Only in Maine? or Merry Christmas!

I love Maine!

This photo was taken down the road from us. I have seen the folks at this certain old farm cleaning out their big beautiful red barn ,throwing 'stuff" into a big dumpster to be thrown away. Maybe the house has been sold. Maybe the farm is going to be sold.....I am sure there is a story there. But the neatest part is that they have also created a huge bomb fire pile in the middle of their snow covered field....and surrounding the pile to be burnt, is a selection of chairs, front row center....the best seats in the house!! I can just image enjoying the excitement of the huge fire, sitting in one of those seats, a glass of wine in hand....maybe on Christmas eve?.....or New Years Eve?? Oh what fun! And then at the end of the burn picking up your chair and throwing it onto the heap...leaving only the ashes in the snow of the past...sort of like clearing way for the new year! Hurrah!

I have been in the throws of the Christmas rush....wrapping [still doing that] baking [more to be done tonight] and the arduous chore of shopping and trying to find everyone that special something. And through it all finishing up a couple of portraits that must be ready for Christmas giving. But I wouldn't want it any other way. There are some exciting happenings in the New Year for me and my art work. I will elaborate on it later...........But for now, from me and all of us at Cob Cottage,

May you have a Very Merry Christmas. and please stop for a moment remember the real meaning of this Holiday...the birth of a child, who became our Christ.

Carry A Big Whip

"Carry A Big Whip" casein 20 x 16" copyright 2009 Kathi Peters

Each day I try to do some artwork. I am usually able to work without any distractions [other than normal daily distractions of dogs, horses, and husband! ] But of late, the days have had a myriad of minor and major distractions. I know it must be a sign of the holidays that are upon us....baking, shopping, partying ....making lists! It all takes its toll. Any day spent away from the studio feels like time lost for me...as if I lost that one time when I was going to really do my best work yet! ....That one painting that would have that WOW factor!! A day wasted! I wonder how many other artists have that same burn....that same push each day to create and to maybe actually do that best work ever? It is always about the next painting!

My latest painting is pictured above, a hunt scene...and what captured my interest was the whip and the movement of the horse....."Carry A Big Whip " is a 20 x 16" casein on board. It will be available on my website if you want to see a larger image.

Tomorrow is another day where obligations will take me away from the studio. What if tomorrow was going to be the day that I would be painting my masterpeice....and I wasn't there working on it! How will I ever know?!!!

"Jump Start" casein on board 12 x 12"
copyright 2009 Kathi Peters

Yesterday it was a real Northeaster that roared around outside our home, while I stayed cozy working in my studio. I am working on several paintings, some for Xmas.... so will not be posting them now. But one I can show is a 12 x 12" casein on board of a frolicking foal just startled by some birds, as he plays in his pasture. The reference shot was provided by a great photographer, Vicki Wright. She is kind enough to have provided this shot and I finally have painted it! I will get a better shot of the finished painting when the snow flakes stop falling around here.

So winter has started here in Mid coast Maine.....gray again today, so far, and big fat snowflakes fall from steel gray skies. I am headed down to clean horse stalls and let the dogs run....but will be back in the studio as deadlines are fast approaching and there seems to not be enough hours in a day. We haven't even started shopping for Christmas gifts for family..........maybe tomorrow?...if it doesn't snow??

Pony and Snow Revisited

This is an 8 x 10" mixed media painting on board that I have done before in casein, but felt a need to "revisit"again as a mixed media. This time I used casein, acrylic and ink to get the effect that I was looking for.This winter painting is available on my website.

'Frolic" the pony in this work, came into our lives when we lived in North Pownal. At the point we had 6 horses and Frolic became our granddaughter's first pony. He was a great guy...very well behaved and knew how to take care of a new rider. But not only did he know riders, he was a great driving pony who once was part of a handsome pair. A handsome Welsh pony....the kind that every little girl dreams of and for a while he was part of our Jackie's life.

Winter's Spring Rains

The rain came down for hours, pounding on our cottage's metal roof, running in rivulets down the driveway back to the barn and it filled our bubbly brook to over flowing. This brook is usually a rambling brook that gently trips it way through the woods that stand on the one side of our property. There is a scraggly evergreen tree that stands in the middle of this brook ...and I love it. It has grown a bit since we moved here, and I enjoy seeing it as it stands sentinel in the midst of the mountain run-off brook. I imagine decorating it with lights and tinsel every Christmas, but I don't do it. Instead I let mother nature decorate it with new fallen snow each winter, and to skirt it with a blanket of ice. So far this winter there has not been any snow here in our part of Maine, but I am sure we won't have to wait much longer for the white to come. Until it does come, I will enjoy listening to the brook as it sings... as it winds past Cob Cottage.

I have been busy working on several works in casein, and one of these paintings is of a hunt scene. I started with one image and have added and subtracted from it in the process. The image below is how it looked at one point. Keep this in mind, as I will be posting the finished work very shortly....and it looks differently . That is my prerogative ...artist license one could say. I am just trying to sing my song...and sometimes I get out of tune! I hope it is 'on pitch' when it is done!

The Auction- The Show

"Experiencing Freeport Maine- Showing Our Town Through Art" finally ends with the Auction on Friday night [12/5/2009] at Freeport Square Gallery ,140 Main Street, in Freeport at 7 pm. This has been a fun 'ride" ...my first grant experience and also a learning experience. What did I learn? It is good to stretch and try your wings once in a while.....and that I CAN do bigger paintings in my tiny loft studio.

"Freeport Heroes" casein on canvas 4' x 4'

Our eldest son is a Portland, Maine fireman...so to honor him, and all firemen... I chose to depict Freeport's firemen circa the 1940's. I put their ladder truck in a 1940's parade down Main Street and in front of the old L.L.Bean building. The scene is a figment of my imagination, a compilation of old photos and imaginary people. It was a stretch.
It was fun and hopefully someone can relate to it and imagine it hanging on their wall!!
And it better be a big wall!!!

Hope to see you there!

Into My 'Self "

Our resident hunter was off for a few days of recreation with our sons, hunting the great white-tail. I had my days to myself, to pursue my own entertainment. Of course my day had to be scheduled around the walking of the dogs and caring for the horses...but other than that I was free!!

I have been working on a few paintings for shows that are coming up, but I felt like playing in my paints for a bit...doing something different... and decided to entertain the idea of doing a self-portrait. I hadn't done one in a while and I have always felt that one way to grow and explore as an artist, is to explore and paint one's self.

So I struck this pose in front of our bedroom mirror and Voila' ....a self-portrait arose! It is small, as I don't want to be taken for a self absorbed dilettante,...it is a 6 x 6" casein. Of course to be able to see what I was painting I had to have my posh glasses on! I feel they added to the 'feel' of the painting.

So here it is...'an artist as seen by an artist!' For what it is worth?!!