Go Lexie Lou!

Lexie Lou ~ oil on linen.

I've been working on a few smaller studies these days, on various surfaces, just to keep things going in the studio while other things still keep me from spending a more solid chunk of time painting.  I have ideas and blog posts running through my head all the time...they'll eventually get out.

I'm not sure I ever posted this completed painting, for whatever reason.  This is a painting I did of 2014 Queen's Plate winner, the filly Lexie Lou.  Lexie missed most of last season because of an eye injury, and returned to the races last month.  Today she is back in action...in tough, running against her stablemate, Breeders' Cup Mile winner, Tepin. I'll be cheering for the underdog, Ontario-bred! Just a little bit of trivia - Lexie Lou is a half-sister to the mother of our homebred, Rachel (Relocate the Bank).

Cold and sunny day here in Southern Ontario - sounds like a day to spend in the studio, after doing the stalls, of course!

Rachel...cheering for her Aunt Lexie today?

You've Come A Long Way, Baby....

They all look so sweet when they're sleeping!  5 x 7 oil on panel, sold.

Maybe it all started the day he was conceived - I took Twine up to be bred to Strut the Stage (standing at Colebrook at the time), baby Gracie at her side.  They didn't heed my warnings that she could be tough, not taking proper precautions, and she double-barreled him in the chest.  Poor Strut! I'm sure that did nothing for his self-esteem!  Anyway...about 338 days later, she had a cute little bay baby boy.  This colt had the slickest coat I've ever seen on a foal - clearly he thought he was landing in Florida, not Southwestern Ontario. He made me drag the vet out to tube him his first meal, because he couldn't figure out how to nurse in an acceptable time frame. And so began our series of adventures, which included a black eye for me.  Well, at least he didn't break my nose, like Hugo!

Lean, mean...well he wasn't mean...and fell a little short of being a racing machine! At Woodbine in 2013.

Close...but not quite (he's the one on the outside).

At the track, Leo started off showing promise...though he turned in to a wildman as a three-year-old.  More exploits were added to his list of accomplishments, like running off with his trainer, who gallops her own (the clockers even got a time on him!  No question he was fast!), escaping from his stall and running off down the shedrow, and antics behind the gate on race day which included dropping his rider and taking off, through the barrier and onto the harness racing track.  His best effort was a second place finish where he just missed winning, but then he hurt himself, and was retired.  And for some crazy reason, I said I'd take him.

That was a year and a half ago.  This is Leo today:



First day jumping from a canter!  Just goes to show you - never say never!

Paddock School Study #1

With "Hush" on its way to Australia, I managed to get back to the easel today. As previously noted, studio time has been less than productive of late, and this week I've been more or less bumping into myself, trying to get back to things. I tidied up a couple of little foal studies, started a few small pieces, but have mostly felt as if I couldn't get out of my own way. Not a good feeling! Today, I decided I had to stop thinking so much, pulled out an 8 x 10 panel that had been prepped with shellac, and set to work, determined to complete something in a single day - or better yet, a single session.

While as a groom I admit I hated schooling horses in the paddock, I love the imagery of it. When I get there early enough on the card (typically permission to school is given before the first race or two), I always stop and watch, and snap a few pics. This is just another example of the work that goes on behind the scenes to prepare a horse for the races.

I'm actually (gasp!) happy with the result. I'm going to choose not to dwell on what's wrong with it, and instead go off and prep more panels with shellac, because it really lends itself to nice loose studies, and I find I'm craving those right now. Given that I've numbered this study, I'm hoping to produce more!

A Big Day!

It's a long road from the time you start contemplating breeding a mare, until you actually find yourself with a racehorse, if you even get that far! Picking the stallion, the vet visits to determine when the mare is ready to breed, van ride to the breeding shed, then the waiting begins. Waiting for two weeks to see if she's in foal...two more weeks to make sure she's still in foal....45 days, 150 days...and so on, till hopefully around 340 days you're sleep-deprived from night watch and baby finally arrives, safe and sound. February 10, 2007, little Miss Peaks joined us on the planet, and she was a big strong girl from day one.

"COME ON, PEAKER!!!!!!"

She had her ups and downs - she had surgery when she was less than a week old for entropian, at three months she had an R. equi infection and resultant pneumonia, though not as serious as some of those cases can be. Once she started training, she had a few setbacks as well, and was back and forth from track to farm a few times for some rest. I've been scanning the entries every day for the last week because I knew she was finally ready to run...and yesterday was the day! And she made us all proud - after breaking slowly and spotting the field a few lengths down the backstretch (some 13 lengths behind the leaders), she started picking up horses on the far turn and really came on in the stretch to get up for third, beaten just over a length. A couple of jumps later she had them - and she still hasn't got everything figured out! You can watch the replay, courtesy of Woodbine Entertainment, here. (Her real name is Clever Peaks).