Growing, or Growing Up?

So many horses, so little time...that's kind of how I'm feeling, as I head into my next 30Horses, 30Days. This time around there will be a bit of a twist, because of that time factor - each Monday I'm going to have a guest artist/blogger, and I'm also reserving the right to be a little creative with fufiling my horse-a-day obligation for one other day. As much as I'd like to complete 3o new paintings this coming month, I have to be realistic. It's breeding season, and I'm still waiting on Clever, so my schedule is ruled by the broodmares right now. Add to that one little thing I forgot when I made the decision to do this again - that being it's tax season - and I'm going to have to keep hopping to get everything done that needs doing. And I thought it was going to be simpler this time around, as I'm not attempting to write 50,000 words of fiction! Right...

While I've not officially signed up for NaBloPoMo this time around, I will be making daily blog posts, and the NaBlo theme for April fits quite nicely with my project. It's "Growing(Up)." Fundamentally, this temporarily dive into daily painting is for me about trying to grow as an artist...and growing up, well, with all the horses I have around at various life stages, I can find lots of inspiration to fit.

Tonight I guess I was psyching myself up. I'd considered trying out a new palette this time around, so I did a a bit of homework tonight. The credit for this palette is given to Anders Zorn - after looking at his paintings I wanted to try it for myself. Well, after tonight, I'm not so sure it's a good idea! I'll need some work if I'm going to find those colours! I did a quick colour chart, and a very quick little 4 x 4 painting...maybe it was a bit too much to ask, deviating from both my palette and preferred subject matter. Oh well! It's all part of the experience, I guess.


(No, you're not seeing things....that is supposed to be a human being! But I promise I'm back to horses tomorrow!)

Thirty Horses, Thirty Days!

I still had about 3500 words to write today to meet that NaNoWriMo deadline, and that was my first task of the day. It takes a little more attentiveness to write something reasonable than it does to paint at this point. While my story is really just a framework - and for me, 50K words is just a short story :-) - I wrote an ending and at least finished off the scenes I'd left hanging. It needs some fleshing out, for sure. But I met the goal, which is a little mind-boggling to me, with everything else I got done.

I wasn't sure what I was going to paint today. I kind of wanted something with some significance, as it was the last one of the challenge, and I was a bit worried about not ending on a good note! I was getting ready to look through the photos stored on my external drive when the photo I have hanging behind my easel looked at me. It's a mounted enlargement of Sass, Monster's mom. I took the photo when Sass was quite young, probably two or three, and it's my favourite picture of her. I can see a lot of Monster in her at this age, and it's nice to remember her back then, before she started to run into such problems with her knees.

I always liked the composition of the photo - it was off-centre, and that really appealed to me. This is another 8 x 6 oil on Raymar triple-primed cotton canvas panel, limited palette. It will fit nicely with the theme I have planned for the little show I'll put together of these 30 paintings. Stay tuned!

Imagine, it's only 8:45pm! Finished more than three hours before the deadline! Huh!

Just In Case!

Well, this is officially a pre-post! I was a little worried when a couple of hours ago, our internet dropped out again. It's back, apparently, but I'm going to start this post though I'm still working on today's painting. So stay tuned! If things fall apart on me again, I've at least checked in. I don't yet know if Friday's fiasco has already eliminated me from NaBloPoMo or not.

I'll be back!

8:26pm So, here I am! Today I painted Ginger Brew, Canadian Oaks winner and likely winner of the Sovereign Award for three-year old filly in Canada this year. This is 6 x 8 oil on Raymar panel, again with the limited palette. I felt like I fiddled with this one forever! I did feel a bit better about working with the Raymar surface than I have in the past. This is their triple-primed cotton canvas.

I have some writing to catch up on, so after I clean my brushes, that will be my next task. The net target is 30,000 by Wednesday night, so I'd better get a move on!

I Tried...Honest!

Well, I did paint yesterday, though it was a bit of a quick one because of a bunch of other stuff I needed to do - but it seemed I had a bit of "what can do wrong will" going on. First, I discovered we had no internet connection! As an apparently dedicated NaBloPoMo'er, I decided I would have to drive to a wireless spot. I live out in the country, so that's no small decision at nine o'clock at night! As it turned out I didn't have to go that far to get a connection, but was stopped dead when Blogger wouldn't load. I tried for a couple of hours, but it wasn't meant to be - I couldn't make my post. I posted my sad story on the NaBloPoMo site here, though I don't know if that "counts" for their purposes, so I guess I may have to admit defeat. I'm still going to continue my painting a day and blog a day...even if technology's failings have left me out of the NaBlo running!

Today I did an 8 x 10 oil on Raphael linen panel of a friend's Warmblood filly. I was teaching a workshop for the Credit Valley Artisans in Georgetown and due to my internet troubles last night, I didn't get the drawing done as I'd hoped. That meant doing it on the spot - I was a little worrid that I might choke under the pressure of an audience! It didn't go too badly though. So this is Chrystelle, a daughter of Dutch Warmblood Pacific Star STV out of a Thoroughbred mare. She was a baby at her mother's side here, and as a yearling, she is still just as gorgeous. And available for sale, I believe. If you want more info, let me know and I'll point you in the right direction! If I didn't already have a horse of my own standing out there, I think I'd be finding a way to get this filly in my barn.

Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful than the last couple of days. I know one thing though - with painting number 15 today, I'm officially half way!

Ambition, or Insanity?

The pretty part of fall is coming to an end now, as what leaves are left on the trees have lost most of their colour, and we've started into rain - sometimes flurries - and mud. The horses are all getting fuzzy and feeling fresh in the mornings. The last "horse swap" of the season happened on Friday - Maria left to start her career path at the training centre, and Mute arrived for a well-deserved rest.

I'm working hard on that-painting-we're-not-really-talking-about and it's actually getting close to completion. I'm trying to make myself finish it before moving onto the other pieces I have in progress, but at the same time, I've got a few projects I'm considering. The problem is, they might all have to happen at once!

A few of you may know I'm a bit of a closet novelist. I've only recently become aware of an event, I guess you'd call it, called NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words (about 175 pages) in the month of November. The last few weeks, I've been thinking about signing on for this, to see if I can pull it off. The idea is to just write for fun, and not stress over making it "perfect." Might be worth a go. Of course I'll still be writing in the closet, so don't expect me to share any of it here!


Next up for consideration is another idea I gleaned from an EAG friend, Sue Steiner - painting a horse a day, for 30 days. Check out Sue's blog to see what she's been working on so far. I was thinking this might be a good winter project, say, for January when those blahs are going strong! But that leads me to the third thing...

Little did I know, but there is a NaBloPoMo! That's National Blog Posting Month! And, well, it's also for the month of November - a post a day, for thirty days. Now this one would be the most effortless of the three. I could easily post something to the blog every day - whether or not anyone wants to read it, is another story! The natural thing to do, in my mind, would be to combine the Horse a Day with the Blog a Day. But would I be completely crazy to try all three? I've got a few days left to decide! Guess you'd better stay tuned!