"I'm sorry 2014, We Seem to Have Gotten Off on the Wrong Foot, Can We Start Over?"

"Hello, I put in for a transfer to Florida, did you receive it?"

That's how I've been feeling these days.  January has been somewhat of an uphill battle, through snow no less (literally, as of yesterday, as well as figuratively!).  I really don't like to whine about the weather - yes, I know, it's January, this is Canada, we get winter - but this year I admit I'm finding it hard to ignore.  Why did I stop spending winters in Florida, again?

I had a project for January - I moved Jubie, the last of the broodmares seeking a new career, to a boarding stable so I could get on her and better her chances of finding a new home.  Started off with a couple of days on the longe line, then we got hit with the first cold snap.  Sorry, but my craziness doesn't quite extend to getting on a mare who hasn't been ridden since she left the track in 2008 (and had quite the reputation) when it's -16 C (or less!).

Put it off for a couple of days...then the lights in the indoor arena weren't working. As I was getting there after dark, well....again, not going to get on said mare in the dark, thank you!  Next day I arrived while it was still daylight – of course the lights were also working by this point.  :-)

Jubie was a superstar, very sensible, no silliness. Yay!  A few days later....another cold snap.  Okay, the words POLAR VORTEX were being tossed around with abandon on the news.  There go a couple more days of riding.  Next – my stomach gets hit with something.  I think I've decided it was the medication I started taking for my bad ankle, but either way, it was a rather violent reaction that sent me crawling to my bed in between trying to manage the horses and doing stalls.  After about three days to recover from that, I felt strong enough to get back to riding!  Two days in a row, before....a return of that -20-something weather!

Swishy knows how to deal with the Polar Vortex.

By this point I'm just feeling beaten up and spit out, and desperately locking my eyes on that predicted high of -6 for Saturday the 25th.  Naturally that's when the predicted 2-4 cms of snow turned into about 20cm...so Saturday was spent moving snow, getting hay, and the usual horse chores.  I still felt guilty for not getting up at the end of the day to ride.

I did, however, managed a bit of painting, which, needless to say has been rather hit-or-miss this month, for no good reason.  When I decided on Friday afternoon to hit the easel, I really didn't mean for that to be literal – but yes, I managed to whack the back of my hand on the edge of the piece of plexi that rests under my palette - hard enough to actually cut my hand.  It kind of felt as if the easel was telling me, "You're not worthy, come back another time!"  Yes, okay, winter is doing my head in.  ;-) I decided to fight back and try painting with my left hand.  I did end up working with my right (dominant) hand, but it was an interesting exercise I should try more often.

Left hand....okay so you can at least tell it's a horse!

So, here we are, with a week left in January.  The weather isn't looking to be a whole lot friendlier this week, but I hope I manage to get a few rides in.  Perhaps I'll even manage to paint some more.  But who is with me, come January 31st....what say we celebrate the Chinese New Year and start over?  :-)

Back into the comfort zone....dominant hand...working title "Fire Filly!"

Well, It Wasn't Pretty!

I was wrong - today was as nice as yesterday. Not quite as warm, but the sun was shining. Two whole days in a row of promising weather! I was determined not to let two such days go by without getting on my dear mare, so I got the stalls done in good time, came in to eat a light lunch and change, put my paddock boots on and went back to the barn. Now, the rest of the story will explain some of why I don't ride very often! Why does it have to be such a big deal to do such a simple thing?


I'd set out my tack and needed to bed a couple of stalls - Gracie had to come in, and Gladys is turned out with Monster and I know I can't leave her out on her own. As I'm preparing for that, Gladys decides to warm Monster up for me. Kind of her, really. This translates as Glad doing laps in the snow and Monster mostly restricting herself to airs above the ground.

I am still determined to ride, despite being aware I will likely have a crazy horse on my hands. To help out, it's just the right temperature out that the snow is sliding off the roof of the barn periodically. The horses seemed to be used to it though, so I'm thinking maybe that won't be an excuse - for the horse that tends to look for excuses!


I bring Gladys and Monster in and give them a few minutes to settle down with some hay and warm water. At this point, Twine - due to foal in two weeks Twine - decides that wasn't acceptable, starts yelling and she and Clever are now being silly. Needless to say, now *they* have to come in, because I can't very well let this broodmare leap around like that. I quickly bed their two stalls and bring the two goofy mommas in. Thankfully Jubie and the three boys out back were just quietly observing all this craziness, so they get some hay to encourage such behaviour, though I know it's unlikely to last once I'm actually riding.

There used to be a day that it would take me half an hour to forty-five minutes to get ready before I rode, because regardless of the fact that no one was even likely to see us, my horse had to look good! Well, I've gotten over that, because otherwise I would never get to ride. I quickly knocked Monster off, picked her feet and noted how badly her mane needs to be pulled, then tacked her up, trying not to wonder if this really wasn't such a good idea given the events so far! Boldly go!


The racehorses always crack me up. Let's face it - these horses see everything at the track. Bring them to the farm, however, and suddenly, the sight of a rider on a horse is shocking! The two chestnut boys and their bay yearling protégé came barreling over to accompany us as we rode up the fenceline. I was counting on the deep snow to keep Monster somewhat focused, but she was getting pumped. She really didn't believe I wanted her to leave them behind, but I pushed her on through the little pathway to the fields behind our property and on we went.


I wasn't sure exactly where we would go, because I hadn't been out to clear all of the low-hanging branches, and riding through brush on a horse that's kind of high can be a bit treacherous! As I'm considering our options, I feel her growing to twice her size as she spots a neighbour on snowshoes out walking his dog. Yes, Monster – bred and owned by a dog trainer, raised around dogs, has seen dogs every day of her life that she wasn't at the track – thinks dogs are somehow evil and out to get her. At this point I know the best thing to do is head in a different direction and ease our way back home (ease perhaps not being the most appropriate word choice) because now is not the time to confront her irrational fear of the canine. So off we go across the field, at which point Monster would really like to get her head down and buck, and I'm firmly suggesting she not try it! I wonder what the snow-shoer thought of my conversation with the crow-hopping bay mare!

Back we go in the direction of home...all of ten minutes into our ride. I take her into the front paddock and just walk her around for a while, both directions, jog her a little. I have to say she's nicely warmed up at this point, and clearly happier now that she's left the dragons – and scary Labrador Retrievers – behind. To be fair, this is a horse I typically longe for 20 minutes before attempting to get on, so the timing was about right! The photos you see here (we had to have proof of me on her back!) were taken after all the interesting stuff was behind us. The pictures would have been a lot more fun if some of the moments out back had been captured. I really should wear one of those head cameras for something truly entertaining!

So you see...not the idyllic celebration of a day promising spring that I might have hoped. I know with Monster that's largely an illusion. Add to that the drama provided by her stablemates and despite being on her back for less than half an hour, I think I'm exhausted! I think we still both quite enjoyed ourselves.

No big plans for tonight. Monday nights I let myself have a night off, of sorts, to actually sit in front of the TV and watch 24. Time to get some dinner and hope I'm still conscious by 9:00pm!

Your Daily Serving of Protein

Guess what? You don't get to eat this one. This little painting was done with casein paint. I've always joked that casein should be the perfect medium for me, with my Food Science degree, because it's made from the milk protein that gives it its name. I got to study casein (the milk protein, not the paint!) a bit in one of my fourth year courses. I won't enthral you with any of that knowledge right now! This painting is 5 x 7 on gessoed masonite panel. Earlier on in my progress I thought I would go farther than what you see her, but I may just leave it as it is. I kind of like the simplicity, and well, foals are so cute they deserve to be front and centre with as little distraction as possible! (Translation: I'm afraid I'll mess it up!)

I first became aware of casein paint because fellow EAGer Kathi Peters, who works extensively in this medium. Kathi is the Casein Guru ;-) I have a long way to go, that's for sure! Her latest casein WIP was well-timed for me, as I prepped some panels this week in hopes of playing sometime soon. Have a look at her blog to see the pro at work!


In case you're missing the weather report, we've had snow for the last three days. Wednesday was the most significant accumulation, but there has just seemed to be a constant snowfall since then. Apparently it's supposed to warm up tomorrow. None of us are holding our breath! My fellow blogging and artist friend April Jaroka posted a welcome photo of the sun on her blog today. Be sure to visit her painting blog as well for some amazing seascapes...especially if you're sick of all my snow paintings!

The Weather Report

That's what this blog has become, hasn't it? While in one sense it "warmed up" today, the wind chill made sure that it felt like -18. The snow started mid-afternoon, and I took pity on the horses and brought them in early. Remember that painting from a couple of days ago of Gladys and Monster waiting by the gate? Well, it actually wasn't like that. It was cold enough everyone was jumping around to keep warm, wondering why Gracie and Jubie got to come in early! Predictions are for as much as 15 cm of snow. I'll see how that's going shortly, when I go back out to the barn !

So, back to the artwork...I hadn't intended to do an underpainting with this one, but that's the direction I ended up going. It's a pretty loose underpainting at this point, and I may refine it a little bit before I start with the colour. The one thing about these snow paintings is that I inevitably use a lot of Titanium White, which means this one has some drying time ahead of it before I can go back to work. I need some 'distance' from it anyway, to regain some perspective ad see the things that need to be fixed before I go any further.

I have a couple other paintings I'd like to do of the boys in the back paddock. The next two include Billy. We'll see if I get to them before I get sick of the white stuff!

Like You Want to See More of It

Snow, that is. I don't think it snowed today, actually. I've lost track to tell you the truth. The scary part is, it's only the middle of January. I think last year we got most of our snow in February and March. Auuugggghhhh! Not that I'm making predictions or anything!

So what do I do tonight? I work on a snow painting! In my reference photo, the two girls weren't getting snowed on, but the way things developed as I went, it seemed a good fit! It's not as if we haven't had many scenes like this, this winter. Once it starts to get close to feed time, everybody inevitably hangs out at the gates. And typically they stand facing the house; like, okay, I can take the hint! My working title for this was "The Usual Suspects" but I won't call it that - I think that title's been used enough. I'll have to come up with something. This is 8 x 8 oil on gallery wrap canvas. It was a little hard to photograph, so it may be coming through a little dark.

The cold we've had the last few days has really taken its toll on my motivation - it saps my energy and after doing the barn it's hard to convince myself to pick up those paint brushes. Now it's just about time for the last trip out to the barn for today. At least at night I don't have nine sets of eyes like this , staring at me expectantly!

Surprise...More Snow!

Really, at this stage of the game, the fact that we received another four inches or so of snow shouldn't be a surprise. I'm more surprised when it doesn't snow these days! It was actually the perfect amount of snow, if there is such a thing. Enough to leave a nice fresh covering, but not so much that it slows things down a whole lot! It sure makes for pretty pictures, anyway. And apparently, it tastes kind of interesting...just ask Gracie, who was cleaning it off of the tops of the posts!


Yesterday went awry on me, and I didn't get as much done as I intended. I'd planned to do a daily painting kind of painting, but once I settled on the image I wanted to work on, I needed to find a support to work on. I had nothing primed, so I took care of that and left it to dry. Then I needed to print the ref photo, and naturally the 4800, having been idle for a week or more, needed a good nozzle cleaning. Well, by the time I got the photo printed, it was about 10pm. In the meantime, I found another image that was appealing, and started on it instead! It was quickly apparent that this won't be a one-day deal, so I let myself muddle with the drawing while I watched the season premier of 24 tonight. I'm not sure how productive all this was, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This is a square one, 8 x 8 gallery wrap canvas, and the models are the girls in the front paddock, that dynamic duo, Monster and Gladys. It makes me laugh because Monster looks so small beside Gladys!


Tomorrow will be busy - appointments for both my truck and me, and a couple of paintings to ship off to a show south of the border. In the evening, of course, is part two of that 24 season premier. Trying to paint while watching 24 really isn't advisible, but I can't seem to just sit in front of the TV!

The Art of Procrastination!

I haven't practiced this particular art in a while...but it seems to have reared its somewhat ugly head around here. It's my annual last-ditch effort to pull something together for the Art Show at the Dog Show, and I just must've started this painting too early because I'm dawdling! I did get some significant work done on it the other night, and while I wish my excuse for not painting today could be that it was still wet, that just isn't true!

I will, however, dredge up some excuses for my lack of productivity - beyond the typical Christmas/family line. After the mounds of snow we got before Christmas, the temperature worked its way above freezing and brought with it rain. It rained Friday night and much of Saturday, turning our legendary driveway into an even slicker version of a skating rink. On my way out to the barn Saturday morning, I fell victim to the evil icy driveway. While I managed not to knock myself out, I did hit my head pretty hard. I think from now on when the driveway is icy I'll be wearing my helmet and impact vest to walk out to the barn!

Because of the ice the horses stayed in, and after taking some time to recover from my fall, mucking out was a slow process. They ended up staying in again today because of high winds...and of course my body is sore from the top of my head to my tailbone, so again things took a bit longer out there today. I'm not usually a whiner, but I'm claiming that whole story as my reason for not working on the painting! Does that work?

I'm counting on being able to turn the horses out tomorrow. All the snow is gone, but the temps have dropped again so hopefully it won't be too muddy. And hopefully I'll feel more like myself, because I've got a lot to do tomorrow!

Just for fun, I'm going to post a few photos I took from the window the other day (when we still had snow!). This is Billy...playing with a stick. Okay, Billy! Guess it's time to find him some new toys!

In Between Snowflakes

The sun came out yesterday, when the snow finally decided to take a break. The horses were all happy to get out and enjoy the fresh covering of white stuff, though Gladys seemed to have the most fun! It was cold, and it seemed to take forever to get the stalls done - as soon as my hands finally warmed up, my feet started to freeze! We were prepared for another storm today, but so far it hasn't been too bad. A few more inches overnight, but it seems to have let up, for the time being!


I'm slowly building my new painting, and have a very rough tonal completed at this point. I may get some work done on it today - all I'll be doing is refining it a bit, so that I have a more established underpainting. The colour of the end product will be quite subtle, and I'm planning to just use the limited palette that served me so well with all those November paintings!

Well, I have a load of hay to unload, so I'd better get back out there! Till next time!

"Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful..."

We're getting our first winter storm of the season today. We've had snow, of course, but this is the real thing, the kind of day you're grateful you don't have to go anywhere. The two broodmares were ready to come in by 10am, but the others had to wait until I was done the rest of the stalls, and they wear blankets so they weren't looking quite as put out! By the time I brought them in, it was truly nasty out. The wind is very cold, and coming from the "wrong" direction. I have no doubt that frostbite would be a risk. Anyway, everyone is snug in their stalls now...and I was quite happy to come in myself! The birds amaze me though - they're still out there! I don't know how they can stay on the feeders with that wind!


I don't know if we'll see the local paper today, but there is an article in there about my participation in the Mural Mosaic. The Milton Canadian Champion is so good about representing the arts in this area, and Stephanie Hounsell did a wonderful job of pulling together the story. I actually saw it first on Jen's Thorough-blog. I've always joked to my friends in the racing world that you know you've made it, when you make the Thorough-blog! Guess today was my day!


I started a new painting last night, so I'll probably do a little more work on it a bit later. I've had the sketch for this in my sketchbook for years. I'm hoping I can pull it off. You'll hear more about it as I go! For now, I think some baking is in order! Though I do kind of like Finn's plan!

December News: Snow, Rain and Pleasant Surprises

It's a rainy afternoon here in Campbellville - it started mid-day, after some nice fluffy snow all night. So much for that extra layer of the white stuff! Not very festive, to say the least. The horses are in early and thought I should feed them early as well - sorry kids, you'll have to wait! I did, however, take a few photos this morning when the big flakes were falling. Very picturesque, and hard to catch with a camera!


Yesterday I received some exciting news - one of my paintings was juried into the Ex Arte Equinus II show. This is a fairly new and innovative show developed by Lyne Raffe of Art Horse Magazine. Please be sure to view the phenomenal work, which you can see here. It is quite an honour to be included. In addition to the online gallery, the selected entries will be featured in a limited edition book to be released in January. Stay tuned for details! Oh, almost forgot - the painting that was chosen was one that you saw develop right here on this blog, starting with my posting the photo when I was contemplating working from it. The piece is "Outside Chance" and it is a 14 x 18 oil on canvas (still available, if anyone is interested!).


On the sidelines...the painting continues! I am working on a Christmas portrait that you'll have to wait to see, and then it will be back to the other works in progress that have been on hold. I also need to start my Art Show at the Dog Show entries if I'm going to have anything ready this time around! Of course I'm told they're accepting digital entries for the first time this year - great news for procrastinators everywhere!

Snow Day

I suppose that title makes this a bit of a fantasy piece - while we have snow on the ground, it's only a bare covering of hard crusty stuff right now. Truth be told, there was no snow in the photo I used for Billy here - it was taken back in October for an idea I originally had for an autumn painting. At least it's not the middle of summer this time when I'm painting the white stuff! I am playing with a few titles for this one. I thought of "Powder" but that's not quite the feeling I'm going for - and I have a painting called "Power." Of course, I also have paintings called "Fresh Snow," "Snowbounding" and "Snowbaby". I'm running out of snow titles!

It was a little fun with this piece to find a balance between control and freedom. My underpainting wasn't highly detailed, but it was still an underpainting. The drawing was done much more carefully than those of my daily paintings. The snow and his furry coat worked well painted loosely. I was hoping to give the feeling of him galloping through nice fresh powder over the smooth, undisturbed surface. It's at the point where I will let it sit and dry, likely look at every day as I walk past it, and hope I'm prepared to sign it and call it done in about a week! This is 8 x 10 oil on Raphael linen panel and I used a limited palette of Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Lemon and a touch of Burnt Umber.

Time to move on to the next one, and keep up this momentum! I have a show to get ready for tomorrow, and then I'll be busy with said show Saturday and Sunday, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to paint. Hopefully, I'll find time somewhere in there!

Now Just a Memory....

We are officially on to rain and mud now. It rained again today - just a light rain, but persistent enough to keep me from getting straw. It better clear up tomorrow, because with them being in more than usual right now, I've gone through more straw than I would normally!

I was determined to get some serious work done on my painting of the two yearlings running through the snow. How nice and clean my paddock looked, not to mention the fillies! When I reached the point I thought I might well get this one finished, I persevered. It will hang around unsigned until it's dry (again with the Titanium White because of the snow, that will take a while) so if I see anything more that should be done, I can take care of it before it gets that final proclamation of abandonment! Paintings always look better in person - there's no way a jpeg viewed online has a chance of doing justice - but with this one it's especially true. The working title on this one has been "Fresh Snow" so we'll see if that sticks as it dries as well! Once again, this is 11 x 14 oil on Raphael linen panel.


I even started a new painting this afternoon. Other than the EAG pARTies, I tend to paint exclusively from my own photos. This one, however, shared by fellow EAG member Kat Moore, I found really appealing. Kat has some gorgeous Shire horses. I've always loved Shires, did a head study of one a couple of years ago, but this looked like a great opportunity to do another. This is just a little one, 5 x 7 on Raphael again, and if it turns out well enough it might be headed for a miniature art show in Kansas. So far, I've done just a very rough underpainting using Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber and Titanium White. The joy of working small, it came together very quickly!

Becoming One with the Mud

It's that time of year. I know better than to complain about the snow, because I know all too well what comes next! There's still a little bit of the formerly white stuff here and there, but the paddocks are officially mud. In fact, I think the warmer temps and light wind have helped start to dry them out! The pic above is of Muffin, Mud Queen herself. Far be it from Muffin to miss the opportunity for a good roll! I love Muffy but I sure won't miss the work it takes to clean her up! She goes back to “work” tomorrow.


I mentioned I had a finished piece completed in the last couple of weeks. Not sure I'm stuck on the name "Footbath" yet ("Ghost Groom" was so much more entertaining!) but it's there for now!


In the meantime I've been working on the little dark bay on the Curragh, as well as Curlin. Both are progressing nicely. My time has been a bit limited because last Monday we got the report that while Twine was in foal after breeding back this year, Clever was not. This just meant another round of vet visits, then another trip to the stallion yesterday. Here's hoping for a better result this time!

Oh, just to give credit where it's due, the title for today's post actually comes from a Jars of Clay song, Flood. For some reason it's in my head a lot this time of year!

A Snow Painting, Before the Snow Disappears!

I started a new painting today. With all this snow, I figured I'd better try to get at least one snow painting done before it all disappears! So far I've just blocked things in. This is a very different approach from the Monster WIP - much looser, less restrictive! We'll see how it goes. This one is 11 x 14 oil on Raphael linen panel. I started with a wash of Terra Rosa, which is a new paint I've just added to the mix. It's one of Williamsburg's Italian Earth colours. So far toning this panel is all I've done with it! I find it's very similar to Old Holland's Burnt Sienna. After a very rough indication of tone I went on with this modified underpainting, which has kind of combined the best of both worlds - my usual Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue, then some Burnt Sienna, and the new Unbleached Titanium as well as a bit of the usual Titanium. Can I just call it done and leave it at this? :-)

The Monster painting got some more attention today as well. It won't photograph so well under artificial light, so no pic tonight. It's going to need to sit and dry for a few days now before I move on. In the meantime, I'm still looking for the perfect title!

And So It Snows...

I was beginning to think they were going to be wrong about the intensity of this winter storm that was forecast for Southern Ontario. I decided to leave the horses in - not sure about my logic there, when I actually turned them out Wednesday when it was colder and windier! When I was about to give them their noon hay, I actually considered throwing them out, because it wasn't really that bad. I decided to stick with the plan - it was supposed to get worse in the afternoon, after all.

And so it has! Monster is doing her best to look pathetic, standing by the gate letting the white stuff accumulate on her back. Before you start feeling sorry for her, she does have a run-in shelter she chooses not to use most of the time; she's double-blanketed with a nice high-neck waterproof Wethabeeta as the outer layer, and the temp is actually pretty close to the freezing mark!


Yesterday was beautiful - crisp, for sure, but the sun was shining, the sky was clear. I took a few photos, and it seems little Miss Peaker has an interest in photography. Here's a photo she helped me take. Focus is so over-rated! Well, they have horses that paint; why not?

The ghost groom is still a ghost groom (and late last night had me contemplating the potential significance of that! Another time, perhaps?) but I worked on the horse last night, establishing more of that all-important anatomy! I find a horse's legs fascinating.


And now, a note from our sponsor! I bought a small Cocoa Camino Chili and Spice chocolate bar at the grocery store yesterday. I know the thought of that combination puts a lot of people off, but they're done a good job with this. So to the benefits already provided by that 71% cocoa content, add those of ginger, cinnamon and chili! The added advantage is that you don't tend to want a big piece, so it keeps the caloric density down!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.... :-)

First Painting of 2008

Well, but for a few tweaks, I think I finished my second entry for this year's Art Show at the Dog Show. I had a lot of fun with this. It's simple, but I think it works! Felt good to start the year off right, too.

All the horses had a very happy birthday yesterday, from the new yearlings (!!) to the crabby mares! Twine is the oldest in the barn at nine, with Monster and Clever coming in next at eight. My Monster is eight! Where has the time gone?

We've been hit with a cold snap here in Southern Ontario -- my ears are still burning. Forecast for next week has temps in the mid-teens though! What's that? I'm not a big fan of the cold, but it's January, and I'd rather have snow than MUD! We'll see if they're right or not!

Happy New Year!


(ACEO coloured pencil of Javamonster as a baby)

Progress!

Well, yesterday we got hit with quite a nasty storm. The horses came in early, and I got some good work done on a couple of paintings. I'm calling Gate Crashers done -- I just need to sign it -- and I made some serious progress on Edenwold.


I guess I forgot to mention sizes -- Gate Crashers is 8 x 10, and Edenwold is 16 x 20. Now it's time to get back to that commission, and to resolve my issues with the Haflinger. Today was a write off thanks to recovering from said storm, so I'm not sure I'll get to that tonight. I'll be lucky if I can stay awake till it's time to water off! Well, March lived up to its reputation, I guess -- in like a lion for sure.