I had to include this image of our thistle sock and resident finches. While John and I ate our feast, our wintering goldfinches had a feast of their own. No wonder I have to buy Niger seed every week! (Please excuse our filthy window...the window washers are coming on Wednesday)
John cooked the perfect bird this year. He is very proud as you can see...
John tracks and finds the perfect tree and then cuts it down in it's prime...
He then bags it, and latches it to our car. He is truly the great hunter.
Next, it is a horse drawn carriage ride to get hot chocolate and cider. It is almost too idyllic! 
Anyone who has owned a dog, has seen this position at one time or another. This is my Dakota at a few months old. She uses this position to ask me to play with her...and if I don't respond, she is 
My backyard is crazy with cardinals right now, and with the fall colors of the sumac that surround my studio, I could not resist to paint the two together. This is an oil, 5x7.
This is a captive young fox kit I photographed in the spring. He is a cutie, isn't he? The fun thing about the shoot was, the kits would get tired of playing with each other and come over and try to get us to play with them. I almost lost a lens to one that found my camera bag. This is a pastel, 5x7.
I have not named this one yet. I have painted so many swans, I am running out of names. I photographed this one in Maryland in a small pond close to my hotel. It is a little looser in style than I usually paint, but when I got to doing fine detail, it did not seem to work on this one. This is an oil, 6x6.
Last year, my dear friend, Kathy, took time out of her busy schedule to take me to the Washington Zoo. There, I photographed their pandas for hours. This pencil is of Tai Shan, the 3 year old. I work a little on it every night, so who knows when it will be finished!!! This piece is like the horse I did earlier, it is done with a charcoal/graphite mix pencil. It is still new to me, so I work a little slower, but I love the effect. Stay tuned...
A little 5x7 oil I just finished. I have a few more, just have to wait for them to dry before they are scanned.
A new graphite painting for the Easton show. I have found since I have broken these ribs, pencils are the easiest on me. They require less arm movement and I can work longer on them than the oils. So you will see a lot more of these in the next few weeks.
I don't even know what part of this scares me most...
Sadly, John and I had to say goodbye to our good friend and companion, Dusty, this week. He went by many names, including Dustbuster, Mook, D-man, Big Dawg, and my personal favorite, Dammit Dusty!!! He was born in April of 1974 making him 34 years old this year. He never lost his spark or his sense of play.
"What did we get into here", John asked me. Well, unbeknown to us at that time, 16 years of companionship and a horse that made us laugh. He taught me many things in the years we had him, especially what NOT to do on a horse. He was a wonderful ride, but did not put up with incorrect signals. His attitude was get it right or get off!!! He started out on the track in Mexico at Agua Caliente. In fact, in the movie, Seabiscuit, there is a scene where you see the ride board for the day and his racing name is there, AlottaDust. Now of course he was not around back then, so why his name is there is any one's guess. After a not so stellar career on the track, he went to auction where Shelly bought him. Together they won medals and ribbons galore. Dusty was a dream come true in the ring. I know that he packed me around the ring and the ribbons we won were all his doing.
He was my third horse and my husband's first. In the early years of our marraige when we had no money, our entertainment was to go to the stable and groom him and play with him. We knew that it was better to be with him than at any fancy resturaunt or movie. John loved to sit with him and unwind after a long day. They used to play tag together in the arena, he would chase Dusty and slap him on the hind end then turn around and run and Dusty would be in hot pursuit, throwing his head and bucking. It was so funny to watch. They had a very special relationship. He was many things to me, a stress reliever, a teacher, and a shoulder to cry on when I needed it.
We will miss him so much and sometimes it is hard for me to believe that he is not here anymore. He was a blessing and had a huge heart. I don't know if I will ever come across a spirit like his, I think he was truly one of a kind. Our thanks also goes out to Kevin and Kirk, our trainers and friends, who were so good to him and us. His last days were good ones because of them.
Here's to you, D-man, I hope you are rolling in green pastures and making that groaning noise that only you could do. I hope to see you again someday. 
I usually work on my pencils in the evenings, so they take me a while to get done. This is a rancher from South Dakota that I photographed during a cattle drive. This horse's eyes never left the cows or strayed from the job at hand. You can't put a price on a horse like that. 
This is my second time to paint this puppy. My friend's Golden Retrievers had 11 pups and the reference I got from them was invaluable! I took the photo of the sleeping puppy and put him on a quilt that my mother gave me. The colors blend together and have a soft dreamy feel. I have had this one in the works for almost two years...I don't know why it took me so long to finish it. I hope you like it.
"Venturing Out-Raccoons" Oil on board
This is an 8x10 oil commission. It is about 10 hours from being done. This has been a lot of fun for me as I have never done wood textures to this extent in oil. It has been a frustration and a thrill at the same time! I call it Venturing Out, it seems that these two small raccoons are on their first trip out of the den. They have all the excitement and reservations in their expressions.
"Untitled-Golden Retriever Puppy" Pastel on Board
This is a pastel of a friend of mine's Golden Retriever puppy. I photographed her entire litter, but the best pictures I got were from when they were asleep. All the tough stuff is done on this, I just need to finish the back of the puppy and the quilt. It should be done in the next two days.
"Ready, Willing, and Able" Graphite
Pencils by far are my favorite medium. It is the medium I learned to be an artist with. The only thing about graphite that is unfortunate is the time. A pencil takes me twice as long as a pastel or an oil. Yet most customers don't recognize this time commitment and rarely pay an artist for a graphite painting what is deserved. Even though color can romance the eye, just take a moment and look closely at a graphite or scratch board drawing...I challenge you not to be impressed by the amount of layering and detail it takes. Just look at the works of Terry Miller and Paula Waterman's black and white work and you will see it done in the best light.
I have played with all kinds of pencils and techniques but I have recently fallen in love with Cretacolors Nero pencils. They are a mixture of charcoal and wax, they act just like graphite, but have a dark rich quality I just love!!! I hope to have this done by the end of the week, but...there is a lot to do with it. I paint with the pastels and oils during the day, and while my hubby and I watch the Olympics in the evening, I work on this piece. I will post as I finish each.
This is an older painting that I let leave the studio without a scan. My only record of it is a bad photo. Let this be a lesson to you artists out there...take the time and the money to scan all your work before it leaves your hands!!!!
This is 99 % done, now I will put it aside for a few days to a week and come back to it and see if there is anything that bugs me.
Just more layering and laying down values. This part gets hard, because it is tedious. I just have to remember to know that the outcome will be worth all the little steps.
The background is simple enough, but I have to make the foreground really stand out to make this painting work. The biggest challenge right now is to keep the colors darker so that the final sparkle of whites will stand out.
I took one more trip out to the farm to get more pictures of puppies. What a great time that was! They are just so wonderful and playful. The only downside was the mosquitoes!!! I persevered though, we were all eaten alive but came home with some wonderful pictures.
And we have a new addition at the barn. This is Terri's new baby that came two weeks ago.
My husband loves the title of this painting. He seems to spend a majority of his day in meetings, it is a wonder he gets anything done. When I was painting this, I thought to myself, I wonder if he is talking with his dog about the day's work ahead of them. This is a picture of Jake and his dog, Mulie. I have never seen such devotion in a dog than I did in this one. His eyes never left Jake's face and he was ready for any command that he might call out.
I haven't posted for a while, but I promise that I have been working! Unfortunately working doesn't always include painting. Bills, taxes, marketing...all take time. This is one for the San Dimas show and also for the Appaloosa Journal cover competition. Hope you like it.
Now that is what I call a convenient snowstorm!!!
I enjoyed this snowburst, but I am ready for spring now!
