On a Cheerier Note...

I know it's been rather sombre around here of late, so some lighter content is in order! A couple of weeks ago I went to Woodbine to see the return to the races of a classy fan favourite, Jambalaya. I painted this guy a few years ago, winning the '06 Singspiel Stakes. The last time he ran was when he won the '07 Arlington Million, and has since been on the shelf with an injury. The great news is, he's back, in fine form. You can read about it on owner/trainer Catherine Day Phillips' website. And that's my photo of him coming back to the winners circle after the race. He looks pretty proud of himself!


Our two babies on the farm are now weanlings. They seem resigned to their new life, and have become good friends. They do like to show their spunk on these cool mornings though!

Three days until the Milton Studio Tour, and there is plenty to do. These cool grey days don't do much for motivation, but there's no avoiding the final preparation. Hopefully the rain will give us a break this weekend. The fall colours have started, so it should be a great time for a drive around the Escarpment!

No, Don't Say It!

As I walked out to the barn to feed this morning I thought it won't be long before I'm wanting my vest on. While it's nice to have these cool nights, it's a reminder than (gulp) summer is going to be ending sooner rather than later....sniff!

The most exciting thing to happen in the last week really has nothing to do with me, except that it relates to a painting I've posted a few times. Jambalaya, who I painted winning the '06 Singspiel Stakes, won the Grade I Arlington Million this past Saturday! What a star!! Fortunately ABC televised some races from Arlington so I was able to watch it. You can see the replay on The Blood-Horse.


A few new paintings are in the works. Besides the two commissions I have on the go, I'm working on two paddock scenes and now a new mare and foal piece for a project I recently became aware of. The one little paddock piece is nearly done - it's a 6 x 6 oil on canvas. The second I've just started to block in the colour – in this case, green, green, and more green! Green is a tough colour to get right, so there's lots of work ahead in this one.


I'm kind of excited about the mare and foal piece. So far I've just turned my little thumbnail into the drawing on the canvas itself, and started blocking in some rough tones. Next I'll start the underpainting. This one needs to be done by the middle of September, so I'd better get going on it! It's a composite from three different photographs, so it was fun to put together. Hopefully it will turn out the way I want!

...And Done!

I had hoped to complete this painting before the last time Jambalaya ran, and while that didn't happen, at least I got it done before his next race! Only just, mind you, as his next assignment is the second running of the Northern Dancer Stakes, at Woodbine this Sunday. Last year I was scrambling to finish my Northern Dancer painting in time for that race.

For the first time in ages, I don't have a series of unfinished paintings in my studio. That means it's time to get busy and start some new work! First on the list is a commission of a TB stallion from out west, but I'm never working on just one painting, so he will have "friends" on his journey. On that note...time to hit the studio!

Painting Updates (yes, really!)

I love taking photos, so I hope you'll forgive me when I run off on a photo tangent around here now and again. In the previous post, I put up a picture of my painting of last year's Queen's Plate winner, Edenwold, so we won't forget him! I had the honour of being featured in the Canadian Horse Queen's Plate Souvenir magazine this year, and unfortunately the image of this painting ended up cropped for the layout, and the colour didn't reproduce well. I didn't get the painting shot professionally in time for the deadline, so that's what we had to go with! Photos can never do an original painting justice at the best of times, so we artists have to get used to this sort of thing!

I haven't had as much time to paint (and get back to those ones I was working on in Lexington) as I'd like, due to the usual stuff. Two horses back for some R&R, plus this weekend I weaned our baby, Peaker. She wasn't impressed, naturally, but today has settled down considerably. I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow a pony mare from a friend to keep her company -- otherwise, she would have gotten Aunt Monster!! ;-)


Back to the paintings. I painted in the turf in the Singspiel painting with more detail, and thanks to the cadmium and white involved, it took a fair time to dry, preventing further work. In the meantime, I brought my little painting of Gladys up to speed. She's almost done! I started this painting as a demo in the workshop I taught in April, and brought it with me to Lexington to work on if I had time. I did, and I was pleased with the progress I made. She's at the top of the page.


I also did some more work on Clever in this other little painting. I think I have her to the point that I'm happy with her, so now to bring the filly up to speed! I do have to deal with the background as well, and tie it all together. While this image is a better representation than the previous WIPs I posted, it's still not great. Once it's finished, I'll scan it.

On a side note, Jambalaya, the horse on the righ of my Singspiel painting (and the eventual winner) ran yesterday in the King Edward at Woodbine. He was a game third, noses apart from the winner, Eccentric (GB) and second-place Sky Conquerer. We've certainly had some great racing lately at Woodbine.