An Anniversary, of Sorts!

I'd originally planned to do this painting this past Wednesday, but I got a little confused.  You see, I shared the reference with a group of very special artist friends, for our own little pARTy.  Fellow pARTy conspirator, Kim Santini, is going to post all the images together, and had set a deadline for next week, so I had it in my head that I would do it next week.  Anyway, a couple of our 'members' have done their paintings and posted them, so that inspired me to get it done today!  I was careful not to look at what they had done, as I didn't want to be influenced at all.

This is my buddy Hugo - the two-month old colt who a week ago reared up and clocked me in the nose, breaking said nose.  So, happy one-week anniversary, dear Hugo!  To celebrate (still being here to paint, haha), this is an 8 x 10 oil on canvas.  I was tempted to use some nice, bright red, but as you can see, I refrained! 

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!

Beating the Blahs with a pARTy!

I decided because my fellow Virtual pARTy organizer Kim Santini posted her pARTy painting, I could post mine as well. All's fair in painting and pARtying! This time around Kim provided our reference photo, from a photo shoot of her friend's Curly horses. This is up close and personal with Percy...which, come to think of it, is something like what Kim called her painting! If you'd like to see the photo, visit the pARTy blog. Thanks, Kim!

The details: this is 10 x 10 oil on gallery wrap canvas. This particular canvas was interesting, because it was prepped with clear gesso, so there was no need to tone it like I would normally do with a white surface. It was already the perfect colour for this particular painting. It's available for $300 US, plus shipping - once it's dry enough to go to a new home! Just email me if you're interested.

The pARTy officially runs until Saturday, so if anyone still wants to play with us, the instructions are also posted on the pARTy blog. Contact one of us if you'd like a high resolution file of the photograph. Sometime early next week, we will post all of the participants' entries on the pARTy blog, so be sure to check back then. Better yet - follow the blog so you get the latest updates.

January pARTy

As promised, here's my painting for the Virtual pARTy. I went with a simple crop to be sure I could get it done in the time frame, given the rest of my schedule! This is 6 x 8 oil on Raymar cotton panel.

We had some great work in this month's pARTy, so I hope you'll take a moment and have a look. Think about joining us next time!

I've been busy at the easel for most of today, working on getting that painting of the three mares I posted the other day past the uglies! I should have an update to post soon...unless I decide to wait till it's complete. I think it actually might be turning out!

Busy Day!

Some days things just roll. I started painting early today, putting some work in on my next commission. This particular commission will require a number of layers, so I will be letting what I did today dry before continuing. I took a painting break to go out and do stalls and work a bit with Gracie, then threw all the horses hay before getting back to the studio.

I have a few pieces around that are near completion. It's a funny thing, how putting those last touches and calling it 'done' are often the most difficult part of the process. I could have picked up any one of half a dozen or more paintings to conquer today, but I decided it had been a while since I did a dog painting, so I tackled this little 6 x 8 oil on Raymar panel of an Australian Cattle Dog doing agility. I'm going to call it "Tunnel!" for obvious reasons! I might enter this in the FASM From Heart to Hand show in early March, if it's not sold before then. If you're interested, it's available, unframed, for $280.00US including shipping (in North America). Just email me.


Next I put a bit of polish on a painting I did last June. I don't often touch up my daily paintings like this, but I always loved the composition of this and felt a little more work would be worthwhile. This is 8 x 10 oil on masonite panel, and I'm calling it "Contender." It's available, unframed for $450.00US (shipping included in North America). Once I frame both of these paintings, the price, needless to say, will have to go up!

Tomorrow I'll share my Virtual pARTy painting. Participants have until midnight tonight (in their respective time zones) to submit their work, and then I will post all paintings on the blog. Pop over there if you'd like to see the reference photo we're working from.

Days like this, I hate to go to bed, thinking surely I could accomplish more!

More Belmont pARTy!

My fellow pARTy host Kim Santini heard my plea for help (or whine, however you might see it!) and agreed to let me feature *her* Belmont pARTy not-one-but-two-paintings today for a guest post! Kim had the kind of week that definitely entitles her to join me in that chorus of "It's My pARTy" from yesterday, so I'm humbled that she would take pity on me! :-) I love these paintings. I've been having a lot of fun seeing the participants' efforts come in yesterday and today. There's still time to play, if you're quick about it - midnight EST is our deadline.

My show today went well - beautiful weather an encouraging sales. Back for another day tomorrow. Left a little early to rush home, feed the horses and get in the house in time to watch the Belmont, only to discover it was ABC instead of NBC broadcasting this time around, and I don't get ABC! Crisis!! I sort of get the audio, so I listened and watched the snow and will have to catch the replay later. So yes, I'm disappointed that Mine That Bird didn't win, but he didn't disgrace himself by the sounds of it. And I thought Wooley's comments were perfect - it did sound like he moved too early, but really, when you're not the one out there on the horse, that's so easy to say! And on the TV front...maybe today will be what finally prompts me to get satellite! I know I must be the last person on the face of the earth without, but it just seems like a lot of money to spend on something I don't have a lot of use for: more TV.

All right...enough of my grumbling...time for some artwork!

Gallop I and II, the Belmont pARTy
By Kimberly Kelly Santini

FROM TOP: FROM LEFT: "Gallop I (Gray)" and "Gallop II (Dark Bay)," from the 2009 Belmont pARTy, both 6" x 12", equine paintings in acrylic on canvasboard, $249 each or $479 for both. Inquiries may come to me.

Today's pARTy reference photo was provided by equine photographer Juliet Harrison. I'd like to thank Juliet for sharing her imagery with us on our first open invitation pARTy.

The reference photo (which you can see here), from Saratoga, depicts two Thoroughbreds in full gallop, complete with jockeys and the track scene as a backdrop. Initially I planned on painting each horse on his own panel, with the gray one pulling away and the dark horse digging in. Somewhere along the line, however, I began liking the idea of them running free, and never added the jockeys, rail, or background sheds. I'm debating still whether I should leave the dirt/track surface in the foreground or carry the grass to the lower edge of the canvas.

The idea of diptych's has always fascinated me. I've done it on a couple other occasions (Pounce is one), and really enjoy the challenge painting companion pieces provides. It's even more challenging to get those works completed within the course of a day that also included delivering artwork to a gallery and the end-of-school-year carnival.

I haven't seen Linda Shantz's painting yet, nor any of the Belmont pARTy participants. I understand Linda would like to have them all posted by Monday. You can review all the artwork on the Virtual pARTy blog.

Meanwhile, here's to a safe trip and a good race.

Enjoy your weekend!

Kim Santini

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Growing Up, Revisited

Really, did I need an excuse to paint another foal? This little guy is the colt I'm calling Spider until I hear differently - Clever's 09 baby. This painting is 5 x 7 oil on masonite, and somehow I was able to achieve that looseness I was looking for! Now if I could just remember how I managed that, so I could recreate it!

Tomorrow I will take a slight tangent from my theme, for the final jewel of the Triple Crown pARTy! This time Kim Santini and I have opened things up and invited others to participate. If you'd like to play along, please do! You can see the image an read the guidelines on The Virtual Party blog. All you need to do is contact one of us with and image of your completed painting to be included! At the very least, be sure to check in and see the results! You'll see my painting here tomorrow. As usual, it will be a challenge to fit it in, with the morning booked for trims for all the horses, afternoon needed to muck stalls of said horses, and a weekend art shot for which to prepare! We'll see how it goes!