The Tuesday Report

Remember when the Mercer Report used to be called The Monday Report? Or was it the Tuesday Report? And I think it's really now called the Rick Mercer Report. Anyway, if you don't know who Rick Mercer is, none of this means anything to you!

Today was a big day! I actually finished the Mural Mosaic panel. I need to write up my blurb that goes along with the painting, and then it will be placed in the grid on the official site. When I have the blurb written, I'll post the panel here as well. It still needs to be signed and photographed before I send it on its way. I was looking at flights to Calgary for the first week of September today. Not sure yet if that's going to happen!

I also more or less finished one of the smaller paintings that has been kicking around. This little oil is 6 x 8, on Raymar linen panel. I have a couple of touch-ups to do before I sign it, but nothing major. The name took a lot of thought: "Dark Bay on the Curragh." How's that for brilliance? I reserve the right to change that!


I'm running out of time on my self-imposed deadline for Mike Fox. Tonight I continued to work on the colour. At this stage I'm only using a limited palette; I'll juice it up a bit with the next layer. The white of the riders' breeches and silks is still wet, so I'm not going to go back and work on them until those areas are dry.

Till next time!

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!

Meanwhile, Back on the Curragh...

This painting has progressed considerably since I showed the initial work - it wasn't even a complete sketch at that point. This one, again, is a 5 x 7 oil on double-primed Raymar linen panel. I'm enjoying the surface, and now that I've started Curlin on the single-primed panel, I'll be able to compare and see if I prefer one over the other.

The sky was painted a couple of days ago, and the landscape this afternoon. Tonight I've been working on the horse. All will still need work, and there are details I still need to paint in.

It was nine years ago this week I was in Ireland taking these photos! Here's another, older painting I did from a couple other photos I took that particular morning. Kind of a funny story goes along with it. My friend and I decided we'd walk to the Irish National Stud from the B&B where we were staying, having no idea how far that was. The Curragh was pretty early on in the walk. We were both tired and crabby by the end of the day. Believe it or not, we're still friends!

The Curragh Beats Out Mini Eggs

I got the barn done quite quickly today, which left me with some extra time – well, when I decided I did not need to go out to the grocery store in hopes of finding a 1 kilo bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs, half-price after Easter. Painting would be much more productive…and probably healthier, at least in the short term!

My painting of the fillies in the snow is currently wet after the work I did on it yesterday. Ghost Groom needs a couple of little touch-ups before I call it done. Monster needs some methodical work, and the underpainting of the racehorses is ready for colour. I decided I wanted to start something new this afternoon, though; something to make use of one of the sample package of Raymar panels that arrived last week. I flipped through a pile of photographs and pulled out one I’ve had set aside for ages (yes, there are lots of those). It depicts a dark bay racehorse circling at the start of one of the gallops on the Curragh in Ireland, and fit the bill for what I was looking for.

Outside, despite the supposed arrival of Spring last Thursday, Winter has returned like Ben Folds Five’s Steven:

“We thought he was gone, but he’s come back again.
Last week it was funny, now the joke’s wearing thin….”

The horses came in early as a result, which worked out well. I just started with a brush, sketching out the drawing on the panel I’d toned this morning and the resulting progress was wet. Now that the horses are taken care of, it’s dry and ready for some more work. We’ll see how far I get tonight!

The forecast predicted a combination of rain and snow, but what’s going on out there is big, fluffy flakes. I’m sure the roads are slippery, and I’m glad I don’t have to drive anywhere tonight. A good reason to stay in front of the easel! Maybe I’ll have an update at the end of the evening.