March pARTy - Bellator #2!

I've been having fun watching the pARTy paintings come in, and decided not to put off any longer posting my own. I did this one on 7 x 5 oil on shellaced masonite - every time I do a painting on that surface I learn how to handle it a little bit better!

Just a short post this AM - I'm off to take my two black and whites to the vet for their vaccinations, then I will see if I do better than yesterday at getting up to ride Miss Monster! I need to remember to take my camera, because I know all the horses will have their blankets off. Of course if they're anything like my horses here, they'll also be covered in mud. There's that trade off again!

Trade-Offs

That's often how life goes, isn't it? Our weather of late has been an example of that. It's been so nice, but of course that means mud! Three straight days of rain didn't help matters any. Oh well, I've come to accept that the barn has to flood at least once in the spring!

Painting wise, the trade-off has been putting the "speculative" work on hold in order to complete commissions. One went to Winnipeg last week; another is at the framer's right now; an oil pastel awaits the finishing touches on my drawing table, and I'm perusing photos for the next one on the list. It's good to have the work! I do put in some time here and there on some of the smaller pieces on the go - yesterday I also did my painting for the March pARTy, which I'll show off later in the week.

Playing "hooky" has come in the form of some revision on my long-suffering closet-novel-in-progress. That might well be a lifetime task. It's worse than painting when it comes to actually making the declaration that it's done. I think they'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands! Maybe then someone will publish it!

Back to work...stalls, painting, and hoping to fit in a ride today, if my crusty mare will indulge me. I'll share those commissions and my pARTy painting soon!

Becoming One with the Mud

It's that time of year. I know better than to complain about the snow, because I know all too well what comes next! There's still a little bit of the formerly white stuff here and there, but the paddocks are officially mud. In fact, I think the warmer temps and light wind have helped start to dry them out! The pic above is of Muffin, Mud Queen herself. Far be it from Muffin to miss the opportunity for a good roll! I love Muffy but I sure won't miss the work it takes to clean her up! She goes back to “work” tomorrow.


I mentioned I had a finished piece completed in the last couple of weeks. Not sure I'm stuck on the name "Footbath" yet ("Ghost Groom" was so much more entertaining!) but it's there for now!


In the meantime I've been working on the little dark bay on the Curragh, as well as Curlin. Both are progressing nicely. My time has been a bit limited because last Monday we got the report that while Twine was in foal after breeding back this year, Clever was not. This just meant another round of vet visits, then another trip to the stallion yesterday. Here's hoping for a better result this time!

Oh, just to give credit where it's due, the title for today's post actually comes from a Jars of Clay song, Flood. For some reason it's in my head a lot this time of year!