It is with great sadness that we said goodbye to our sweet boy Mick Jaguar today. He had a condition known as Cushings and we just could not keep weight on him. The onset of cooler weather was going to be too difficult for him.

He was a real challenge when we first got him as he had been passed around from owner to owner, but he found a forever home with us. He finally learned to trust us and became what we affectionately called "big dog". He loved kisses, and scratches and his baths.

Our pasture is going to be empty without him and I will miss him.

He was a beauty with an attitude. 

My favorite story of him was when a dear friend had a brain tumor come back for the third time decided to refuse treatment. She wanted to ride one last time so we put her on Mick. Remember, I said he had attitude...he loved to push your buttons until you showed him that he could not get away with his shenanigans. Not that day. He was quiet, still, waited for her to signal him, walked quietly and calmly. Because of her condition, she moved slowly, and he waited for her. He took care of her, and I hope she had a great last ride.

He was special and unique. 

I decided that it was time for me to get a creative outlet other than the art. When I was in college I used to go to the piano practice rooms, bribe the security guy (I was not a music major) and play until the wee hours of the night. Mind you...I don't know how to play, but faked my way through it. So I decided on a whim to pull up craiglist and look at baby grand pianos. I found about 8 to look at, 4 were snatched up before I could get there, and that led me to Encinitas. I found my piano, and now I am happier than I can even tell you. I have no idea what I am going to do with it, how I am going to learn how to play, but I am going to recapture that feeling I had playing into the middle of the night at NEO junior college when the world looked so bleak all I had was my tattered music book and time in a 10x10 room. I can't wait.

So in celebration of my new baby...here is my favorite Billy Joel song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUNOmN3YVL0&feature=youtu.be

It happens once or twice a year, I get plagued with insomnia to the point that I only sleep a few hours a night for a week or four. I am in the big fat middle of it right now. My clever husband said, stop fighting it and make it work for you. So instead of laying there and making myself try to sleep, I got up at 2 am, went into the studio, looked at some photos I took at a horse show my friend was in and drew this out. I was shocked how easy it came, and the clarity that I had at that hour. By 9 am I had put in a full 7 hours of work and came up with this. Mind you, it is a horrible camera phone picture, but it gave me a euphoric feeling that instead of fighting this, I could make it work for me and get something done. It is my largest painting to date at 24x36 (don't pish that, I am an 11x14 kinda gal) and I can't stop. This is Balance, oil on canvas, WIP. It has miles to go, but I thought I would share.


Almost done...here is where I put it aside and think about it...

The story of Rooney

It is funny how animals touch us and make our lives fuller and happier. Cadillac was my dream horse. He was kind, talented, easy going and the best teacher I ever had. Unfortunately he developed a degenerative hoof disease that ultimately was untreatable. Saying goodbye to him broke my heart.
Rooney was a god send. He came from a local rescue here in town and he came to comfort Cadillac and be his companion. Little did we know we would lose Caddy so quickly, we assumed that he and Rooney would be lifelong buddies.
Rooney was one of many horses that are dumped for what ever reason the owners think makes it ok to abandon an animal. He was found in a riverbed in Riverside underweight and near death. Baker Rescue came to his aid and nursed him back to health. I brought him home and the rest is history.

This is the first day he came to the rescue. Broken body and broken soul.

After a few weeks of comfort, food, water, and patience he began to blossom.

He is very happy. 

He came to us at a good weight and of good spirits, we added some workouts and training and look at him now! He proved to have some professional training and very likely show experience under his belt. He gave us no problems but just needy for attention. 

He was Cadillac's best friend.

Never give up, you never know what diamond in the rough you will find in a lump of coal.

Happy Holidays!!!

2015 Calendars now available.

My calendars are now available through Calendars.com. Follow the link below if you want to get yours. They sell out every year so hurry!

http://www.calendars.com//Cowboy-Culture/Home-on-the-Range-2015-Wall-Calendar/prod201500005835/?categoryId=cat180002&seoCatId=cat180002

What Once Was Lost

I have been negligent in my postings on this blog and my website. A New Year's resolution is to keep up more. In a Facebook and twitter world, I have been using them more as of late. I guess because the response is more immediate than any other media. But, not everyone has fallen into the Facebook black hole as deeply as some of us, so I will try to keep up.

 

This is my latest, What Was Once Lost, oil on board. A quick note about the making of this painting. As an artist, we all use more than one photo for a painting. This is a perfect example. The background is from my old home in Minnesota after a heavy snow, the cowboy is from a picture that I took in August 2009 in South Dakota. Finally, the calf was from a photo I took from the side of the road while I was in Utah looking for petroglyphs.

 

As you can see, it took a lot of sketching, adjusting, pushing values and adding snow. It was a time consuming, but well worth the time and effort.

 

Have a wonderful holiday season.

Ladyhawke's first day

These are for John because he can't be here to greet her. This is Ladyhawke.

My new puppy Isabeau is wonderful and up for anything. I have never met such a brave little corgi in my life.  Even though we did not actually go for a ride,  we will try it someday.

This is my newest.

Back Seat Driver, oil on board, NFS

I am keeping this one. 

Flowers are Red

When I was a kid, I saw Harry Chapin in concert. This song "sang" to me as it said what I truly believed. We all see art in different venues. this was mine growing up. I hope that you see it the way I did and still do.

The story of Herioco

We were on the lookout for a horse for my husband John. His trail horse developed RA and just could not do the trails anymore. We received an email from Ann Garcia about an andalusian that was up for adoption. Joyce, his owner, was not able to ride as much as she would like and was looking for a home for him where he would be ridden more. She loved him dearly enough to let him come to our house and be our dream horse. He was too. Rio was one of those horses that is once in a lifetime. A dream to ride, silly enough to make us laugh, and so beautiful that words could not describe him.

He did come with advanced melanoma, a condition that plagues most white horses especially Andalusians. We had some removed, and the rest was chance. We knew when we brought him home we could have 6 days or 6 years with him. Yesterday, as a result of internal tumors that we suspected were there but did not know for sure, he colicked. It caused an inoperable tear in the colon and he was bleeding internally. We made the terrible decision to put him down.

Words can not describe the sorrow we feel. He was only in our life for 6 months but made an impact that will last a lifetime. His previous owner had him for years, and her pain at his loss is immeasurable.

Hug your loved ones, and never take one day for granted. God knows that when we went out to feed yesterday, we did not know what was in store for the day. As we dressed to go out we talked about where we were going to go this weekend for our trail ride.

Good bye sweet Rio. 

Herioco 1995-2014

Thank you Joyce for giving us this joyful spirit, and your photographs of him.

A little surprise

I had no idea that one of the top Arabian Horse ranches was right around the corner from me. I was invited to come visit this morning and it turned out to be one of the best "baby" shoots I have ever had!!! Thank you Tony for thinking of me and showing me this amazing place!

www.Northarabians.com

Singing for Supper

Singing for Supper

Oil on board

Quite the surprise!

Well, we went and did it again. A neighbor had a litter of corgis and my husband and I firmly said that we were not interested. We have two now and a Bernese Mountain Dog. Well the gentleman dropped her off and asked me to watch her while he ran some errands and I was a goner.

This is Isabeau, our new corgi...owned by two suckers. Or better yet, we are owned by her!

She is 12 weeks old and one of the most precocious dogs I have ever had. This is going to be an interesting experience.

Open Studio Tour

Hello everyone! The town of Ramona is hosting it's annual Open Studio Art Tour this Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm and I am pleased to have my home studio included in the tour. I would love to see you if you have time to drop by and say hello. There will be a drawing for a limited edition signed print for you to take home. It is going to be a beautiful weekend!

Have a wonderful week and I hope you can make it.

Victoria Wilson-Schultz

Wildlife and Western Artist

 www.foxrunstudio.com

I was missing the birds from my old house in Minnesota yesterday. These are photos of two of them. I have been messing with this painting for a while, pulled it out and finished it yesterday. I glanced out my window and there were two goldfinches on my feeder hanging outside my studio.

Talk about karma.

Gold and White, Oil on board, 8x10

That will wake you up...

I don't like to get too personal on my blog, but this is important.

A few weeks ago my heart started beating very fast and did not slow down. I was rushed to the ER and carted back into rhythm. They kept me for observation for four days and I had every scan, xray, MRI, shot, needles...you name it.

I was sent home to wait and see what the cause was and the outcome. I did a stress test and wore a heart monitor over the weekend.

To make a long story short, I am just fine. No heart damage, no lasting problem, just a congenital issue that has stayed hidden until that day. It was truly a blessing in disguise. As it turns out, I had a vitamin deficiency that unchecked could have been a real problem, but my heart was smart enough to get me into the hospital to have it discovered and fixed.

I am fine, my heart is fine, my levels are normal, and I am back to painting and being stubborn.

That is all I have to say about that.

Trail Riding

God knows I have not learned how to really relax lately. With Christmas, New Years, deadlines, commitments, ranch duties, I never sit still from waking to bedtime. We decided to saddle up and go to the local trails and spend the afternoon with our boys. It was a gorgeous 78 degree day and the horses were raring to go. We have not gone on trail for almost two months so goodness knows we were sore for a few days. Our new horse, Rio, an Andalusian, proved on his first trail ride with us to be the perfect gentleman and a lot of fun to ride. We made the commitment to ride every weekend weather permitting, for us and for them and all of our mental health.

I bought a new saddle that should arrive any day now and maybe my tushie will thank me.

Cadillac takes a snooze after a busy day.

Another Jake and Mulie

Giving Thanks, Pastel

New winter image

Let it Snow, Pastel