Ian Millar and In Style

Blog silence means things have been busy around here.  Studio tour has come and gone for another year, the horses are somewhat of a constant when it comes to occupying my time, and one painting in particular has been monopolizing the easel. 

About the time of my last post, I was asked by Agribrands Purina to produce a painting for a fundraiser in October, and here you see the resulting 11 x 14 oil on canvas.  I am hardly the first artist to portray Canada's legendary Ian Millar on one of his talented mounts, so rather than the usual jumping shot, I opted for a more casual composition, thanks to a wonderful photograph by Pam Mackenzie.  This time the horse is In Style, who I have always liked.  What can I say, I appreciate a bay horse with a tiny bit of white on his/her forehead! (think Monster, haha!)  And in case you've forgotten (or didn't know), In Style was his mount when Canada won team silver in Showjumping in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Wednesday, October 24th is the night in question - "An Evening with Ian Millar" will take place at the Orangeville Fairgrounds at 7:00pm.  Marc-André Blouin (nutritionist for Purina) will also be speaking, discussing forage and how to manage it during years such as this, when there is a hay shortage.  Tickets are only $5.00 and your ticket stub will go in for a draw to win the original framed painting! Proceeds go to LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement.  Sounds like a great night, don't you think?

The Royal Fine Art Showcase, 2009!

I was quietly and somewhat nervously waiting to hear the results of the jurying for this show last week. I have long thought there needed to be such a show at the Royal - kind of *the* equestrian and agricultural event, at least in this part of the world. There have been a few different attempts in the past, and I've taken part in those I've known about, and they've always been successful to a certain extent, but there's been no continuity. Apparently this is the second year in a row for this new one. I hadn't heard about it last year, for some reason, so when I received the information this year, I was excited!

We were only allowed to enter one piece for consideration. Given the criteria provided, I wasn't sure what to enter, so I just went with what is probably my most popular new painting at the moment. You've seen it before, here. This is Promises, Promises, an 18 x 24 oil on canvas.

The Fine Art Showcase will be on display in Hall C of the Direct Energy Building for the duration of Toronto's Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, which runs November 5-15, 2009. There is an awards ceremony on November 13 at 2:30pm. It's my understanding that the painting made it into the top ten, though the rank hasn't been disclosed. I need to wait until the 13th to find that out!

It struck me after learning of the painting's acceptance how the significance of this piece has changed considerably since it was first shown. I know the average viewer is not going to know what lies behind this image. On the surface, it's a cute painting of a couple of pasture mates playing halter tag, a game that has probably been going on in horse-dom for as long as horses have been wearing halters. Now, when I look at this, I'm reminded of what goes through my mind those times I've had a seriously ill horse. The balance between power and fragility that I've mentioned, and the seeming inevitability that each time you get through one of those ordeals with a 'win' so to speak - the horse pulls through, and goes on to live a healthy life - somewhere there is someone else who has lost a friend. The horse on the right is Jay, who made it through emergency colic surgery almost two years ago, and now is living a happy retirement thanks to a placement through LongRun. On the left is, of course, Gladys, the fated one. And so it goes.

This time, we had to deal with the harsh reality of how quickly tragedy can strike. But a few weeks later, I followed the story of another mare - at the same stage of pregnancy as Gladys - who amazed the surgeons, defied the odds and came through the other side. I know I'll keep following her recovery, and pray that she continues to do well, and next spring produces a healthy baby. Maybe we tell ourselves things as we try to make sense, but in a way, for me, this kind of restores the balance.

Monday Guest Aritst ~ Kim Ratigan

What a perfect day to have a guest blogger - winter decided to pay us another visit and dump some nice wet snow on us here in Southern Ontario, so having someone lined up to fill in today lets me take care of a slightly altered schedule at the barn without the stress of trying to fit in a painting! It's sheer coincidence that I chose Mondays to feature another artist, even though tonight is the only real night I care about TV, because 24 is on.


Kim Ratigan is a watercolour and coloured pencil artist who lives not far from me in Burlington, Ontario. I've known Kim for a long time now, as we used to do art shows together. We're both into horses and dogs, so we've never had trouble finding things to talk about! One of Kim's watercolour paintings was an award-winner at this year's Art Show at the Dog Show. Please take a moment and visit her website and blog to see more of her work! We're going to post two of Kim's paintings today, as I couldn't decide on just one! Thanks, Kim!

"A Word in Your Ear"
19 x 13" watercolour/coloured pencil

This coloured pencil painting portrays a quiet moment between a Thoroughbred going to post and his groom...commnunicating without saying anything...

The painting is on acid free rag board, measuring 19" wide by 13" high, and is double-matted in cream and grey-green, and shrink-wrapped in heavy plastic for protection. It is available for purchase at a special price for the duration of April's "Thirty Horses, Thirty Days." "A Word in Your Ear" is priced at $250.00 US (plus shipping, and 50% of the purchase price will be donated to Linda's favourited charity, LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement, an adoption and placement program for retired racehorses in Ontario, Canada.

If you are interested in purchasing this painting, please contact Kim directly!

"Baby Bling"
5 x 7" Coloured Pencil/Watercolour

This is a small painting of an Arabian foal in all his baby "finery." Done in coloured pencil and watercolour, this piece was accepted into the Pyramid Society's Annual Art Auction, and was sold for $500.00 US.

Thinking Too Much

This affliction isn't limited to art, but it seems I've had a bad case of it recently. Saturday, the first painting just came together, but the next two days, I felt like I was struggling, fighting to get the paint and the surface to cooperate. So how do you plan not to think? I don't know, but that was my goal today. I toned a masonite panel last night (with burnt umber straight out of the tube and mineral spirits) and this morning printed out the photos for the next two days. I still had the image up on the computer monitor because I will often put guide lines to help me with my drawing. Today's subject has an interesting face, so I wanted to be sure his features lined up the way they were supposed to!

After lunch I roughed in a drawing. Then I had a bit of a bump in my so far smooth road to painting on schedule. I had called about an opportunity for a local gallery to take some of my work for a show, and they asked if I could bring something today, as they were hanging this afternoon! One of those things I couldn't say 'no' to! So I scrambled to get a couple of pieces together and headed out. By the time I got back I went out to the barn to bed stalls and get ready to feed, and brought the horses in a bit early so I could get back to the painting!

I expected I'd be posting this at 10 or 11pm, but things went pretty well. When I decided to do this project, this is more the kind of painting I thought I'd be producing - working with looser brushstrokes - so I am happy with the result. I made myself stop, though there are a few things I could still do...but that would be moving away from the looseness thing, so I'm trying to restrain myself.

This horse is Jay, a five-year old gelding. He's the guy that went through the colic surgery last December. He's now in the Long Run program, and will make someone a lovely horse. He was retired due to a minor soundness issue that suggested he wouldn't hold up to the rigors of racing again. In his career he made over $120,000. The painting is 10 x 8 oil on panel, again, with a limited palette of burnt umber, ultramarine blue, cadmium red medium, cadmium lemon, yellow ochre and titanium white.

On the writing front, I've written just over 7,000 words at this point - mostly of pure junk! Oh well, just going with the advice of the NaNoWriMo pep-talkers! You can follow the count on the little graph in the right-hand column of my blog. Just don't ask to read anything!

Queen's Plate '08

I want to be sure everyone knows that little Billy called it, and Gracie wasn't far off! Not Bourbon held off Ginger Brew to win the 2008 Queen's Plate in an exciting finish. Unfortunately, thanks to what I'll call a two-minute rule, I didn't get very great shots of the race itself. Apparently, for the duration of the Queen's Plate, and the Plate only...and this year's Plate only, for that matter...standing at the base of the stairs to the second floor seating is a fire hazard. I'm not sure why it wasn't for the race before the Plate, or last year's Plate, or the year before. What can I say!


The LongRun fundraiser auctioning off the saddle cloths of the Plate field is happening now on eBay. By pure coincidence I ended up with some pretty cool shots of the horses in the walking ring. Be sure to check out the auction. A couple of the cloths still have no bids, including the winner's! His connections better step up!


Here in the studio, the painting goes on. The purple panel is on its way to Edmonton to rejoin its other mosaic pieces for a grand reunion. Stay posted for information on the unveiling! And keep track of the progress on the Mural Mosaic website!

The Morning Line

Plate morning! There’s always a special feel around the backstretch, whether you’re running in the big race or not. I remember we always made sure the shed was leveled and raked even more carefully than on normal days, and the apron and lawn outside was particularly clean. We even polished the brass on the halters. Being stabled close to the receiving barn, we witnessed the arrival of the horse guards first-hand, something that was sure to set my dear girl Petunia over the edge! Not her favourite morning, that’s for sure.


When I turned the foals out this morning, they spent the first five minutes running and playing. It was probably inspired by the cool, damp air, but I entertained that they just know it’s Plate Day! Gracie is backing Ginger Brew, because, of course, chestnut fillies rule. Billy’s dad Mobil ran second in the Plate, and Gracie pointed out that it was a chestnut that beat him (stablemate Wando, 2003). Billy kind of likes Not Bourbon today, being Ontario-sired and all, but he let on that he’ll be rooting for Uncle Jerry and Deputiformer. Nothing wrong with picking a longshot! Just ask Monster…her dad Tejabo sired a whopper in TJ’s Lucky Moon back in 2002.


Woodbine Entertainment and LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement are having a neat fundraiser after this year’s Plate. The saddle cloths of all the starters will be auctioned on eBay this week to raise money for LongRun. I’ll post a link to the auctions as soon as I have it so you can check it out.


Okay, so I’m hoping I’ve distracted you from asking about the Mike Fox painting. All right, I admit it, it’s not done. So I came up short. It’s getting very close though. At this stage I’m working on a lot of nit-picky stuff, so progress is a lot slower. Won’t be long now! And maybe I’ll start on this year’s winner a little earlier! Hope that grey sky brightens a little by post time!