Snow And Cold Covered The Land

"A Shadow Of Himself"  Oil on gessoboard   10 x 8"

 The weather has been cold...bone chilling cold.....and the last few days the horses have only gone out for a few hours each day. When the winds blow so cold and strong, they appreciate being in their stalls out of the wind that even permeates their coats of winter ........but we are so hoping that tomorrow will be warmer....so they can stay out. 

I have managed a bit of studio time,but have to admit that my forays to the studio are fragmented by the care of the horses and sweet Nell. I have moved things around a bit inside my studio sanctuary, and started getting paperwork ready for the yearly chore of taxes....and rethinking my filing system [or lack of]. One small oil painting, "A Shadow Of Himself",  has been finished and I have been capturing lovely winter shots of the horses and the farm with my new camera....but cabin fever is starting to set in! Yearning for a bit of  warm sunlight here and balmy summer breezes.

Even Nellie searches for something exciting and fun to do after days of winter"s confinement. Look out squirrels!!

Nell  is on the scent.......

Distractions

Nellie caught a tiger!!!!

I had started an oil on copper painting, and was well on my way into it, when it seems that life began asking or taking too much of my time. My time in the studio has been way too short and too sporadic to make headway on that painting or even get absorbed in it. I need to be absorbed in my work to feel as if I am connected to it, immersed into it. So I sit here, and I look at what I have painted so far..... and I feel like wiping it all off, only to start again. Nell asks for some playtime. She has a tiger that needs throwing.....she needs my attention,so I oblige.

Some of my Bleeding-Hearts   copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com

And then my gardens need pruning, preening and enjoying. I have to answer their call.

Cob Cottage Farm    copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com



And then after days of rain and gray, a bit of blue appears in the skies over the farm...the evening sunlight hits the billowing clouds and.I have to admire God's glory and give thanks for small blessings......like a small Jack Russell who wants my attention.

I can finish the painting tomorrow.....

Pastoral And Perennial Musings

"Pastoral"            Casein on board               6 x 6"

Today dawned bright and sunny. After a lazy morning reading and enjoying the sun spilling into the living-room,  Nell and I headed down to do the horses stalls.Our two black Walker geldings were sleeping in the sun.. on a bed of warmed hay. A glorious spring day had begun. Nell and I worked all afternoon raking the leaves and broken sticks off a portion of the front gardens. The south facing perennial gardens have started to sprout the tips of the tulips and Daffi's...the snowdrops are actually up and blooming. I raked and made plans of what needs to be moved....divided and weeded. How I love this time of year. Even though I do get a bit overwhelmed with all the to-do's on my mental lists....it IS  glorious time indeed! New beginnings.

During the past week I finished a small casein of a field of cows...the field is near our farm. This is a small casein on board and I titled it "Pastoral". It is available in my website' s Small Work Collection. 
This week I have to clean the studio.It is time. I know it is time to do that when I can't work due to the clutter. I have new work that needs to be started. I am getting back into some oil paint. It is time. New beginnings.

Nell will soak up the sun....what is left of it. She is SO happy to finally have spring arrived at Cob Cottage Farm.

Nellie sunbathing

Girl In The Hood

Nellie styling it in her new sweatshirt.

Today a package arrived in the mail....surprises for me ...for Les ...and for Nellie!  Nellie now has a new spring sweatshirt and she has been proudly wearing it around the farm. She has the whole New York hood swagger down pat....she is the 'girl in the Hood'!! She is BIG and she is BAD!! Be afraid!!!

The snow is slowly melting,  leaving bits of green and mud. But I am not complaining. Spring is officially here and with it the promise of gardening. I am so ready this year. I am actually excited about it this year! We have started cleaning up the back arbor that the deer ruined this winter as they pulled down our grape vines and clematis vines. I see day-lily leaves spiking through the ground. My curly garlic is green and growing. Birds are singing ,calling for new mates, singing their hearts out,  filling the air with music.

Spring melt on the farm.

I have had time to work on new paintings and the painting below is one of new works which are slated for galleries for the summer season. This is one of my Tennessee Walking geldings, Dom. Dom is 30 years young this year. He has been my "man" for over 25 years. "He... the man!!" Dom and his pasture buddy, Duster have been the models for my "Shades of Black" series. Both are black TWH geldings.

"Spring Green"   Casein on board         6 x 6"

Now down to the studio. I have work to get done before the gardening time catches up to me!

And Yet It Snows



"February Chill"             casein on board               6 x 6"                   copyright 2011

It snowed yesterday. It is snowing today. As I write, the gray skies are spilling white onto our farm, covering the woods and fields with another blanket of white. The horses are settled in their stalls after having a morning turnout while their stalls were cleaned. Nell has played in the barn, moused and inspected the stalls for treasures. Now we wait, cozy in our cottage, for the storm to end......then we can continue the endless shoveling. I think of Italy a lot in the winter!!!!

I did the small casein painting, pictured above, after watching Duster [my 23 year old Tennessee Walker gelding ] as he ate his hay that was spread over a snow mound. The day was cold and white. The days have been that way a lot lately!

The painting is available purchase on my website.....along with many other works!

My work is being featured in the art show "All Creatures Large and Small", that has it's opening reception February 3 , 2011 at Gallery B in Lexington, Kentucky. It is a fun show where a portion of the profits from the sales go to benefit the Lexington Humane Society. So I am hoping my Kentucky friends and clients can make that show and help the Humane Society ......it is all about the animals.

The snow is falling harder now.....Nell is so glad she has a cozy house.....she is one of the lucky beasts!!



Cozy Nell



Watercolor And Water Coming Down

Watercolor I am working on today.

Mid week and rain is coming down. It comes down in sheets, beating against the south of the house, running down the window panes...and the dogs do NOT want to go out. I don't blame them. I spent the morning painting in the studio.Today I am working in watercolor....a painting of two Belgian drafts as seen from the box. In the studio easy listening jazz is playing, and the atmosphere is cozy. I will stay here and work while the pups sleep upstairs ....Nell has taken to sleeping on the big antique chair,all propped up on a fluffy blue pillow. I am letting sleeping dogs lie.

Cozy Nell

The rain drums against the studio windows, even under the deck that shields those studio windows. One of these windows is decorated with our winter squash,.... each squash waiting to be picked as the squash of the evening....fall dinner fare. I think I need to do a painting of them....they look so good! [While they last!] 

Rain on the pane.

Addie does not like rain down her ears.

Then when  the weather cleared a bit, the pups and I headed down to the barn. I turned the horses out and cleaned the stalls. Addie ,our Corgi, still was not too happy about the drizzle. The rain runs into her lovely pointy ears, you know....not a nice feeling. So we hurried and cleaned the stalls and made them ready for the horses to come in to for the night.....Then headed back to the house for the warmth and to dry off. We had to stop and enjoy the brook that runs by our cottage.....as it wanders through the woods towards our back pond. It is really bursting today.....I think it is a lovely sight...even if it is a bit gray today.

Red fallen leaves dress up the gray day.

Feeling The Cold





Nellie is a good mouser!

Weather has  been slowly getting colder over the past few days. I am dressed in my woolly orange sweater and still I feel the chill. I don't know what I will be doing when the real winter weather hits the farm! [ Dreaming of Italy.... I am sure!!! ]  Mice have been moving into the barn to get warm.The two pups smell them and  Addie, our Corgi and Nell, our JRT are all over the hay, trying to ferret them out! This chore keeps them busy, busy, busy while I muck out the stalls each day.

With cold weather, I will be spending more time in my studio. That is a good thing! [ As Martha would say.] I have big plans for new works, pushing the envelope a bit on technique,...eagerly waiting for painting supplies coming from Sennelier in France, as I have been picked to do a blind study of some products.....I  wonder what they will send?

Morning fog sits on the evergreen spruce.

Between taking care of the horses, walking the dogs and grabbing studio time when I can,  I have  been shipping paintings to shows, galleries and clients. Invitational shows have been coming up pretty often lately....I am always honored to be "picked" to exhibit in a show. So I have been getting up earlier each day to make good use of my time. The added perk,  to getting up early, is that I have been witness to some wonderful sunrise scenes in our own back yard!  I am sort of feeling like the early bird who has been catching the worm these days! I love the morning fog that sits over our back forest and I know that I will be painting that soon!

"Hello"   watercolor is sold.

So back to packing now....paintings being shipped ...and paint awaits me as it dries on my palette. I am wrapped in my happy fall sweater and have to get busy...following the example of my pups...busy, busy, busy!!!

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!!

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!!