A Gracie Retrospective!

"Have We Met?" 24 x 36 oil on linen (SOLD).

Yesterday on my Facebook page, I started a new feature called, "Meet the Model." Gracie, naturally, insisted on being first, and Monster graciously agreed to let that happen. ;-) I thought today I would write a blog post featuring as many of my Gracie paintings as I could fit in...which should be no small feat, as she's been in quite a few!

"Gracie Knows" 10 x 8 oil on linen.

For those of you who don't know Gracie, she's my nine-year old TB mare – and yes, she's chestnut. That said, I wouldn't call her a stereotypical chestnut mare, though she does have the card, and will play it on occasion!

Shhhhh, she's sleeping! 5 x 7 oil on shellacked masonite.

Like I said in my little introduction, while I adopted her when she was three, I'm pretty sure she adopted me the day she was born. There are lots and lots of Gracie blog posts on here, from her birth to the serious illness she overcame not long after she became mine, though perhaps not so many in recent years. Maybe we need to do something about that!

"Boy Meets Girl," 12 x 24 oil on canvas (SOLD).

But this post is about Gracie the Muse. Which painting is your favourite? Comment either here, or on my Facebook page, and I'll draw a name from everyone who plays – that person will win a collector reproduction of their fav! You don't *have* to like my page to play...but if feels better if you do!  :-)

"Doing Time" 7 x 7 oil on canvas.

"Gracie, Still Wet" 8 x 10 oil on panel.

"Fire Filly" 8 x 10 oil on canvas.

"Gracie's Nose" 10 x 8 oil on panel.

"Sandstorm" 11 x 14 oil on paper.

Work in progress...zoom, zoom!

Well You Didn't Forget *Her* Birthday, Did You?

"Fire Filly," 8 x 10 oil on canvas

You're right Leo.  You're right.  Perhaps that has something to do with Gracie's birthday falling on the same day as a holiday a lot of people seem to celebrate, but yes, I don't tend to forget Miss Gracie's birthday.  Gracie's birth was kind of a big deal, because her mom, Twine, had aborted he first foal, so the safe arrival of a particular little chestnut was extra-special.  I guess Gracie was just extra-special from day one!  I finished the above painting yesterday, of the big mare on High Goblin Alert. ;-)

Minutes old.

Tiny filly has grown into tall mare, but lost none of her playful, gregarious personality along the way.  Happy Birthday to my favourite chestnut mare.  :-)

All photos are copyright protected. The foal pictures are copyright 2008 EJKimaging.

A day and a half old.

"I'm sorry 2014, We Seem to Have Gotten Off on the Wrong Foot, Can We Start Over?"

"Hello, I put in for a transfer to Florida, did you receive it?"

That's how I've been feeling these days.  January has been somewhat of an uphill battle, through snow no less (literally, as of yesterday, as well as figuratively!).  I really don't like to whine about the weather - yes, I know, it's January, this is Canada, we get winter - but this year I admit I'm finding it hard to ignore.  Why did I stop spending winters in Florida, again?

I had a project for January - I moved Jubie, the last of the broodmares seeking a new career, to a boarding stable so I could get on her and better her chances of finding a new home.  Started off with a couple of days on the longe line, then we got hit with the first cold snap.  Sorry, but my craziness doesn't quite extend to getting on a mare who hasn't been ridden since she left the track in 2008 (and had quite the reputation) when it's -16 C (or less!).

Put it off for a couple of days...then the lights in the indoor arena weren't working. As I was getting there after dark, well....again, not going to get on said mare in the dark, thank you!  Next day I arrived while it was still daylight – of course the lights were also working by this point.  :-)

Jubie was a superstar, very sensible, no silliness. Yay!  A few days later....another cold snap.  Okay, the words POLAR VORTEX were being tossed around with abandon on the news.  There go a couple more days of riding.  Next – my stomach gets hit with something.  I think I've decided it was the medication I started taking for my bad ankle, but either way, it was a rather violent reaction that sent me crawling to my bed in between trying to manage the horses and doing stalls.  After about three days to recover from that, I felt strong enough to get back to riding!  Two days in a row, before....a return of that -20-something weather!

Swishy knows how to deal with the Polar Vortex.

By this point I'm just feeling beaten up and spit out, and desperately locking my eyes on that predicted high of -6 for Saturday the 25th.  Naturally that's when the predicted 2-4 cms of snow turned into about 20cm...so Saturday was spent moving snow, getting hay, and the usual horse chores.  I still felt guilty for not getting up at the end of the day to ride.

I did, however, managed a bit of painting, which, needless to say has been rather hit-or-miss this month, for no good reason.  When I decided on Friday afternoon to hit the easel, I really didn't mean for that to be literal – but yes, I managed to whack the back of my hand on the edge of the piece of plexi that rests under my palette - hard enough to actually cut my hand.  It kind of felt as if the easel was telling me, "You're not worthy, come back another time!"  Yes, okay, winter is doing my head in.  ;-) I decided to fight back and try painting with my left hand.  I did end up working with my right (dominant) hand, but it was an interesting exercise I should try more often.

Left hand....okay so you can at least tell it's a horse!

So, here we are, with a week left in January.  The weather isn't looking to be a whole lot friendlier this week, but I hope I manage to get a few rides in.  Perhaps I'll even manage to paint some more.  But who is with me, come January 31st....what say we celebrate the Chinese New Year and start over?  :-)

Back into the comfort zone....dominant hand...working title "Fire Filly!"