A Parson Jack Russell Terrier's Den

"Nellie cozy in her 'Den" @2010

Today the rain is coming down in buckets. The brook is way over it's banks and any snow that we had left around the edge of the woods, is quickly leaving. We have done the barns chores,cleaned stalls and put the horses back into their clean stalls....thrown down hay bales from the loft to keep them happy during stall confinement. The dogs got to play in the barn while we worked. Mind you that it took an act of congress to get Nellie,the JRT, out of her 'den' she had created in our comfy bed. There was NO way that she wanted to go out for 'business" of any kind. Addie, the Corgi hates rain like this too, as the rain runs into her ears!! So I dragged the two out, mean mother that I am!...out into the storm for exercise and barn chores. Misery likes company! Now cloistered in my cozy studio I paint.

My job is so hard!!! :-)

Two Paintings Done - Dog And A Horse

"Aiming For The Target" watercolor on paper 13 x 18"

This watercolor was finished this week, along with this small casein on board of the Jack Russell Terrier and her favourite outside toy, that is a bit chewed up and raggedy. I will have these two new paintings on my website,

"Play With Me" casein on board 5 x 5"

The past week , for the most part, has been sunny and warm.What a joy! The snow is melting and even though it is February I am thinking of my gardens and what needs to be moved, transplanted and pruned!

Speaking about moving........I am moving my studio out of my loft and into our walkout basement room that will afford me more room to work in, and direct access to the outside and gardens. I am thinking that this summer, I will be able to take my easel out and paint in the back patio near my arbor and gardens! I will miss my window on our world on the farm...my studio window where I can see all the fields, the barn and our horses. But the trade off will be I will be able to actually stand up anywhere in the new studio!!!... and can step back and look at a painting I am working on with out having to worry about falling down the spiral staircase! I am excited!

New studio.....New paintings!!

Mounted Shooter Aims To Hit

"Aiming For The Target" watercolor on paper 13 x 18"

I am a bit slow this year on planning my goals, having waffled a bit about 'where I want to go " with my life and my artwork. But I think I am on target now with shows lined up and deadlines to meet, illustrations to be done and commissions accepted. And I still have time for fun original work! I am on target!

Which brings me to the latest work I am finishing up. [Pictured above.] "Aiming For The Target" is almost done..a work in progress at this point. It is a watercolor on paper on board and is sized at 13 x 18". When it is finished I will be putting it up onto my website. I have enjoyed doing two works depicting the high energy sport of mounted shooting! I am looking forward to getting some more reference shots this summer when they are having events in Maine that I can go to.

My internet is acting up yet again this morning....very disconcerting. So I am cutting this post short and going on to other endeavors that are easier on the brain! Walking the dogs!

WAOW..A SHOW

Consider this a postcard invitation to the online art show held by "Women Artists Of The West"...of which I am one! I feel very privileged to be a juried member of this National group of artists...even if I don't live in the West , but in the woods of East Coast New England! With two paintings of mine in the show.....I am 'hanging' with a great bunch of women artists!


The past few days have been sunny and brisk around the farm, very wintry! But today dawned sunny and warmer! With temps up in the mid 30"s, way above freezing, I hiked out into the fields with the dogs and then on our way back I stopped at the barn and brushed two of our horses, old Dom and Duster our perennial 4 year old [who is actually 24!] My gloves and hat ..and face ..were covered with horse hair. Nell , our JRT had a grand time chasing hair clumps as they rolled around the paddock. She jumped with joy! I think I need to paint that scene!


I am working on an watercolor now of a Maine girl and her horse as they do mounted shooting. That is a equine discipline that is full of action and noise! and I am doing this while waiting for some casein paintings to dry. I am not content with only working on one painting at a time, and have to jump from painting to painting to keep my muse amused.....

Guess I have the attention span of a Parson Jack Russell Terrier!!

Two Small Casein Portraits

Max and His Pumpkin casein 8 x 5 1/2"

Two small quick caseins of our grandsons are ready to go to my son and daughter-in-law. The boys are growing so fast it is hard to paint fast enough to capture them...but I think I did this time!
These are just to depict a great day last fall, when the sun was shining and snow was nowhere to be found. Today the snow is all around, and though the sun is brilliant, the air is very cold and nipping one's nose. Fall days like depicted in these two paintings are a thing of the past! But those days will be remembered now with these small portraits.
On the up side though ...it is now only a little over 40 days until spring! I am so looking forward to that!

"Logan, The Pumpkin King" casein 6 x 8"

Now onto some bigger works that I am doing.....and I will be taking out my watercolors for these.
My afternoon will be spent in the studio, winter sun shining in, and Les Miserable 's wonderful music entertaining my muse!

Pony In Cart

"Pony In Cart" casein on canvas 24 x 48"

Mind you, I am not complaining. I am just stating a fact. It is cold out. But this is winter and this is Maine, so I guess I am stuck with it. I stay cloistered in my studio, the sun shinning into the room, but I can hear the wind howling outside.
Today I finished the above casein on canvas of "Pony"....the pony perfect. Lynn, the lady driving him, sits in a lovely antique governess cart at a recent Maine Carriage Day event held at Skyline Farm in North Yarmouth, Maine. If I painted everyday, all day for the rest of my life, I would still have scenes I want to to portray, paintings that need to be painted, all about driving horses.A passion for me...horses and driving.
"Pony In Cart" is available to grace someone's walls...........