Closing a Door and Opening Another?

"Feel So Fine" springtime foal is now home and available for purchase.

For several years I've had my artwork in a very nice shop in the nearby small village of Central Lake. It started out as mainly a consignment shop for local artists and craftsmen, but over the years the shop has transitioned into more and more stocking commercially made very tasteful home decor and clothing.

I had good sales in this shop for quite a few years, but in the past 2-3 sales fell off considerably to almost nothing.

This past week the owner of the shop called to ask if I wanted to come get my artwork, and I readily agreed. It was something I had been intending to do for months but hadn't gotten around to. With sales so low and the shop no longer emphasizing local artists and craftsmen, it didn't make much sense to leave the art languishing in the recesses of a side room where many visitors didn't go.

Yesterday I picked up the original art, prints and the few note cards that were left. No one had told the young clerk, who was alone in the shop, that I might be coming in or where to find my art. It took her a long time to find it in their back room, and not all of it could be found in the whole shop! I had kept very careful records of what was in the shop and what had sold over the years so arrived with my own inventory list of what SHOULD have been there. 

If I had any regrets about leaving the shop they were quickly dispelled. Remembering that although the owner, an animal lover, had always expressed great admiration for my art, the woman she later hired to order the merchandise and approve the art and do the displays did not seem to share her enthusiasm. More than once I found original paintings of mine hidden behind lamps, and when I stopped in last year, I no longer had my own designated print rack; in fact my prints were nowhere out to be seen. Is it any wonder that none were selling? This was a big hint that it was time to go.

At this point my feelings are very mixed but mainly positive about this "loss" of gallery representation. Merry was very good to me over the years, and sales were good when I had given up other marketing outlets like art fairs and horse expos. In some years, the shop was my only source of income. 

Now that the art is home, some pieces will be available to show to honest to goodness local galleries where actual art buyers will be looking for their next purchase. That will be a better fit for me at this point, and that is my near term goal. 

That is the door I hope to open.

"Cadence", A Driving Horse Pastel Portrait

 

"Cadence", a pastel portrait

Here is another in a series of old portraits to share with you. 

This is Cadence, a flashy Morab driving horse. The portrait was 11"x14" pastel on paper. I took the driving photos for this composite portrait at a local show but used the very nice head photo provided by the client. 

I am particularly pleased with how the eye turned out. Some day I'd like to do a larger version of Cadence with his owner/driver in a country landscape. Wouldn't that be lovely? 

At one time I had note cards available of this image. But after the horse's owner asked if I was going to split the sales of the note card with her, I decided it was time to retire the design. After figuring in the cost of producing the cards, I wasn't making much profit nor was I selling many. 

So it goes for a portrait artist. 

One Step Forward, Two steps Back

It's safe to say that I am rusty when it comes to painting. Witness the painting above. 

Last week I put in time on this painting two days in a row. On the second day, I wiped off part of what I had painted the day before. On the third day, I tried to wipe off what I'd done on Day Two, but the paint had already dried, and I was only able to get off a little bit of it. 

The "progress" you see is on the hind legs and haunches of the horse. The left side isn't too bad, but the right haunch is a different matter. I mixed three piles of reddish brown: dark, medium and a lighter version. But somehow the haunch all came out pretty much one value. 

How did that happen? I asked myself. Well, I just wasn't paying enough attention when I mixed fresh batches of each value. I will have to paint that area again. There are other corrections to make as well. 

Although I'm eager to get back to the painting, I've taken a break to give the paint plenty of time to dry before I put on another coat and also to get some progress made on income tax information for the accountant. Then I plan to set aside three whole days to do nothing but paint the horse. 

So that's where I am now; dealing with Life responsibilities before getting back to the painting. Next time you can be sure that I will mix those different values more carefully and test them out before putting paint on the canvas again. 

Sometimes it's just one step forward and two steps back. That's just the way it goes in the life of a painter.

"Echo", a Horse Drawing

"Echo" a Quarter Horse Mare

Drawing from the photograph

I saw a woolly caterpillar in the barn aisle the other day, and that is a sure sign that Fall is here and winter is on its way. 

Usually, Fall is very busy at our house as we batten down the hatches preparing for the snow and cold ahead: taking water craft out of the water for winter storage and cleaning out the flower beds, preparing for the holidays and other sundry things. This year is no exception and is shaping up to be even busier than normal after what was a busy summer. 

For one thing, we took our cat, Molly, downstate to a cat clinic for radiation treatment for hyperthyroidism. She has been on medication for two years, but it was no longer working. It has been traumatic for both us and poor Molly since she had to stay at the clinic for four days and is now in quarantine at home for a week. The treatment itself is very safe, but she was stressed to the max just being taken away from home and "abandoned" by her people and now isolated from all of us in her room alone. She came home very thin and totally exhausted but is now doing fine if not very lonely. 

In spite of the hubbub, I started a new drawing the other day. Not a sketch but an honest to goodness drawing of a Quarter Horse mare that I wanted to finish in colored pencil. I will probably also use the drawing for an oil or pastel painting of this mare and her foal, a painting that I've long wanted to do. 

The drawing was done freehand using the photograph above. I didn't do any measurements to start with, and when it was done, I found some problems. Hunting up my calipers or dividers or whatever you call the thing, I used that to measure the proportions of that particular horse, using the head as the basic measurement by which all others were compared. One head equals the length of the neck and also the width of the barrel and the length of the forelegs to the fetlocks and so on. I traced the original drawing onto a sheet of tracing paper, making some adjustments as I went. This is just the first tracing. I will do another over the top of this one because there are still several adjustments to be made. 

When I'm satisfied with the drawing, I'll trace it onto a good sheet of paper and finish it with colored pencil. That can serve as my color study for the larger oil painting. For that I will add a foal and a background. The foal photo I'd like to use has lighting opposite to what is in the photo of Echo, and I'll have to change it to match the mare by doing some sketches and a value study before proceeding to the painting. 

It feels very good to be tackling a brand new image with challenges to overcome and having the confidence to do it. 

Echo was a former ranch horse who became a broodmare and a trail horse. She is still very much missed by her family. This will be her tribute. 

"Twilight"; Horse Painting In Progress

"Twilight Reverie", oil painting in progress

Sound the trumpets! Ring the church bells! 

I am finally at long last back to work on paintings! 

Last year was a difficult year, and to tell you the truth, I am still recovering from surgery and the consequences thereof. But, I'm getting my mojo back and have worked on this painting for the past two days. 

When last I worked on it exactly one year ago, I could see a few problems with it and wasn't quite sure what to do about them. And so it sat on the studio wall for months and months. My mind was just not in the right place to deal with painting problems - until now. 

I am back to riding after another long layoff due to a knee injury. I am back to gardening which was a near impossibility last year. The flower beds are cleaned out, and I'm ready to plant and fertilize and mulch. I can walk almost normally (although not far without pain). In short, I am back into a normal routine of being able to do the things I care the most about. 

And one of those things is painting. With the thought of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained, I resumed work on this painting yesterday and today. It is now back on the studio wall to dry before I tackle painting the final layers of the horse which is still in the underpainting stage. 

There were several things that needed correction. For one, the background trees on the right needed improvement. For another, the outline of the horse had "grown" during the initial painting stage, as often happens, and needed to be trimmed back. The rump was too rounded and plump. I did a few nips and tucks in other areas as well. 

But the biggest problem I could see was that the head was too large in proportion to the body. That could have been due to camera compression and distortion or it could have been due to the head growing as it was painted or it could have been both. At any rate, it got an over all trim and now looks more in proportion and in perspective. I am pleased. 

What will I work on next while "Twilight" dries? There is that little lamb study I never finished, two cat paintings and another of a horse rolling. I am anxious to finish up paintings to fill up my depleted inventory and get started on some new ones. 

I am eager and ready. Sound the trumpets!

"Feel So Fine" Frisky Colt In A Spring Pasture. Spring Sale Offering

"Feel So Fine" Pastel Painting of a Foal in Spring

Today is the first official full day of Spring, and isn't it especially welcome this year? Never mind that it snowed here this morning.

For we horse lovers, signs of Spring bring thoughts of newborn foals in all their cuteness. This is a painting of a foal that I created several years ago which has still not found a home. I don't quite know why, but it happens. For some works of art, it just takes a little longer for the right person to come along and fall in love with them and take them home. 

The subject of this painting is Bullet, a Morgan colt that a friend allowed me to photograph many years ago. He's a little flashy for a Morgan with all that white and he was so lively running around, bucking and kicking out, as he raced around the paddock. I put him in a Spring pasture to make a more Springlike composition to set the mood better. 

Titled "Feel So Fine", this pastel painting is available for the special Spring Sale price of $205 framed plus shipping. It measures 12.5x14 inches and is double matted inside a brushed gold frame. If you're interested in purchasing this painting of Bullet, please message me to arrange for the sale. 

This isn't the only time I've painted Bullet, though. On a second photo shoot at the farm I got more pictures of him and more foals. Now Bullet is all grown up, still handsome and still prancing around when turned loose for the day. The painting below is also a pastel on pastelmat and was sold several years ago. 

"Bullet In Motion" Pastel Painting of a Morgan Gelding

Please visit my website, Karen Thumm Fine Art to see more of my work and see works in progress. I plan to be very busy in the studio this Spring and Summer creating more art for you to enjoy. 

Old Horse Painting and Getting Back To Normal

"Bear", 11x14 pastel horse painting

It's been a long time since I last posted, and although I haven't quite gotten back to the easel yet, I thought I'd share this old portrait with you today for Throwback Thursday.

This is Bear. He was an Appaloosa gelding who belonged to a riding friend several years ago. I had the pleasure of painting his  portrait as a gift and am still reasonably happy with it. An artist is never completely satisfied with any finished painting, but that's another story.

The portrait was done in pastel, and what a fun time I had getting all that roaning to look natural and to match the markings on Bear's face and body. I haven't worked in pastel in a very long time now, not since I quit accepting portrait commissions, but I'm getting the urge to pick them up again.

That will be a lot easier now that my studio is finally all put back together after the long layup during the surgery recovery. During this past month, I sorted through all of my oil paints and separated them into warm and cool colors. Then I separated out duplicates and packed them in an old fishing tackle box that I'll use for painting outdoors.

The final step in getting the studio back together involved going through my art supply closet and rearranging it. In the process I found a few things that I'd forgotten I had and got rid of some other things no longer needed. All is arranged much better now, and my lifetime supply of old t shirts and pillowcases is organized in two boxes to be used as paint rags as needed. There was even left over space to put a few things away that had been kicking around the studio floor.

And, very lastly, my husband brought my drawing table back out of the attic to resume its old position folded up against the wall. I love that drawing table; so compact when it's folded and yet a large working surface when set up. It was the final piece to putting the studio back into full operating mode.

Meanwhile during the month, I went to physical therapy twice per week, did my exercises (mostly) faithfully and got caught up on various doctor appointments and the cat's vet appointments. I am now finished with PT and am looking forward to more free time to devote to catching up on so very many tasks that have gone undone for way too long. There are bird feeders to clean and set up and horse blankets to wash for the coming winter among many other tasks.

Homeward Bound on a trail ride

During the month of September, I was able to ride somewhat regularly and to fit in four trail rides. Oh, how glorious that was! Trail riding season is fast coming to an end, and it's time to plan for arena riding through the winter.

Speaking of which, can you believe that the Holidays are almost upon us?! Where has this year gone? It certainly has flown by.

The Saga of a Painting - "Have We Met? - Belgian Horses"

reference photograph of two draft horses for an equine painting

Felled by another bout of Hummingbird syndrome, I haven’t done any painting in a couple of weeks now. But I did sort through all of my photographs of one painting, both in progress and completed and managed to correct the best finished photo to very closely match the painting. 

I thought it might be instructive to artists and non artists alike to show you the reference photograph that I worked from and discuss all the changes I made in the painting. So, here goes. 

Above is the reference photo that I took at a horse pull at the county fair several years ago, and below is the finished painting.

"Have We Met? - Belgian Horses" 12x16 oil painting on canvas

Here’s a list of the changes made: 

1. Since I wanted the painting to be of a pair of Begians, I changed the color of the left hand horse from bay to chestnut. 

2. The horses were finished competing and were sweaty and unharnessed. I wanted the painting to show them freshly groomed but not show horse shiny since they’re work horses after all. Getting the muscling and highlights to look natural proved to be a big challenge. I had to look for other references of Belgians with the light coming from the proper direction. 

3. That trailer. Rusty and beaten up was not what I had in mind, so away it went to the body shop for some work and a new paint job. Again, I had to find other references for how a shiny trailer would reflect light. Luckily, I had some from a draft horse show. I also set up two of my Breyer model horses  right next to a shiny flat plane to see where the reflections would be. Notice that there are none in the reference photos. 

4. In the photograph the horses’ ears make a funny tangent where they almost touch. To correct that, I changed the right hand horse’s ear position slightly until it looked better. 

5. I confess to not liking very wide blazes that go over the nostrils on horses. So, I changed the right hand horse’s blaze to a narrower one. I didn’t change the actual shape of his muzzle at all, and notice how much more narrow it looks with the narrower blaze. 

6. Most Belgians do have blazes, so I added one to the left hand horse - just because I wanted to. 

7. Notice the fender showing in the reference photograph? I took it out of the painting because it was confusing and added nothing to the image. 

8. The trailer interior and uprights.What I was seeing in the reference photograph didn’t make sense, so I changed it to correspond with the near side, taking into account that the trailer was at a slight angle in the plane of the painting. 

9. I cropped the photograph to offset the horses’ heads slightly to avoid a perfectly centered composition. Notice that you see far less of the right hand horse’s shoulder.

10. The final change I made to the image was to give it a new name from the working name of “The Green Team” to “Have We Met? -Belgian Horses” which I think better expresses the engagement of the horses’ gazes with the viewer. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little trip through the brain of an artist and that you’ve learned a thing or two about how to use reference photographs in the best possible way. Rarely is a photograph perfect in every way, and some photographs just don’t work as paintings. Learning to evaluate a photograph from a compositional point of view is a necessary part of progressing as a realist artist. 

Twilight Reverie; Painting The Horse

"Twilight Reverie", horse oil painting on canvas

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and the weather is beautiful, the trees are finally leafing out and Spring bulbs are blooming here in NW MIchigan. I’m ignoring reports that there is still ice on Lake Superior. 

My kids are here visiting, but since I can’t do much yet, I’ve spent two days in the studio working on two different paintings. The first one just consisted of getting the image drawn on the canvas and then reinforcing the lines by painting over them with a tiny brush. Nothing exciting to see there. 

The second painting is the one above. The first layer of paint was applied to the horse and the bit of sky that shows. I had problems that slowed the process. For one thing, the paint was thick. For another I had problems with paint brushes. I felt like Goldilocks and The Three Bears; some brushes were too stiff and some too soft. The paint either was going on unevenly or I had little control over what the brush did with the paint. I finally found some that worked and managed to finish the horse in one day. 

When the work session ended and I looked at the painting, I wasn’t very pleased with the results. Then I took out my trusty red acetate report cover and looked at the painting through it. The red makes the color dissolve pretty much into only values of light and dark. Immediately it was obvious that I had gotten the light areas within the horse too light which was causing the horse to have a kind of disjointed look. 

Then I felt better. With the next application of paint, I can correct that. All of the preparation work of doing the planning and the color study are now paying off. The painting has a long way to go yet, but it is well under way now, and I have high hopes for it. 

Prancing Foal Pastel Painting

"Feel So Fine" Pastel horse foal painting

It's Throwback Thursday on Facebook, so I thought I'd share this older pastel painting of a lively colt which is still available for sale. 

Bullet was a five week old Morgan colt just turned out with his mother on a late Spring morning. His youthful exuberance is expressed in this painting as he prances about in the lush Spring landscape. 

The painting is 12.5x14 inches and is available framed for the special price of $225. Please contact me if you're interested in putting this speedy Bullet on your living room wall. 

You may email me at karen@equineartist.com

Fun With Color Studies

color study for horse painting

Color studies are fun to do. For one thing, you don’t have to worry about putting in details unless you’re doing them to get the detail right, like a person’s face or a dog’s eye. For another, you don’t have to get the shapes and proportions exactly right, either. And, they’re usually quick to do, so if one doesn’t turn out the way you planned, you can easily do another. 

What is a color study you may wonder? 

A color study is a small (usually) quick painting done to work out possible problems in a larger, more finished painting. 

Why do a color study?

1. To work out color harmonies

2. To work out values

3. To practice painting a subject or object or the whole painting

4. To prevent having to make a lot of corrections to the final painting

Before beginning the big version of “Twilight Reverie”, I decided to do a color study. Why? Because color harmonies, accurate color for the time of day and the atmosphere of the painting will be critical elements for what I want to say with this painting. Plus I wanted to get an accurate and pleasing color for the horse figured out before putting a lot of paint on a big canvas and then having to do parts over again. 

So, I spent a happy afternoon yesterday painting away on this 8x10 inch color study, drawing right on the canvas and slapping on the paint with little regard for detail. Detail in this instance is not necessary to get a feel for how the colors will work together. Nor are absolutely accurate horse proportions. 

Same colors look different on white background from the yellow  toned canvas

First I played with paint, trying various combinations of colors to get the horse color I’m after. I tested the color mixes on a sheet of white canvas paper and came up with some mixes that for the horse that match closely with the reference photo and my own familiarity with my horse’s color. Then I found a small canvas board that was already toned with a light yellow and proceeded to create the color study by drawing directly on the board. 

When it was finished, I confess to being pretty pleased with the result. But, most important of all it revealed that the color mixes used will be much warmer and bright when painted on top of the yellow toned canvas. I had expected this to some extent, but the change was more dramatic than anticipated. 

Desaturated colors in Photoshop

Now I must ponder, will that effect diminish with thicker applications of paint? Do I need to soften, dull down or lighten the color mixes to achieve the soft evening reverie mood that I’m seeking? 

I’m also debating whether or not to work some grass into the hilltop that the horse is standing on or leave it all sand. And, adding some road behind the fenceline will also help to break up that large area of solid green trees. Some experimenting in Photoshop is in order before beginning the big canvas. 

Stay tuned. 

Here is the cropped version that will actually be the painting

Palomino Painting; Glory's New Eye

"Tribute To Glory" oil painting on canvas

It’s been a little while since I last worked on Glory. In fact, it’s been so long since I started it that it almost qualifies as an Oldie But Goody - except for the not-being-finished part. 

The last time I worked on Glory back in February, I created a new, larger eye and painted the eyeball a plain gold color. It’s been more than a little unsettling to look at her like that, like some undead creature, so today when I finished working on the big Twilight painting and didn’t want to stop, I decided to give Glory a proper eye. 

This is the result. When the paint is dry, I’ll give her some eye lashes. She looks much better with a larger eye. Here’s the old eye version. 

First eye unfinished

I plan to work on Glory again tomorrow and hope to get her pretty close to being done. All that remains is to repaint the background, repaint the mane and forelock and do some touchups. 

It feels mighty good to be painting again. Thank goodness I can still sit at the easel even with the broken leg. Dropping things is a problem, though, and sometimes I have to wait for my husband to get home to retrieve them for me. Molly Kitty is no good at all at Fetch. 

New Horse Painting, "#64"

New Oil Painting of an Event Horse

It is Day 7 after surgery, and I’m itching to get some work done. Mobility is very limited - hopping around on one foot using a walker is very tiring I’ve discovered. The walker is my main mode of transportation since the wheelchair won’t fit most places in the house. 

I have two canvases toned and ready for drawings to be transferred to them. This is the second large image planned for one of the canvases. It’s an image I’ve long wanted to paint but haven’t because an artist friend painted a very similar image first several years ago, and I didn’t feel right about doing my version so soon after hers. But now the time is right. 

Shown is the outline drawing waiting to be gridded and then transferred to the canvas. The working title is “#64” until I can come up with a better one. The horse is a chestnut eventer, and the photo was taken at a three day event in downstate Michigan about 2002-3. Something in this photo speaks to me although the image isn’t particularly dynamic or dramatic. Maybe it’s the lighting or the gesture. Whatever it is, it’s enough to get me excited about painting it. 

Tomorrow’s challenge will be to enlist my husband to help get out materials for doing the grids and getting the image onto the canvas. There are just some things in the studio that I can’t reach right now. My drawing table is in the attic, but I have a small portable drawing board which should work nicely for the gridding. It also has a rule attached to it to be sure the grid is square. 

I will share as work progresses. 

Buried Treasure; Two Old Horse Drawings

"Jesse Darkstar" Appaloosa Horse Drawing

In the process of going through old art records today I came across two preliminary drawings that I did for portraits way back in 2001 and couldn’t help but think, “Gee, these are better than I remember them being!”. 

It was my custom to do a value study for a color portrait before beginning the final portrait. The purposes were several. First off, the preliminary drawing gave me a chance to see how the line drawing would look when rendered as a three dimensional object. Next, it would reveal any awkwardness or disproportions that might not be evident in the line drawing. Thirdly, it would establish the values in the image. And, finally, it was emailed to the client for either approval or needed changes. 

At top is the preliminary drawing for a portrait of Jesse Darkstar, a blue roan Appaloosa. I had to change some leg positions and other things from the reference photos, and the drawing helped to be assured that the image worked over all. Below is the final pastel portrait. 

"Jesse Darkstar"  Pastel Horse Painting

This next drawing is of King, a thirty year old Quarter Horse who was still being ridden and shown. This drawing is softer than the first because it was done on layout paper rather than drawing paper, and layout paper has a smoother surface. 

"King" Quarter Horse Pencil Drawing

And finally, here’s the final pastel portrait of King. 

"King" Quarter Horse Pastel Painting

I did a little work on the painting of Glory earlier in the week to enlarge her eye. But at the moment the eye is more than a little creepy looking, so  I’ll wait to show you progress on that until it’s in a more acceptable state. 

Glorious Glory; A Horse Painting Update

Here’s an update on the Glory painting. 

I have finished Glory herself except for the mane, forelock and eye and some touchups once the background is finalized. She is coming along nicely, and I’m very pleased so far. 

It’s always nerve wracking to paint when I haven’t been for a long time and my self confidence suffers terribly the longer it goes on. But, what I’m finding with Glory is that I’m going a lot on instinct. That tells me that I know a lot more than I think I do and haven’t lost much ability in the intervening time. 

In other words, I’m better than I think I am. And not as good as I’d like to be. 

For that matter is any artist ever as good as she’d like to be? 

Holiday Horse Print, "Scotch Bar Lochinvar"

"Scotch Bar Lochinvar" limited edition  reproduction, $35

What with the holidays and all, this is a busy time of year. No matter what my good intentions are, it’s not likely that I’ll get in a lot of painting time. So, it occured to me this morning to actually do something rash and shocking; promote my prints for sale! I have plenty of them, after all, and they make wonderful holiday gifts. So, here goes. 

“Scotch Bar Lochinvar”, 13x15.5 inch limited edition reproduction on archival stock, $35. The subject is my own handsome horse, Scottie, in his much younger days. The print is a good size and looks wonderful matted in a wood or metal frame. 

It can be ordered directly from my website AND Free Shipping in the USA! Order it here, but please let me know if you have any difficulty ordering. 

http://www.equineartist.com/scotty.htm

While you're on the website, check out the rest of the prints available here;

http://www.equineartist.com/horse-prints.htm

How I Spent My Summer

Sketches of my horse, Scottie, from life

This past summer was certainly a busy one, and I am ready for a slowdown now that Labor Day is out of the way. Real Fall weather arrived with the holiday, with cool days and cold nights, and we even had frost in some local areas the past two nights!  

It seems as if much of my summer was consumed by twice daily trips to the barn to treat my horse's lump issues. As you may recall, Scottie had grown a huge, hard lump on the edge of his jawbone back in July which we thought was an abscessed tooth. But, a visit from the equine dentist ruled that out. 

Since my last report, the lump began to recede and then blew up again when he went off the antibiotics. To make a long story short, a second vet saw Scott, opened up the lump with a bigger incision and took tissue samples. He went  back on antibiotics, and I resumed twice daily trips to the barn. Fortunately, the tissue samples did not show any cancer cells or infection of any kind and I was allowed to discontinue the hot compresses and pulling off the scab each day to allow for drainage. Since then the lump has shrunken once again. I hope it's for good this time! 

The thinking is that Scottie got a sliver under the skin on his jaw at some time which festered into an infection. After nearly six weeks on antibiotics and the draining, it is presumed to be gone now. Good riddance, I say!

My trips to the barn were often rushed in an effort to keep up with all the rest of my duties, but I did manage to do some sketching one day while Scottie was in the cross ties. Sketching from life is not something I'm used to doing, but at least I made the effort and share my humble efforts above. 

On another occasion, I was lucky to get some good photos of baby barn swallows that were just learning to fly and hadn't acquired much fear of humans yet. They are gone now, but I have the photos to work from for some new paintings. I learned that the mornings are really lovely at the barn and plan to go out to ride then, take more photos and do some sketching and painting in the morning light. 

Speaking of which, I have committed myself to creating two paintings for a benefit auction for a farm animal rescue that our vet has established; Second Chance Ranch and Rescue. It's less than a month away now, so I must begin painting immediately! And, I'm really looking forward to painting for this really worthy cause. Normally, I don't donate art, but I do make a few exceptions for local non profits. 

Also on the Art front, I delivered two pieces of art to the Jordan River Arts Council for their upcoming exhibition, The Dog and Pony Show. "The Green Team" and "Kentucky Dreamer" will both be in this show which runs from September 11 to October 7. I got a sneak peek at some of the entries, and it looks like a good show. 

I have more to share from summer activities, but that's all for now. Perhaps I'll have a new painting to share with you next time. 

An Equine Art Show and Getting Framed

"The Green Team" Belgian horse painting, oil on canvas

The last few weeks have been kind of a blur what with getting artwork sent off to a show and finishing up income taxes and all the usual daily activities.

First of all, I took a break from  painting to complete the income tax information and deliver it to our accountant. That is always such a relief to get that out of the way, but I still had plenty to do before I could relax and get back to painting.

When the Belgian painting was dry enough I signed it and then proceeded to spend a couple of days trying to get a good photograph of it and not succeeding. That’s a major disappointment as I really was hoping to offer it as a new print image. I had trouble getting both the horses and the trailer to look right. One or the other would be close to the painting but not both in the same image. I finally gave up and varnished the painting vowing to spend some time learning more of Photoshop so that I can isolate areas of images and change them without changing the whole. That is one of the beautiful things that Photoshop can do.

Next I took the painting to McMillen’s Custom Framing in Traverse City to be framed. The owner, Todd McMillen, and I go way back. We were in art school together many years ago, and his friendship is the only one that has survived from those magical days. Todd went on to get a four year degree from Kendall School of Design in Grand Rapids while I made a failed attempt at being a freelance graphic designer. But that is ancient history.

At any rate, Todd helped me select what turned out to be just the right frame for  “The Green Team”. I can’t believe how much that frame has enhanced the painting! You can see it above. At the same time, I took the drawing, “Kentucky Dreamer” in to have the mats replaced. I framed it myself years ago, but the mats were never quite right. Again, Todd’s suggestions were right on the mark. The drawing looks SO much better in its new mats.

"Kentucky Dreamer" Thoroughbred colt drawing

Good framing makes a world of difference in how well any work of art looks, and the professionals like Todd know what they’re doing.

My next challenge was to set up a new Fedex account (which was an ordeal in itself) and box up the two pieces of art to ship to the show. My shipping boxes were in the back part of the attic, and to get to them I had to move a whole lot of stuff that was in the way. The result was a mini  reorganization of some of the “junk” up there to make a path.

It took me close to a day just to pack up the art and make sure it was sufficiently padded against any rough handling. I did battle with Fedex again  when attempting to fill out and then print the shipping label and the return label.  All was finally completed, and last Friday we delivered the box into the hands of Fedex. Now I’m hoping that it makes it to the show on time and in one piece - or two pieces in this case.

So now I can formally announce that  “The Green Team” and “Kentucky Dreamer” were accepted into the invitational art show, “The Horse In Art”  to be held at the Seippel Homestead and Center For the Arts in Beaver Dam Wisconsin. This invitational show runs from April 17 to June 5, 2011 and is sponsored by the Beaver Dam Area Arts Association.

From what I hear of the other artists who will be exhibiting, I am humbled to be hanging along side their art. And the bonus is that the woman who is interested in buying “Green Team” also lives in Wisconsin not far from the show. She may buy it there which will be a win win win all the way around for her, for me and for the show.