C'mon, Keep Up!

Apparently, that's something I haven't been doing.  I *do* have updates....really.  Everything seems to be keeping me busy enough not to get to them, however.  Some people do New Year's resolutions, but I find fall as appropriate a time as any to form new habits (haha...or attempt to).  Maybe it's all those years of going to school.  Seems as good a time as any to start something new!  Like, perhaps, posting regularly again?

Horses have been coming and going - yearlings off to the training centre for the next stage of their lives, two-year olds back for a rest after a bit of time at the track. Fall seems to be settling in a little too comfortably, but I guess that's inevitable.  It's dark when I get up to feed the horses.  Dark too soon after they come in for dinner. 

The two April foals, Moxy and Stella, were weaned last week, and are adjusting to their new life as individuals.  Well, mostly.  They still have each other, and soon they will get a formal introduction to Victor, so that the latest version of widgets can begin to entertain!

Fall will be a busy time for art as well.  The Milton Studio Tour is less than two weeks away, and the way the trees are changing colour, it should be a beautiful time for a drive in the country!  I'm back at my home location for the tour this year, so come out and see some artwork and get a glimpse of those 'kids' out in the paddock that provide my never-ending inspiration!  Dates are October 5&6 from 10am-5pm both days.

The following weekend, which is the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada, I'm joining a group of artist friends to show work at the Erin Fall Fair.  If you're visiting, look for us!  There are five of us involved, and I guess you could call us the founding members of the Canadian Equine Artists Society.  So far we just have a Facebook page.  Join us there to keep up to date on developments!

Busy days ahead.  Hope you can make it out to one of the upcoming events to see my new work!

On a Cheerier Note...

I know it's been rather sombre around here of late, so some lighter content is in order! A couple of weeks ago I went to Woodbine to see the return to the races of a classy fan favourite, Jambalaya. I painted this guy a few years ago, winning the '06 Singspiel Stakes. The last time he ran was when he won the '07 Arlington Million, and has since been on the shelf with an injury. The great news is, he's back, in fine form. You can read about it on owner/trainer Catherine Day Phillips' website. And that's my photo of him coming back to the winners circle after the race. He looks pretty proud of himself!


Our two babies on the farm are now weanlings. They seem resigned to their new life, and have become good friends. They do like to show their spunk on these cool mornings though!

Three days until the Milton Studio Tour, and there is plenty to do. These cool grey days don't do much for motivation, but there's no avoiding the final preparation. Hopefully the rain will give us a break this weekend. The fall colours have started, so it should be a great time for a drive around the Escarpment!

Habit-Forming

It was kind of interesting tonight: after feeding the horses I didn't seem to be able to get anything done, so I felt compelled to paint! I'd thought I would give myself a couple of days off and get some other things done, but I ended up behind the easel. I had a few works in progress on the go before beginning the November project, so I worked on one of them.

The underpainting was done using Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium white, and I continued with those colours for the background, and then used a bit of Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Lemon and Cadmium Red Medium. Maybe I felt imspired to work on this one because the two weanlings do this at least once a day, racing each other around the paddock, though I only wish we had nice fluffy stuff like I'm trying to create in the painting!

I'm not finished this yet, but it's an 8 x 10 oil on Raphael linen panel, and this is Billy showing his stuff. I guess I won't complain about going with the momentum. It would be kind of silly not to! Off to clean those brushes!

The Other Half of the Entry

Today I painted Peaker's best friend, Maria. Maria only left a couple of weeks ago to join Miss Peaks at the training centre - I wonder if they were reunited! Maria was purchased as a weanling last December. She was a little backward, but the last few months really started coming together. She's a very pretty thing, and while Peaker gives the impression of being somewhat modest and innocent, Maria is the opposite! She has a dishy, almost Arabian face, and a mischievous eye.

This painting is 8 x 10 oil on panel. I knew my time would be tight with this one, as I had plans to go to the re-opening of the Art Gallery of Ontario this afternoon. I'm content with the sketch-like quality of this one. I've always liked the freshness of oil studies on panel, where one can see the tone of the panel showing through. Once again I was using the limited palette.

I did get some writing done last night, and I need to keep on top of that! Time is ticking!

Remembering that I'm doing these horses by age, and this takes care of the yearlings...that means the weanlings are next! I've really been looking forward to doing them. They have such irresistable little faces! Well...if I can still call them little!

Productive Avoidance

It seems one particular painting is the bane of my existence right now - it has been in progress over a year now! You've seen it, in various stages; under various names, even, if I remember correctly. "Backstretch" was it's original "pre-production" title, then when I decided to stick with the original direction and light source of my primary reference photo, the working title became "First Time Past." It will likely have a new title once it's done. I feel as if I've been languishing over this one for so long, and I've decided not to post it again until it's done. It is, however, the piece I've been determined to keep first in line this week...must...finish!!

Still...all work and no play, or so they say. I couldn't help myself yesterday; I started a new painting, inspired by the photos I took of the weanlings over the weekend. I had something in mind when I took the camera out that morning, and I may still pursue that idea, but for some reason something else took prececence. I've painted Gracie already, and now it's Billy's turn. I've decided to use the same palette as I did for the little Gracie painting (titled Gracie Knows) and I'm going to put him in the snow. You'd think I wouldn't want to be thinking about snow right now, especially after we came pretty close to seeing some yesterday! Nooo, not yet, please!


I started yesterday by quickly blocking in the tones, and today, I roughed in a background. I like the looseness of it right now, and hope to maintain that as I go. This is an 8 x 10 oil on Raphael linen panel, just like Gracie Knows. Today's work should dry quickly, and allow me to carry on with this quite soon.

Once I set Billy on the window ledge, I pulled out my little 6 x 8 on Raymar panel that I started last week. Yesterday I had put some more colour into the background, though you likely can't tell. Today, I blocked in the horse and rider. This little painting will take much longer to do than Billy, because of the layers that will be required for the landscape. Right now, it looks very unrefined! Once it's completed, I'll tell the story that goes along with this scene.

Okay....9pm...perhaps I need to put in some time on *that* painting! Grumble grumble....

Fitting It All In

Days like this are rare - where I near the end and realized I managed to do all the important stuff. It started off a little slow - believe it or not, I have entered the ranks of those privileged folk with high speed internet access! Could the whining really be at its end? Of course, it's not performing as it's supposed to (big surprise) but the bottom line is, bad high speed is still faster than really bad dialup. So first thing, I did waste a bit of time online - the novelty of it, you know.

First order at the barn was walking Medz, before it got too warm and the flies came out to torment him. The weanlings still managed to do that - they seem to think it's fun to get Uncle Medz going. After I finished the stalls, I knew it would be criminal to let a gorgeous fall day like today pass without getting on the Monster. We're both admittedly out of shape, so we just went on a short hack, and then did a little bit of flat work. The trails are a bit overgrown, and I have a nice scratch on my arm to show for that, but I was otherwise unscathed, and Monster was pretty agreeable.


Miss Maria has come to the end of her "sentence" and to help in her re-entry I gave her a shot of Atravet (or "sensible" as I like to call it!). I turned her out in the small paddock, and she was very civilized - the weanlings once again helping out by grazing curiously on the other side of the fence. I bedded the stalls and soaked the feeds, and then everybody came in for dinner. Yesterday I bought a storage box for the tack room, and hauled that out of the truck and put it together before heading to the house.

I'd promised Swish I'd throw a ball for her, so before getting something to eat (somehow in the midst of my ambitious plans for the day, lunch was bypassed) I let the little Border Collie chase a couple of round orange objects - next to sheep, I'm sure there's nothing a black and white likes better! After my own dinner, I stalled a bit on the painting thing - wasted some more time online, while not really watching the first episode of the first season of Dexter until the hockey game came on.


Finally, the paints came out. I thought I'd work on one of the pieces in progress waiting for attention, but instead I started a new piece. This is just a small one, and all I did was start to block things in...just enough to say I did paint today! It doesn't look like much right now, but I'm going to let it dry before I do any more. This is 6 x 8, oil on Raymar canvas panel.

Now it's time to clean my brushes, let the dogs out one more time, then make my last trip to the barn. I guess you'd call this a full day! The right team even won the hockey game. Just don't expect me to duplicate it tomorrow!