After Christmas

Morning dawns over the farm the day before Christmas ©2011 kathi peters

We had a lovely Christmas with family and friends. Christmas day blessed us with a perfect snowfall....Santa found Cob Cottage and all the four-legged family members received gifts. Now we are all getting back to work....and I am in my studio after what seemed to be a long break. Too long.

A vacant home during the winter months.©2011 kathi peters

  Nell and I are enjoying walks along our woods trails and found this small nest left after the occupants headed south. I think it might be a chickadee nest?? Or maybe Nuthatch's? I will be doing a painting of this nest....I do feel the need to do work other than equine art...!! I think I will try it in oil???

So new work will soon be available....and soon it will be a new year with new goals. I have been "thinking" a lot of late.

Holiday Wishes From Cob Cottage

©2011  Kathi Peters

It is a very damp cold gray day outside. A drizzling rain is covering our farm [and most of Maine] with ice.So in between wrapping Christmas presents and taking care of office paperwork, Nell and I decided it was time to get into the Holiday spirit and have Nell pose with her Holiday outfit.....she as always thought she could be one of Santa's reindeer!!

                                                         

                                                        BEST WISHES EVERYONE!!! 

New Poultry Oil Painting

"Maine Rooster"   Oil on Copper    8 x 6"  ©2011

Wet paint drying in the studio as we speak. In a few days it will be ready to be varnished and ready to go! Over the next week or so my time in the studio will be sporadic. But am I excited about new work coming.
This small poultry oil painting is available on my website in the Small Works Collection Portfolio.
Now ...time to feed the horses!

Not Looking A LOT Like Christmas

Moss and Birch    ©2011     

Our snow came.....and then went. Now it stays cold and gray out....even when the sun shines, the gray of bitter winter permeates the air. I am in the studio now where I contemplate the next work. It is warm here, so here I will stay until it is time to go on a brisk walk with Nellie or tend the horses. Chores are done quicker now...we are down to two horses...an easy chore.

Our brook runs free. ©2011

It has been cold,even for Nellie.We were spoiled by the warm weather that fall afforded us.I fight with her to put her barn coat on her......she looks at me with

'boogie' when she sees me coming with her jacket! After the tussle we are off for our walk.In fact, it is time now!

Nellie watches     © 2011



"His Flock"      Casein on board      12 x 12"  ©2011

Our fields are green The horses feed most of the day in the far pastures and I find it hard to remind myself that it is winter!! The days have been warmer than usual and Nellie have been able to take walks with no need for her to get duded up in her barn coat or sweatshirt. We will enjoy the mild weather has long as Mother Nature cares to bless with this reprieve from winter's cold.

A new casein, titled "His Flock", is up on my website and I am busy now on a few small oils on copper. The casein, pictured above, was inspired by a man I saw a few years ago at a farming event we had attended here locally, and I have been wanting to paint him. But what was he looking at so intently? So I used artistic license and painted in his "flock"......a small flock it might be, but still important to him....a bit like how I feel our Lord feels about us all....his flock. So I would say that this painting is a metaphorical depiction of my beliefs.

This year is coming to a close. I am taking some time to rethink my goals for the  new year [years?] ahead. There will be a few changes in my life, I know....but that being said.....I am looking at my "flock" and pondering life. Waxing poetic I retired to the studio.....with Nellie!

A Christmas Show!!



Art work  displayed       "Shades Of Gray #8"   Oil on copper        22 x 22"     ©2010

I want to invite everyone to view the wonderful on-line art show featuring the work of many of the  Women Artists Of The West's talented members...!!!

So many great Christmas present ideas!!

I am proud to be part of this select group of talented artists!

Yes.....ENJOY!!!! 

"Pay To Play Horses -Carousel"  Oil   6 x 6"  ©2011

This small oil painting on copper substrate and titled  "Pay To Play Horses - Carousel" is available on my website. I think I have lost track of new works done ....and realized that I actually had not put them up on my website or told anyone about them. Trying to play catch up today on things that need doing!! The next thing on my to-do list is frame some work that needs to be done!! I need longer days!!
And I swear I will paint tomorrow!!! or else.................

Comes Winter

Nell the snow bunny...       ©Kathi Peters  2011

Snow came last week and covered the farm with a soft white blanket ,brightening our days. Nell donned her new barn coat and burrowed in the white, gone to ground in pursuit of moles or other varmint.Thanksgiving day was shared with our children and family. Fall is slipping into winter as it often does.

Our outside greens are up.

And then on Saturday our mail brought a pleasant surprise......the Fall issue of StrokeSmart magazine arrived and it is sporting my face on the cover!! It actually is my self-portrait that I did...A study of my face in casein.StrokeSmart magazine is put out by the National Stroke Association  .In 2009 I donated a portion of all sales in my solo art show  "Finding My Voice", held at Gallery B in Lexington,KY. , to the National Stroke Association.had been contacted by a freelance written for StrokeSmart about doing an article about me, my art and my recovery after a ischemic stroke in 2006. I never thought it would be such a big article....and never thought I would make the cover!! Imagine my surprise to see my face
on the cover!!! I try to do a new self-portrait every year.....and they used my 2009 painting! Lisa Pogue,the writer, did a lovely job capusclating my stroke and personal approach to recovery.Thank you Lisa and StrokeSmart!!



My mug.....my self-portrait  ©kathi peters.2009

Article featured two paintings that are now with Gallery B.

Maybe next my painting will make the cover of The  Rolling Stone!!!!

Getting Back To Business [ As Usual ]



"A Handful"     Casein on Clayboard   5 X 5"        ©2011

A small casein on board is my latest work done and I find I try to get back to the business of working in the studio. I had to process the loss of my old friend Dom and some other changes in my life. It was time to take a break...and I feel better now.....better for having taken the time to morn and celebrate. Life goes on.

I also have been doing a bit of drawing....another change.....and a discipline always enjoyed. In the past, I have drawn a lot...but of late, not so much as I might like.I am going to make a point of doing more drawing....not just drawing out the paintings to be done...but actually sketching,drawing to get a better handle on what I see and what I am putting down on paper. In essence getting back to my roots artistically.

"Sweet Memories"  Charcoal on Vellum  12 x 9 1/2" © kathipeters 2011

The above charcoal drawing is of my dresser and mirror in our bedroom.....with a flower vase that was my mother's and a dish that is from a dresser set that was my mother's too.I think the dish was used for hair to be kept in...hair pulled our of a hair brush?? or maybe for a women's jewelry to be put in at night? The the jar is mine...I bought it because I liked the flowers on it....what it should be used for I haven't a clue. 

Yes...it is good to be back in the studio.



Imperial Dominator D. - My Muse

"Spring Green"     casein       6 x 6"

Last Thursday was a sad day for us on Cob Cottage Farm. My 31 year old Tennessee Walking Horse crossed over Rainbow Bridge. We knew he was failing and that we would be facing this moment ....but it is never an easy decision.Imperial Dominator had been my main man for 26 of those years. He came to me a very green, just gelded ,still stallion-y and in need of manners. Dom and I had years of learning...and we bonded and melted into one. Rider and horse...covering miles...always sound and sane. Dom was my main man....my strength and protector. I treasure years of riding with friends, in competitions, for fun and game. Dom could be difficult. There where times when he did NOT want to go into a trailer.....and it was his call when he would eventually load. Other times he would march right on  Life was lived on his terms. He was a thinking horse and often did not think what I wanted to do needing doing. And on occasion his stubbornness saved us from a wrong step, a bad trail...a bad decision on my part. He took care of me. I hauled him to Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire.... where we competed in long distance rides against GAG's ......."Gray Arabian Geldings"......Dom was a black Tennessee Walker gelding....not the right color or breed for endurance races....but we showed them to never underestimate a determined TWH, no matter what his size of color is!! We did well.
Dom was handsome...impressive...and he knew it. But he could be a fool too. He loved opening locked doors, pasture gates, untying ropes. He loved to have his ears scratched, his nose scratched...but hated having his teeth floated. He loved apples, but knew when a pill was hiding in one and would refuse the "poisoned apple". Yes, Dom was a thinking horse.
I miss him so. I have not painted...have not even worked in the studio since his passing. His barn buddies, Victoria , our Welsh Cob mare and Duster, our other TWH gelding, miss him. It is a big loss in all our lives.......but this too will pass. The pain will lessen and sweet memories will soften our sorrow.
Dom is buried on our farm.....but I have to believe that one day I will be with him again in heaven.

Imperial Dominator D.    photo copyright Dodo Knight 1989

Paintings Of Kentucky Done In Maine



"Foal From The Farm"       Casein     5 x 5"

Winter came early.With leaves still left on the deciduous trees a heavy wet winter storm covered the farm here in Maine with a taste of what is coming in the next few weeks.That was on Saturday night.This Monday most of our snow is gone...the grass is green or ice covered.Time to get ready for the hours of studio time that winter affords me. Most of today I have been busy packing done works away and making room for new works to come.....and getting rid of some old work too. A cleansing of sorts. Maybe it is also the nesting syndrome?

One of the new works done is a small gem...5 x 5".... and is offered in a gold wooden frame. "Foal From The Farm" is one of Cobra Farm of Lexington, KY's foals....all cozy in a nest of sorts it seems. And then I also did a small oil on copper of the wonderful barn at the Red Mile race track in Lexington,KY. This is a 8 x 6"  and is also offered framed and shipped for free within the USA . "The Barn At Red Mile" is on my website.

Now back to rearranging the studio.....right after taking a fresh air break with Nellie.I am going to walk the dog!!

Immortalizing The Chippie



"Little Chippie"     Casein       6 x 6"

Nellie and I have a certain chipmunk who likes to chatter at us when we are working in our garden. He darts in and out of the rock wall that surrounds the garden, then he is up the tree and throwing crab-apples down. Nellie has declared an out and out war with said chippie.I chose to paint him. There is a gray squirrel family that lives in our woods too...they are raiding our bird feeders. Nellie is waring with the squirrels too. I will do a painting of the squirrels. But for now the small casein painting of "The Chippie" is up on my website and available.

I also painted a small landscape of an old barn that is down the road from us.This barn was shelter for an old appaloosa horse and a small mismatched herd of cows.I drive by this barn a lot and always wanted to paint it.....so I did.This 6 x 8" oil is also on my website and offered frmaed and ready to hang.

"The Shade Barn"  Oil      6 x 8"

Les and I have been busy painting the house,.....still. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have had a bit of time in my studio, but not enough to get into anything big or complicated. Soon I will be able to......I can't wait!

Dressage, Oil Paint and Cats Hunting

"Tempi Changes"   oil on board       6 x 6" 

A beautiful day out today in our part of Maine......I sit with the door open,the sun spilled in and the air is filled with the sound of the wind blowing through the defrocked trees, stripped of their fall color, the rustling leaves blow across the lawn and into my gardens. I want to head out to plein air paint today. It is too beautiful a day to stay in.

I just did this small 6 x 6" oil of a dressage scene shown above. I have explored before. I often do this, re-explore a previous work, tweak it, change colors, composition...my approach. This small painting will be available on my website in the Small Works section.

While was outside this morning our Mittens went hunting.She has spent most of the morning stalking a chipmunk.....I am doing a small casein of this chippie.....Mittens is determined that she will be having a chipmunk dinner soon. I will immortalize him for prosperity.

But for the time being...the chipmunk runs around storing food for winter, Mittens waits for the perfect meal [in her eyes] and I am going out to paint or sketch.....out into the sun!

At Last

They popped today it seems!

This morning I awoke to see Fall had finally arrived.while I was sleeping.The loft window looked out on the farm with it's garland of  autumn color. Even though it also means that soon snow will arrive, I always marvel at the fall display that brightens our days as a harbinger of the cold gray winter ahead. I took Nell for a long walk around our pastures and woods beyond.The woods smelled sweet with leaves that crackled and snapped beneath our feet. We met a doe who stopped in her forging for food and watched us before turning and running into the depth of our woods.Nell wanted to give chase, but she, of course, was on a lead.

So close we got!

We are still painting our house.....inch by inch it seems. And in between our house painting days, I am grabbing studio time as I can.I did one fun Polo casein...it's all about color. And then yesterday afternoon, I did a quick oil of our Nellie....a painting that I have been wanting to do for a long time...from a photo I had taken of her on our bed.It is oil on canvas on board and sized at 8 x 6". It will be put up on my website and available for JRT fans......I think.

"My Bed Too"   oil      8 x 6"

The Grapes Are Ready

The grapes are ready.....   copyright 2011 Kathi Peters

A sure sign of fall is the ripening of the Concord grapes on our arbor.I am ready to do a painting of them,and have been checking on their progress each day.The time has come!! Now if the rain would stop....just for a while...I will do a painting of them in their lovely purple hue...it will be an oil on copper....I can't wait!!!

My last roses of summer are on the bush....I think I need to do a painting of them too.This all needs to be done soon....the days seem to fly by....I feel a need to capture the sweet songs of summer  and of fall as they slip away.

My roses   copyright 2011 - Kathi Peters

This Friday,Nov 7th is the opening reception of the TWO PERSON SHOW at Gallery B in Lexington,KY. I regret that I will not be there in person....but my artwork will share the stage with the work of Veronica Clark...and I will be there in spirit. I am also donating a portion of my sales  to the American Stroke Association.....so please help me to help them!!!
and enjoy the show!!!

New Mixed Media Equine Painting

'

"Champion"    Graphite & Casein on claybord     12 x 12"

The second work is done in a series I am doing where I am depicted a horse in graphite and then going back in to highlight selected area's with my casein paint adding color.I have done a driving horse,a hunter jumper now and will be doing at least 2 more of various disciplines.
They are done on Ampersand museum series claybord,a very archival substrate. "Champion" will be put on my website for sale.

The house has been in upheaval..with no time to clean!!!!.The studio was full with packages and wrapped paintings heading down to Lexington,Ky. and Gallery B for a show that opens on October 7th with a reception .....The show will be a 2 person show...I share the show with fellow artist Veronica Clark of North Carolina. I will not be able to get down to the reception,but I do hope that everyone will check out the exhibit...and add to their collection of my work.I am giving a portion of my sales to the American Stroke Association.As a stroke survivior I am invested in this Association.....and their purpose. Help me help?

Thought you might be interested in seeing a studio in flux.....here is how it was earlier this week before the paintings were boxed and sent.....

Pre shipping

And this is how it looks today!!

I have my studio back!!! and I am looking forward to making use of it!!

What Artists Do When They Aren't Painting



Paintings all over the studio!

I am lining up my artworks that are going to be shipped.....some sold...some to a Gallery show that opens in a few weeks in Lexington,KY. My artist friend, Renee Lammers came over yesterday to help take photos of me for an upcoming magazine article about me,my art work and my stroke recovery. The above photo is one she took of my cluttered studio! We had a lot of laughs trying to get good shots of me....my studio,my Nellie!! Nell kept playing dead in my arms.....so funny!!! I think she thought she was being smart!

Silly Nell

I have had some studio time.The mixed media work,of my last blog's post,  of the hunterjumper is almost done. But I imagine a lot of my time over this week will be taken up with packing and shipping.In between that.... and barn chores......I will get into the paint! I am feeling like maybe it is time to get some out side painting...plein air....!! I hope! 

Hard To Get Good Help

Studio helper.

As the days pass, and yes, they are shorter now, I have gathered up my work to pack and send down to Gallery B's 2-person show I am in, for the opening date of Oct 7th....in Lexington,KY. The latest watercolor that I finished, needs to be taken to my framer to be framed and I still need to frame a few small works that I will frame myself. Nellie helps me in the studio...and checks out each painting to make sure that it is tagged and signed! I would be lost without her!

I am almost done a 12 x 12" mixed media work......here are two shots of the work as it is in progress. I am playing with a new approach to what will be a series...I am sure. This is done on Ampersand Clay Board and I am loving this substrate!

Getting the drawing  right.........

Almost done the drawing and then going in with the paint......

Back to the drawing board.....I will post the finished work very soon. I am in with the paint already as my studio help sleeps....getting her beauty sleep!

Team Work-New Watercolor

"Team Work"       Watercolor on board        12 x 20"  

They work up at Acadia,this handsome pair, pulling the carriages that folks take to enjoy another experience,another view of Rockefeller's miles of carriage roads on Mount Dessert Island. This is the way Mr. Rockefeller wanted us to experience the carriage roads in Acadia National Park......not speeding along on bikes, not seeing the views that open up through the trees,displaying the ocean and islands that surround Mount Dessert...not seeing the moss that grows on rock,not smelling the cedar and fir that stand sentinel on the roadways. A slower time...a more gentle time...try it if you go there. You won't be disappointed....I assure you. Everytime I get a chance to drive the carriage roads behind a good pair of driving horses [or even in a cart with one horse in draft] I revel in the moment. I think I am due for an Acadia fix!

This watercolor, started a bit ago....is finally finished."Team Work" is 12 x 20" and ready to be framed.Now onto the next painting......

But I am taking time to enjoy the last of summer's color.....my gardens are in that leggy out of control stage they always seem to get at summer's end. It is a bit sad...but soon the brilliant fall colors will be surrounding our farm...the view from our deck. To everything there is a season!!!

My Morning Glories....a delight every morning!

Another Crow

"Crow #3-I Drink Diet"     casein on board        6 x 6"

Another summer week has flown by.I hear the crickets singing their adieu to their summer life....their ode to fall.When time allows I have been in the studio,painting and framing works for the October 7th show opeining in Lexington,Ky's Gallery B. The above work is another casein chaulked up for my crow series.[ "Crow #3-I Drink Diet" ] I am having fun with these.This is available on my website.Shipped for free within the USA!

Going To The Birds

"Gull-Up Close & Personal"    Casein on board        6 x 6"     copyright 2011

For three days I have been trying to write my blog post since Irene pushed her way into our lives. Every time I have lost it to cyberspace. All this also done while trying to cope with Irene's mess littering the landscape and dealing with the farm daily chores. I have not had very good luck trying to find studio time. And an Oct 7th two-person art show opening at Gallery B in Lexington is breathing down my neck...I am one of the two!!!..so I must persevere. I can do it!!!

I have managed to finish three bird themed small gems. They are available on my website.

"Crow # 1"   Casein on board  6 x 6"    copyright 2011

"Crow #2"   Casein on board   6 x 6"  copyright 2011

I am in the studio.....and to work!!! 

Summer-Enjoying It While It Lasts

Nellie likes the cool shade and grass. copyight 2011 Kathi Peters.com

The weather has been summer like.Warm with humidity in the air, with cooler nights where the fan is needed for sleeping.Our gardens are growing like Topsy ...flowers reaching for the skies and zucchini popping up overnight. Red tomatoes line the kitchen windowsill and bounty fills our plates. Nellie enjoys lazy afternoon in the shade of the arbor,laying on the cool ground blanketed with soft grass. This winter when the winds howl we will relish memories of the too short summer.

The scent of roses fills the air.   copyright 2011 kathipeters.com



My days are mostly spent in my cool basement studio.I work at my easel or drawing board,as I watch life go by in my back gardens. Some days I can leave the studio door open,hear the birds songs and the chipmunks chatter as they pursue their daily activities in the gardens. Nell lays in the doorway, catching a breeze and wishing she could catch a chipmunk.

I have been working on the second painting I started at Equidae Gallery in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the beginning of the month. This demonstration painting on canvas [on board ]started as a casein, is becoming an oil pastel, but a nocturnal scene this time and it is almost done. But today I am backing away from it, to return later with a 'new eye' to finish it. Today I am working on three 6 x 6"  caseins .....not of horses...but of crows and a seagull.
Nell sleeps at the studio door.

Finished and Signed!!



"At Rest"       Mixed Media    12 x 12"  copyright 2011/Kathi Peters

The first demo painting is actually done. Ready to go...!! It will be up on my website.I started with casein and ended up with casein and oil pastels. I am in love with the mix and plan on doing the second demo painting the same mix! Stay tuned!

Demo Painting Continued

The Saratoga demo starts
.

Terry Lindsey, of Equidae Gallery, invited me to do a demonstration of how I work in Casein paint and to tell about this much misunderstood milk based water medium. I hope I was able to dispel some fear that folks have about Casein, a paint medium that lost artists' interest when acrylic came into being. I have worked in acrylic, sometimes mixing Casein with acrylic in my mixed media works...but for the most part Casein is my favourite medium, and the majority of works done by me, and collected by collectors of my work, is done in casein...pure and simple. Casein, a clean milk based water–soluble medium requires no strong solvents. Because of that, I am comfortable using it in my home based studio. And because it dries quickly to a velvety, matte finish and over time, it becomes resistant to moisture,  it is possible to lay on a glaze and move onto the next stage within a few hours instead of waiting for days,like I do with my oil paints....or even watercolor. Did I say I like Casein?

I explained how I work in Oil on copper versus Casein on canvas.




Demo #1

All most done...or done? I need to put it against the wall for a bit,then look again!

This shows a bit how one of the caseins progressed. I turned it into an oil pastel painting when I got home. I don't know why. Maybe just because I could. I think it is done now. I will know that it is in a few days....after looking at it a while.Or NOT looking at it for a while!!

In the mean time my sunflowers are growing!!!

copyright 2011 Kathi Peters