A New Face

Vivien provided us with the first foal of the season, delivering a handsome bay colt on Sunday morning. He's her first baby, and she's a great mother so far. He's a sturdy little guy, and looks a lot like his dad, Strut the Stage. I'm hoping this year's foals are free of the drama last year's boys went through!

Maybe there will be a painting of the new kid soon. For now, a few photos!

Still Painting!

Eleven days into the month, and one way or another I've picked up a brush and applied paint every day, though some days more effectively than others! The horses are still keeping me hopping with various issues, and some sleep has been sacrificed, but that's just the way it goes.

I started this little 5 x 7 oil on linen on panel yesterday. This is Twine's colt, who I'm calling Sheldon unless I find out the owners have a problem with that! While he's the oldest of the foals this year, he's no longer the biggest. I think both the chestnuts are taller than he is! Above is day two of work - below the initial 'drawing' on the panel. There is something about sleeping babies, isn't there?

Keeping On

I figured you all could use a rest from me yesterday, so I posted my current WIP on Facebook instead. ;-) This is what I've been working on, with a bit more progress. You saw it here first a while ago! This is 14 x 18 oil on linen. Not my usual smooth linen, but a heavier weave which I've painted on a couple of times. I like to change things up from time to time!

This is Clever and her 2008 colt, Billy, who is now in training at Woodbine. Billy had a lot of very original facial expressions as a baby, and always seemed to be nattering at his mom. Here I've started to lay some colour in over the underpainting - just midtones and darks, and scrubbing them and blending them in with a dry brush rather than a true glaze, though the effect is the same.

Her current foal is two weeks old today, and looking very handsome!

And Then There Were Two...

Our second foal of the season arrived not long after midnight on Wednesday. This is Hummer's first foal, a flashy little chestnut colt by Mutakddim. If you remember Pip (also known as Mute), he was also a son of Mutakddim. The new boy has had a couple little problems in his first few days, but through it all has been bright and spunky. I'm hoping his troubles are behind him and in a couple of weeks, he'll be out playing with Twine's colt! Now, what do you think, will Clever have a colt or a filly?

Contentment

That's what came to mind as the two boys spent a large chunk of the afternoon grooming each other from head to toe. I couldn't believe how long and how thoroughly they went at it! Both were completely immersed - who knew two yearling colts could have that kind of attention span!


They had a slightly stressful morning. Really, these two have the life right now, but every six weeks they're expected to be big boys, when the blacksmith comes for their trims. When they're young, we just do the foals in their stalls, with walk-outs as necessary to check them. Today I finally decided it was time they both grew up, and stood in the aisle on the mats like the big horses!

They handled it pretty well. Leo had one good temper tantrum with a lurching half-rear, but Spider out-did that performance by basically falling/lying down. That's the ultimate cop-out for a horse, and I think they always feel somewhat embarrassed by it! Fortunately it was a slow-motion sort of deal, where he just kept sinking, until he found himself in a heap. He was certainly very good for the rest of the job!

Monster was next, up at the other farm, and after her trim I rode her. After that it was back home to work Gracie and do stalls, then a short break to watch another Canadian Gold at the Olympics before heading back to the barn to feed. That left the evening for painting! Tonight I started a new commission, working from a challenging reference photo - not that that's ever happened before! This one is a 16 x 20 oil on masonite panel.


Yesterday I started my "challenge" painting. My friend Elizabeth McCrindle of Scotland and I both want to improve our humans, artistically. When Elizabeth showed some photos from a trip to Ayr Racecourse this past weekend and said she now had lots of photos of the jockeys, so no excuses on the challenge. It made me think that I also have several photos of the riders, so we both agreed to do one this week. You can see the start Elizabeth made on her blog, and in keeping with accountability, I'll post the one I started here. I've got a much easier one than Elizabeth, I think - I find helmets really hard, and I found a shot with no helmet. I'm not going to tell you who it is. If you think you know, I want to hear it. Just a very rough start so far!

C'mon, Come Play!

It was such a nice day today, it was kind of hard to come in and start painting. I spent the morning in the barn, doing more horse management - horses in, horses out, grooming, and so on, and started on stalls. It would have been very easy to just hang out with them out there all day. Because of that, I decided to do a painting that I knew would be fun!

This is 7 x 5 oil on masonite, and in order to deal with painting a black horse, I deviated from the limited palette I've been using. This is Broderick, and his photo was provided to me by his owner, Rebecca Lerwill. Rebecca is an author, and her first book, Relocating Mia is my current read. She recently published the sequel, The Acronym, next on the list! Because of all this painting this month, and the new additions to the farm, I'm not as far along in my reading as I'd like. I was also feeling more like writing than painting today, so maybe this is a strange compromise on not really managing any writing of my own - I'm featuring an author's horse, and hoping you'll check out her books.

Broderick has grown up a bit since this photo. He's a Friesian, and has a bit more bone than the Thoroughbreds I've been painting of late. No question he's just as cute, though! I did get to the point where this was too wet to do as much as I'd like, but in keeping with the project, I'm posting it, regardless!

My own fiction work in progress stars a black Thoroughbred filly. I tried to beg off the painting today by saying I'd write 1,000 words instead - you know, the opposite to "a picture paints a thousand words!" Fair trade, right? But no one would let me off the hook. For more fun I decided to find a little excerpt from what I've been writing to tag onto the end of this blog post...one that mentions the black filly, of course! This filly is probably a lot like Gracie, and likewise, I'm fully aware I've made her what she is so far! Now I'm off to watch the end of the hockey game!

He leaned on the top railing, a few of the mares grazing not far away. Chique’s baby sister stood quietly beside Sotisse, looking introspective, Pete thought. The filly made no movement to come over. How different she was – she was of a similar build, and as black as Chique, save for that star that dripped down to a stripe and ended as a snip between her nostrils – but she was decidedly more aloof. A lot of Chique’s in-your-face attitude had to do with his own interaction, he knew. They had made each other, in a lot of ways.

The New Kid in Town

Well, I decided not to waste any time painting the new guy. Something about sleeping babies, they're always so sweet. This is another little 5 x 7 oil on masonite panel done with the limited palette. I do envy the way foals power nap. That skill would come in handy, I think!

The little guy got to go outside for the first time today. Clever sticks pretty close to her kids, especially early on like this, so it was hard to get very good photos of him. I'll attach one so you can see just how long those legs are! I'm sure I'll get better pics in future.

I'm going to list this little painting in the Etsy store, so hop on over there if you're interested. Tomorrow I have another guest blogger for you, as taking Gladys on her road trip will dominate my day. Make sure you stop by to check that out!

Thanks again for following along!

Spontaneity

I really didn't know what to expect when I started painting tonight. To tell you the truth, I'm surprised I have a painting at all! Clever foaled last night, a big colt, half brother to Billy and Peaker (who really is growing up and in training at the track right now). Once everything was done with the mare and her new baby, I did manage a couple of hours' sleep, but there were still stalls to muck, a vet visit for the new baby and also for Gladys, who will be bred soon, and making arrangements for breeding Gladys. If someone could remind me what day of the week it is, I'd be grateful!


Because of all of that, tonight's painting isn't all that polished. I knew I didn't have a lot of time, and my brain isn't really functioning as it should. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I just picked up the brush and started. Maybe I hoped the energy my model, Gracie, had in my reference photo would help me out! Gracie was hard to contain on the panel - this is just 5 x 7 on masonite panel and I decided not to worry when I became apparent I hadn't fit her all in!


Once I had the basic drawing, I started blocking in some paint...and so on...until I stopped! Really sophisticated, I know! That's about all I can manage tonight, sorry! The photo at top is where I ended up. It doesn't help that it's a poor photo. I'll try for something better tomorrow.

On that note...it's almost time to go out to the barn one more time tonight...then I'll try to catch up on some of that much-needed sleep so that I'm a little more together tomorrow. Thanks for sticking with me!


P.S. Please forgive any typos and spelling mistakes! I seem to be having serious trouble tonight, so I may not have caught them all!

Day Seven: Can't Help Myself...

Foals are always popular...and I always love painting them, so here we have another baby. Maybe it's really just wishful thinking on my part, as I still wait for Clever to foal. At least now she's looking like it will be in the next couple of days! Leo agreed to stand in again in the meantime. I know I've slacked off the last few days on my theme songs, but for this one it would have to be Ben Folds' Lullabye..."Good night, good night, sweet baby..."

This is 5 x 7, oil on masonite panel using the limited palette again. Painting low light settings is always a challenge and normally the reference photos for such paintings is dark and somewhat grainy...but it's kind of fun to see what you can pull out of them...at least when it works out!

I won't be listing this guy on Etsy, at least not right away...I need to let him sit for a few days and contemplate his future. I am happy to report that the little painting of Billy will be going to Belgium! I know he'll have a very good home there, so that bit of news made my day. Maybe I could send the colt, too, for a few months?

Hope to see everybody again tomorrow! In the meantime, everybody think happy foaling thoughts for Clever! What do you think, colt or filly?

Day Five: Billy Blues

Today's model is Billy, who has made an appearance a few times on this blog! Billy has grown quite a bit since the last time I painted him, as a weanling. He's a yearling now, so it's probably not time best time to ask me if he's actually grown *up*! Yearling...Thoroughbred...colt...it's really all about fighting that growing up, I think!

This little painting is 5 x 7 oil on masonite, once again with the limited palette. He can have such a sweet eye, Billy, and hopefully I captured it here.

Seeing as I wrote a bonus post yesterday (c'mon...wild turkeys???) I'll keep this short. It was a glorious spring day today, but apparently winter is coming back tomorrow. I, for one, will be in denial about that for as long as I possibly can!

Thanks for checking in! See you tomorrow! And yes, you can check my Etsy store for Billy here if you'd like him to come live with you. Well...for the painting...I don't think I could offer free shipping on the colt! Not to mention what his owners might say!

The Shape of Things to Come

Poor Twiney, me posting photos of her, in her current state. You can almost see the foal moving into position. Can't be too much longer now! At least it sounds as if we're going to have warmish weather all week. Tonight would be good, Twiney. Today was completely messed up so I didn't get any sleep in, which means this coming night could be a long one! Finny did his best to help, but couldn't move the hay off the truck into the shed no matter how much he mustered all his superpowers. ;-)


As I was writing that, I was running upstairs every ten minutes or so to check the barn camera. I had been watching Twine more closely after coming in from the barn after feeding, and was pretty sure it was only a matter of time. It's amazing how quickly things go. I probably checked at 8:30pm and she was quiet; checked again at 8:55 and knew it was game time! Her water had broken and I had just enough time to dash out to the barn (a bit of a challenge because of the ice the warming trend has left us with), grab the tail bandage and wrap her tail, and she was going down. A quick check to make sure the foal's presentation was okay, and it was time for traction! Fifteen minutes later a beautiful bay colt was lying behind his momma wondering exactly what planet he'd arrived on.


I still haven't really slept, so I'm a bit numb right now. There are dogs coming and going today, the requisite vet visits for new baby, and no one to get me out of doing stalls. ;-) So for now, a few photos of the new arrival. Check out that shiny sleek coat of his! I think he may have mistaken our February thaw for Florida!

"But...What About Me?"

Poor Billy. Gracie always gets all the attention. It's tough being a colt! As colts go, Billy is very good - now. I've been very careful to keep things straightforward with him. He had his moments when he was younger, but he's really come around to be quite a gentleman. Our work is not done yet, of course, so Billy doesn't get any of the leeway Miss Grace does! Poor Billy!

Just to keep our family connections straight, Billy is Clever's son, and a half-brother to Peaker. His dad is Mobil, an up-and-coming young sire in Ontario. Next year Mobil's first foals will start running.

This painting is 8 x 10 oil on canvas, with the same limited palette I've been using. And as Billy is the youngest on the farm, I've done my planned paintings of "the family." There are more, but these first eleven paintings have featured most of the regulars. We'll see where things go from here! Stay tuned!