Booker - COMPLETE

"Booker" Oil 18"x24"

My commission "Booker", he is the Trial Challenge Series Grand Champion at Happ's in Ethel, Wa.

Thanks to Maureen at Happ's for all her hard work putting on these shows!

Blabbing and Blogging

“It’s a mistake for a sculptor or a painter to speak or write very often about his job. It releases tension needed for his work.”
Henry Moore



Something for us to all think about! I can recognize the truth in this. Can you?

I'll post art soon!

Daydreamer

"Daydreamer"
Oil 8"x10"

I really felt like painting tonight but am still procrastinating about finishing the mustang painting so.....this is a small, 1 hour study, taken from a picture I took of a friends horse. I should really consider doing a larger version since it turned out so pretty. The background I completely made up so I'm a little shocked it turned out this well. Must be my plein air practicing paying off? It feels nice to have something turn out once in a while so I'll take it!
I'm noticing that I am an excellent procrastinater. Instead of painting I can manage to burn up my time on the computer searching for art, or blogging (yes, I'm procrastinating right now!), or even deep cleaning my house - which lets face it is NOT usually my idea of a good time. Maybe I need to put aside the mustang for another year - or put it in the junk pile...? As I type that I still feel that that painting can be saved and should be finished. So we'll see what happens. I do have a strong desire to paint, so if I continue to avoid painting the mustang I'm going to just paint whatever else strikes me - like this napping, black Quarter Horse.....I'm at peace just looking at him....

Remembering

My dear friend Syd passed away today. She was an amazing artist. She loved animals. She was a very successful breeder and trainer of champion German Shephards. She was a horsewoman. She loved to read, and to learn. She was highly intelligent. I loved her. She was direct, honest, proud and sensitive. She loved life and nature and she loved to paint. She was an excellent art teacher with an exceptional eye for good art and correct anatomy. She would tear my paintings apart....but then build me up so I would keep working on them.
Very rarely do you meet someone who's friendship does not depend upon having grown up together, gone to school together, have kids the same age, you're the same age....etc. The friendship that Syd and I shared was so easy - we were simply the same person on the inside. We shared almost every single hobby, passion, and interest, and the ones we didn't share didn't matter because we understood one another.
Syd, I hope all those dogs welcomed you at the gate. When I hear thunder I will think of you yelling at them to "SHUT UP!!!" I will never forget you, and I will keep painting. Love, me

The Red Tool Shed - high key

Last night the evening sun was so pretty. I pulled out my equipment and decided to do a value study while Russ was mowing the field the cows were in. I had less than an hour to work with but the kids actually cooperated and played contentedly. I painted this using high values only, and I think I should focus on my values, and how they relate to eachother, more often. I can tell now that I put more energy into mixing the colors I see, and my paintings lack in correctness of value. I read last night in John Carlsons' "Guide to Landscape Painting" that if the values are correct it really doesn't matter what the colors are. Also an artist friend of mine Kathryn Townsend documented on her blog some excersizes in black and white I found truly inspiring. And so I keep learning......and loving the process.
I find so much joy in painting outside, and I am already feeling renewed and ready to tackle those unfinished studio paintings. "Montana" and the painting of the fall pumpkins both still lie unfinished next to the easel.

"Magic"

Here is the finished portrait of "Magic" a very talented medicine hat paint gelding. He has the honor of taking the Grand Champion title at Happ's 2009 trail challenge series! What a good boy! Congratulations Judy!! Special thanks to Wendi Ross of Blue Ribbon Photography for providing the photograph used to paint this. See her work at www.blueribbonequinephotography.com .

"Cupcakes"

Well hello! Here is my painting submission for Karin Jurick's Different Strokes From Different Folks blog http://http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

What a fun subject to paint! It started off quite easy and fun - then I got to the frosting, lol! I didn't want to spend too much time on this as I should be working on the painting of Jamie's mustang "Montana" but I could not pass this up. Thanks Karin! A joy to paint and so fun to expand my subject matter. An excellent challenge.

Still life in progress....

This is a still life I am working on of vegtables taken straight from my garden. The wine is a riesling and I will taking both the wine and this painting to an Art/Wine party tonight. How fun, huh? I think I will call it "Art with Wine" for the party. Luckily I scored this gorgeous gold frame from Good Will for $8.99! So I'm all ready to go.....once the painting is done that is! Better keep working on it! I'll post it when it's done of course.....

Partners

Here is a painting "Partners". This painting has been accepted into a juried Art Show in Enumclaw, wa.! Special thanks to Charles Brooks for so generously allowing me to use his photography as reference. You can view his work at http://www.brooksphotog.com/ . What excellent work! And of course thanks to Wylene Wilson - a talented rider, trainer, and beautiful cowgirl! Check her out at http://www.wylenewilson.com/ - she is an extreme trail competitor and the cowgirl model. Thank you both!

Backroads....

Well, my latest painting is a commission I'm doing for a wonderful lady who run a horse facility in Ethel, WA called Happ's. They have a magnificent facility and host multiple Trail Horse Challenges, Combined Driving Events, Gaming shows, and training opps. all year long. The painting still needs a little cleaning up but all in all is done. Happ's is purchasing prints of this painting for awards to be given at a Combined Driving Event. I'm so honored....visit http://www.happs-inc.com/ to learn more.

My mothers day was fantastic! My girls bought me flowers and we went out driving around...ate lunch...it was a really nice day. The weather was so beautiful - it's days like that, that make western Washington worth living in. But not today - it's back to the rain! Thats ok - hopefully my pasture grass will grow, and grow, and grow....

Sun and Silence...ahhh

Well, it's 7:04am right now and it is actually a gorgeous day. I am also the only one out of bed which make this almost heaven. Times like this are very rare. So I get to actually drink my coffee and relax...
So...my second painting this year....it's actaully a portrait of a beautiful Tennessee Walker gelding that my art teacher owns. I put some training on him earlier this year and fell in love with him. What a gentle, quiet spirit, with a strong desire to please! Apparently Walkers have this reputation - I'd call him the ideal "husband" horse, and if I ever buy a second horse for the kids and my husband to ride it will definitely be a TW. My art teacher Syd, actaully took a picture of him while I was working him under saddle and this is the painting of that picture..you can tell he looks very like he's focusing very hard and absorbed in whatever we were learning at the moment...hence the title "In Training".

Painting Away....

So here I am trying to paint between meals, dirty diapers, and endless homemaking tasks! I currently do have a community artists webpage but am not happy with the fact that viewers cannot comment on my work or just post me a hello! I hope this is a more family and friend friendly page.

This painting is titled "Crawfish Lake". It is a painting I started almost 2 years ago and did not finish. This year upon deciding my New Years resolution was going to be to start painting again, I decided finishing this was my first task at hand. This is an actual scene taken from a personal family camping trip at Crawfish Lake in eastern Washington. This is our boat in the picture. My husband loves this painting - so not for sale!