So Where *does* the time go?

I'm ridiculously far behind on this blog, with no valid excuse. Yes I've been busy, but what else is new? In the past month I've been to Saratoga for our annual foray, painted a new oil for the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame induction ceremony's fundraiser, gone to said ceremony/fundraiser, and am now painting in preparation for the CTHS yearling sales this coming weekend.


The foals, as you can see, are tormenting their mothers - well, the two chestnut boys definitely are, while Sheldon remains more laid back (with a healthy respect for Twine!). Weaning time is very near! Today they get their vaccination boosters, so that will delay their weaning for a week or two.


I still intend to do separate posts addressing the visit to Saratoga, and the Hall of Fame painting. Naturally there will also be something more about the yearling sales. Fall is a busy time, with the Schomberg Village Street Gallery also coming up, September 17 and 18, and the FASM Milton Studio Tour, October 1&2. If you are in either area, maybe we'll see you out!

The Fun Stuff

There's no time to waste these days, with the next event close on the heels of last night's Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I was mistaken about how my painting would be auctioned - it was actually part of the live auction. The painting fetched $3500.00 - pretty exciting. If you'd like to read about the induction ceremony, you can go to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame website. It's always great to see these paintings do well at fundraisers. Only Dubai in 2007 topped this one for me.

I neglected to thank a very important individual the other day when I posted the final painting. I'm always saying a painting is only as good as the reference photos, and in the case of Somebeachsomewhere, I had none of my own to work from. Thanks to a series of great photos taken by Kim Fisher of TROT Magazine, I had no shortage of great images to work with.

Next on the agenda is preparation for an exhibit at the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society's annual yearling sale at Woodbine. I'll have some work set up starting the same time the horses start showing - September 5th. As a result I'm hard at work trying to finish up a few of the paintings I've got around here. One of the notables is this 18 x 24 oil on panel of Sealy Hill, Canada's 2007 Horse of the Year. I'm into the fun stuff now - the warm colours and details that will bring things to life. I love the transformation that happens with this stage. Still a ways to go yet, but for some reason things go a bit faster at this point! Hmm, wonder why...

Time to get back at it!

Somebeachsomewhere ~ 2009 Hall of Fame Inductee

And here it is! 18 x 14 oil on Raphael linen panel of Somebeachsomewhere.

I took the painting to the photographer this morning - after some more crazy thunderstorms last night, the clear blue skies and light breeze made for a nice drive to Waterloo. Pirak Studios is where I get my artwork shot. Every time I talk to people about doing reproductions of artwork, I stress the importance of starting with a quality digital capture, and they do a great job at Pirak.

This afternoon I went to the framer, though I've brought the painting back home in order to put a coat of retouch varnish on it to protect it - something that can't happen until after it's photographed, but needs to be done before framing! Once again I'm fortunate to have a great framer who so often does jobs on a tight schedule for me! Corby Custom Framing is in Carlisle, Ontario.

Next Thursday is the induction ceremony, where the painting will be part of a silent auction to raise funds for the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. I just wanted to mention and thank the 'support crew' that made it possible for me to meet the deadline for this project! I'll have more details on the limited edition canvas giclées to be produced from the painting once it's available. Again, proceeds will go to the Hall of Fame. If you're ever at Woodbine, be sure to have a walk around - it's located near the entrance at the west end of the grandstand.

In the midst of all this running around I also did a photo shoot of some of the beautiful warmblood youngsters at Inish'Or. Haven't had the chance to get them off the camera yet, or I'd share some of the pictures! Now it's time for something to eat - somehow I missed lunch! Wonder how that happened...

Oh, The Pressure!

A trip to Saratoga inevitably provides an endless stream of inspiration for an equine artist, particularly when directly involved in Thoroughbred racing. After three days of taking photos at the beautiful track - followed by a visit to good old Woodbine on Sunday for the last jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Breeders' Stakes, I'm itching to get at it. Unfortunately for me, I have some pressing paperwork and prior commitments that take precedence at the moment. I am dealing with some serious easel envy today, having just read fellow Saratoga-goer Kim Santini's blog post! It will be interesting to see how we both interpret our trip, as often we were standing side by side taking photos. Photographer Juliet Harrison was also with us, but we're going to have to wait to see her black and white work, as Juliet is off to Scotland now!


It was a fun day out at the barn today. Yesterday, for the first time, I put flymasks on the babies, knowing the game would be to see how long they lasted! I was amazed they left them on yesterday, though one of them got Gracie's off (from the opposite side of the fence, no less). Today, however...Clever's colt had his off before noon, and about an hour ago I saw Leo's was about to follow. It's all a game with those two boys!


Priority number one in the painting department at the moment will be the piece I'm working on for the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame silent auction, to be held the evening of the induction ceremony, August 27th. I've been asked to paint harness horse extraordinaire, Somebeachsomewhere, one of this year's inductees. So while my Saratoga paintings must wait a while, I'm looking forward to painting this great horse. My panel is prepped, and I've started sketching. I won't be posting it until it's done, but in between stages I'm sure I'll be able to get at some of those images floating around in my head following out trip. All I'll have to do is buy some Ben & Jerry's to bring the atmosphere back!