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.