Naples Yellow, and some of the leftover green mixture from yesterday.

Monster prides herself in being a mentor of sorts, though she's kind of an advocate of the school of hard knocks (like her life has been tough, or something!). In addition to her responsibilities here on the farm with Gladys and Jubie, she's been mentoring a young Holsteiner filly named Tia. This is her first attempt to work with someone other than a Thoroughbred, and I'm not sure how that's going to work out! Tia's adventures growing up are being documented on the Big Filly Adventures Blog. It's well worth a look, and has inspired a new venture by artist and Tia-scribe Lise LeBlanc which can be seen on her website. It appears Monster has been remiss in her duties, so I might have to have a little chat with her! Or maybe it's time to let Tia know Monster isn't always the best mare to take advice from! So much to do, so little time, eh Monster?

Aunt Monster

Okay, so I guess yesterday I lied. As I was looking through my photos for subjects to fill the upcoming days, I came across one of Monster giving "the look." She may as well have been yelling at me from the barn, saying, "EXCUSE ME, but aren't you forgetting something?" Obviously I had to paint her. I wasn't planning on including her in the 30 days - I have painted Monster a number of times and I could have painted her every day for thirty days and still had references to work from. I figured I could "share the love" so to speak, and paint some other horses for the month. Guess she made her point!

This is a little painting, 5 x 7 oil on canvas. It was tough to work this small - I was getting quite comfortable with the 8 x 10s I've been doing. It's also a very difficult size of which to get a decent photo - more so than usual. Her blanket is actually a faded green, which you may or may not get, depending on your monitor! The same limited palette was used. For the formal intro, should you just be tuning into my blog and not yet had the pleasure of meeting our Miss Monster, she is my own, homebred Thoroughbred mare, now eight years old; resident muse, babysitter...and on very rare occasion these days, we go for a ride!

Over at NaNoWriMo, the most recent challenge has been issued: 20,000 words by Thursday night. I have just over 14,000 at this point, so I'm off to go try and pad that total! But 20K by tomorrow night? I don't know! Guess I can only try.

An Invitation to Dubai!

Just after this past Christmas, I was contacted by a company in Dubai about an art auction and exhibition to take place in conjunction with the 2007 Dubai World Cup. Of the artists contacted, 11 were chosen and commissioned to paint one of the past winners of this prestigious race. My assignment was 1998 winner Silver Charm, one of my favourite racehorses in his day.

The timeline was short -- they wanted the paintings by the end of January! Anyone who knows anything about oil painting knows that in itself is a huge challenge. The other challenge was the size. The paintings needed to be large, and the 30 x 40" canvas I opted for was toward the small end of their suggested sizes. I set to work, and managed to get the painting done. A deadline is a great motivator!

I won't bore you with the ordeal of shipping -- another challenge with the short timeline. The important thing is the Silver Charm painting (and two others they requested for the exhibition) made it safely over to Dubai. The paintings of the World Cup winners were photographed for a limited edition book that would commemorate these past winners.

A couple of weeks ago the Art Connection emailed the North American artists with the news that the Dubai Racing Club was going to be issuing invitations to us to attend the art exhibition and the World Cup! Needless to say, we were all stunned by their generous offer. The best news is we were all able to accept. All of us are also members of the Equine Art Guild so it is quite exciting to have an EAG contingent travelling to Dubai for an art show!

Be sure to check out these other North American artists! Tom Pauly painted Cigar(1996), Rebekah Creech painted Captain Steve(2001), and Ginger Lowry, Almutawakel (1999). The remaining artists are from overseas, and it looks as if we are a truly International group.

Above you'll see the painting -- Silver Charm and Swain battling it out. Naturally we're all hoping for a successful event, but regardless, we're all honoured to be given this wonderful opportunity.

On another note, the latest Equine Art Guild online show, The Artist's Muse, is now live! Don't miss this incredible collection of artwork, and read the stories about the horses that have inspired us. Monster and her mom are there, and in good company!!

"Nobility Without Conceit"

Well, I signed the painting of "the girls" last night after doing the final work on it. There is a saying among some artists, that a piece of art is "never finished, just abandoned." While this is a rare piece I will keep for myself, I did have a couple of show deadlines to work towards that kept me working on it. This painting will be part of the EAG "Artist's Muse" online show, as well as From Heart to Hand, a group show this coming weekend of members of the Fine Arts Society of Milton.

Rather than babble on, I'm going to paste the information I submitted with the EAG show entry.

I struggled with a title for this painting, and have to admit I'm at a loss for a clever paragraph to describe my feelings. With a new foal on the ground at my farm, I'm reminded of the day my dark bay Thoroughbred mare Sass (reg'd Hallowed Be) foaled a tiny bay filly who has grown into the now seven-year-old mare we've come to know as Monster. It's been almost a year now that Sass has been gone, so painting this was more than a little difficult and bittersweet. While Monster is known for her attitude, her mother was the kindest, quietest mare on the planet. She was gentle enough to put a child on without concern. When I took the reference photo on which this painting was based -- just days before my sweet mare was put down -- the worry and respect on Monster's face was so different from the displays of attitude and fire I usually try to capture.

When trying to come up with a title, I was thinking of names in these mares' pedigrees. Sass's sire was a son of Vaguely Noble (FR) named Noble Saint. That brought to mind a favourite quote of mine that I'd forgotten, and it seemed a fitting tribute to Sass. Now, if I can just get Monster to read it!

"The Horse. Here is nobility without conceit, friendship without envy, Beauty without vanity. A willing servant, yet no slave" - Ronald Duncan

In The Still of the Night....

Well, all right, yes, it has been a looooong time since I've done and update here. Don't worry, I've been busy. On top of the barn full of horses plus three others to care for at a second location, I had a substantial commission drop in my lap. Details aren't finalized, so for the moment it's still hush-hush. I'll be keeping your posted.

My days right now are completely scattered -- I've been doing foal watch for the last two weeks, staying up all night for the last week when the resident broodmare, Clever, began to wax. Her January 31st due date has now come and gone, so naturally I think it's high time she got on with it! Truth is I'm adapting, I've gotten used to being up all night. Sometimes I paint till 3AM, until the work is at risk of a stray brush should I begin to nod off. I have a camera in the barn, thank goodness, so I can watch from a monitor in the kitchen. Naturally we've been having the coldest weather of the winter this last week, so I've been quite grateful for that! Worth every penny!

One of the pieces I've been working on is for the next EAGshow which will feature the artists' muse. Now, my muse is a no-brainer -- I don't know how many times I've painted Miss Monster, with many more hovering in my head waiting to be done. For the show, however, I decided to work with a photo I took of Monster and her mother, Sass, shortly before dear Sass was put down. I thought the photo captured Sass's sweetness, and Java's respect with just a hint of sadness. It's very low-light, so a different challenge from the more high constrast images I usually like to create. I'm working with a limited palette for this one, which was an easy decision given the subtle nature of the colour and tone.

I began this painting on the night shift, and have made good progress. First step was to quickly establish the drawing and some tones with burnt umber and ultramarine blue. After that I refined the underpainting a bit, using those two colours again as well as some titanium white. When I had it to my satisfaction, I let it dry before jumping in with the colour. Even the monocromatic underpainting has a lot of appeal, and it's often at this stage I get scared that I will lose the freshness of that stage.

So here you have some of those first steps: the inital drawing, the beginnings of the underpainting, and complete underpainting with the beginnings of colour. As I go I continue to revise and refine, until I have completely driven myself crazy and have to make myself stop before I completely blow it!

The painting is 20 x 16 on gallery wrap canvas. Title still in the works!