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!!!

Collar-ed Corgi

She looks like the girl in the bubble!!

After a week of worrying about our Addie's right eye......and many visits to the vet's, today Addie had surgery on the eye and is now resting peacefully at home, even if a bit miffed at having to wear a silly old collar that certainly detracts from her beauty....and her ability to scoff up her food. She is a Corgi you know!!! Nell, the resident JRT, thinks Addie looks silly in this collar!! And how can she , in good terrier fashion, bite Addie when the collar gets in the way??

We had so many good folks contact us with prayers and positive thoughts during and after her surgery, that we want to thank everyone...we know it helped!!!

Even now it means a lot of hand walking the two dogs and doling out meds....I should be able to get back into the studio to finish up some almost completed works and start on some new ones.

If life doesn't keep getting in the way!!

Trivia Galore

Well, I received the new palette and have filled it with some of my casein colors that I use. I almost don't want to touch it now, as it is so nice and pristine. But I know I need to "bite the proverbial bullet" and get down and dirty with it. I just needed to show everyone how nice it looks!! :-)

I have been busy going through the pile of photo shots taken in KY during our visit. Here is a shot of Bobbye and I in front of the American Academy of Equine Art. Bobbye and Ed were our hosts and tour guide during our entire stay. They gave us a royal tour of equine highlights in Lexington and Louisville; and then in Cincinnati we got into the arts and architecture of that great city. We can't thank them enough!


I have been painting some, but the past week was also taken up with caring for our Corgi, Addie, as she tries to get over a bad eye infection. Part of the ordeal is also keeping the puppy, Nell, away from Addie as the poor girl heals. Like kids!

Back to the drawing board now as I finish up a casein painting of a Lexington thoroughbred stallion who posed for me ....I know he wanted to be painted! I am putting the finishing touches on it now.

Can't STAY Inside Today

Things were getting heated downstairs as I worked in my loft studio...the pups were wrestling and Addie ,our PWC was being terrorized by Nell the JRT. Sometimes I think they do this to get my attention, just like my kids used to! It works! So I headed down to break it up.

The sun was so inviting so we took our lunch and sat on the deck getting some of those rays we were not blessed with during the winter months. Nell is a Florida girl...she LOVES this weather!

Sitting and listening to the brook bubbling by and the birds singing.... Things we just dream about during Maine's chilly snow filled winters.

So after our sunbath and lunch break I went back up to my loft to work on a casein painting I am doing and happened to look down to see who was scratching at the back door wanting to go out. Who else but the "beast"!! So like a good mom that I am ....out we went to rake the front gardens and enjoy the day some more. Really! This weather is our award for having survived yet another Maine winter!!! At least that is what my canine companions tell me!!

And I agree!!!

Up and Coming

While I sit working on dreaded taxes and trying to get my "filing system" in order..[?]..I keep looking at this photo that is going to be my next "From The Loft" series painting. Why? Because I like the abstract effects in the photo and I want to play with the design elements.

I am trying to make excuses why I should be painting. Sometimes life does get in the way. And the big date April 15th looms large.

While I work upstairs in my studio not doing taxes, Nell amuses herself on lookout... from the back of the couch.... for stray turkeys. It's a hard job, but someone has to do it! Addie [the Corgi] is sleeping..she needs her beauty rest! Nell on the other hand [resident JRT] is wide awake and itching for a fight! Look out turkeys!

Me? ...I am working!

The Sunbathers

The wind howls around the house, but the pups are cozy basking in the sun. Nell keeps lookout for turkeys in the yard. Addie snoozes.... Life is good.
I saw this scene and have to capture it. My good friend and fellow artist Karen Pettengill just did a painting of her Koda dog sleeping in the sun....and our scene here so reminded me of her painting!
Check out her work!

I am waiting on the farrier now, the horses' feet need trimming...another sign of spring. I don't want to get into a painting and then have to stop when he arrives..so I am posting this for my blog event of the day!

What I Do When The Snow Falls

And I have been doing a lot of it lately.. CREATE!!... as we get hit with yet another round of snow and wind and cold!! The only hope that keeps me sane is the fact that winter is almost over and under all the snow sleeps my perennial gardens...and I will be digging in dirt and transplanting soon!! [After all this snow melts!]

The above "work-in-progress painting is a 18 x 18" on canvas that was started in casein and I am into it now with pastels. It is coming along 'smashing-ly' and I can't get enough of it! The hunt reference shot was provided by a fellow EAG-er ...I just loved the way the tails of the hounds fill the air and wag throughout the composition. I have changed things a bit for my purpose..but still the tails wag!

My dogs were just walked and love the new snow....all I see of Nellie, the JRT, is her butt most of the time. She is hunting varmints under the white blanket.....Addie, our PWC , is busy rolling around in the snow.....to each their own!

Nell's New Coat

This afternoon I was working in the studio on the two small paintings that I had started yesterday afternoon, when I heard someone in our front deck. By the time I got downstairs I saw a neighbor walking back to her car parked in the driveway....I called out to her...invited her in, but she said she was in a hurry....and she had left something for the puppy in the basket on the deck ...a early May Day present?

Actually it is Nell's birthday.five months old!!! .or very close to! How neat!

So the canine girls and I inspected the basket of goods....a squeaky hedgehog with bow, a blue rubber dumbbell and a fleecy faux sheepskin coat for Ms. Nell...the Florida girl! She had to model it and we have sent photos to Robyn to thank her for her gifts!

Addie is not very impressed....she says" Silly old JRT.....she does not have a beautiful three layered coat like I have!!!"

People's Choice Winner! !

It is my pleasure announce that "Just Sitting Here" [ my painting donation to help fund CorgiAid 100%] received second place for the People's Choice award in the Helping Paws show! So that means so far Corgi Aid gets $50.00 from the Canine Art Guild's virtual art show titled "Helping Paws".

They would like to process the donation to Corgi Aid before the end of the year - wouldn't be great if someone bought the small painting to further help CorgiAid? You can buy it directly from the Canine Art Guild's website....it would be a neat present for someone for the holidays??...and would help CorgiAid 100%...I have donated the entire amount to help CorgiAid on behalf of my PWC, Sweet Adeline and us all at Cob Cottage Farm in Maine!

All the "Helping Paws" People's Choice recipients are:

$100 Almost Home New Mexico for "Innocent" by Christine Ford

$50 Corgi Aid for "Just Sitting Here" by Kathi Peters

$50 Monica's Rescue for "Atlas" by Catherin McMillan

$50 Yancy County Humane Society in Burnsville NC for "Afternoon Nap" bySusan Garriques

A round of applause for each of the participants and for the shelters!!So please enjoy the virtual art show and help a rescue fund that is dear to my heart...CORGIAID!

Today the snow is falling in fluffy flakes covering the farm with a white mantel. It all looks so very Christmas-y. I am cozy in my studio with two dogs who have a good life. I hope we can help some other pooches have good homes too...maybe their forever homes... at this time of year!

After the Storm

The last few days on Cob Cottage Farm have been very intense. It was all about survival…keeping warm and hauling water from the flowing brook for house use and for the horses. Actually we had it better than many folks in Maine. We have a generator…and used it to keep warm in the cottage, keep the wine chilled in the fridge [J] and to keep the cell phones charged so we could keep in touch with the outside world. Our two canines had it tough…..they huddled together on the couch. Wish we had it so good!!

Here are some photos of our farm on Friday morning………..we didn’t get our power back until Saturday evening. Today life is back to normal…sort of...and hopefully I can get back to the studio and work.

The ice was coating my Christmas lights and on the deck stars that hang all year round.The birch lining our driveway back to the barn were bending with the weight of the ice.

My yellow barn door really stood out with the blue gray ice decorating the trees. The brave horses slept under the run-out sheds. [while we hauled water for them! ] Guess they have us trained!!!

How beautifully the ice hung from the upside down bird bath like a giant mushroom! And I have been waiting to see the twisted branches of my Harry Lander's Walking Stick Bush when stripped of his leaves for winter. How neat it is with the twists and spirals of the branches. Needs to be captured in a painting..no? I have a feeling it will!!

Little Nell

This is the little girl who has stolen our hearts here at Cob Cottage and is filling our days with fun and frolic! Even our Addie has taken to this pup and is mothering her...teaching her how to tend to business and how to herd the cat.

So I am posting this to show everyone what I am 'doing" these days! I am painting when Nell and Addie sleep...so needless to say..I am not getting much painting done...but this a wonderful vacation from the same old...same old...........

But I am getting commissions done and have started a new casein..........

opps...got to rescue the cat!!!.......................

From My Window

Thanksgiving has come and gone and life is getting back to normal [ a bit] at Cob Cottage. We picked up a 10 week old Jack Russell Terrier [or is that terrorist?] on Thanksgiving day to extend our family. Little Xiaolin Nell has won our hearts and even Addie , our 8 year old Welsh Corgi has accepted the new baby. I can't speak for our cat, Mittens.
So because I am having to 'mind the store" so to speak while Little Nell acts like a bull in a china shop....I am having to do my artwork on the first floor living space..and so I am doing pen and ink sketches ...something easy to pick up and lay down at a moments notice! Nell's given name is Xiaolin ...a Chinese name meaning bamboo forest...we have added Nell to her name as it is easier for me to say and remember. And she looks like a Nell.

This pen and ink sketch is 13 by 10 and is done on Strathmore paper. I am putting it up on my website in the Landscapes and Still Lifes Collection.

I will get some pics up on my blog of Miss Nell....but right now I need to rescue the cat!

Focused

Corgis...Corgis..........Cardigan Corgis!

This is a 7 1/2 x 11" watercolor on watercolor board from a sketch of a Cardigan herding cattle......what captured me about this shot was the intense stare of the Cardigan on the eye of his subject. His human mom sent it to me. It is as if he is saying [ with his eye] "You better go where I want you to go!" and you know...I think the cow has got the message! Of course the shadows and movement of the moment captured me too. I am a sucker for a shot with great shadow and movement.

I am putting this watercolor up on my website............

Also I want to mention that I am a member of the Canine Art Guild...and am one of the artists in an online art show called "Helping Paws" , where a portion of the sales go to the canine rescue group of our choice. I have a small casein of a Pembroke hanging in the show and all of the money fro the sale of this cute PWC painting goes to CorgiAid. Take a stroll over and check out the great show ...and be sure to help out CorgiAid. CorgiAid is a nonprofit organization founded to provide> financial assistance to corgis and corgi mixes. They help rescue Corgis from dog shelters or other non-permanent homes, then foster them until a new forever home is found. Medical and other expenses for these dogs can become high. That is why I wanted to donate the sale of this Corgi painting 100 percent to CorgiAid. My painting is titled "Just Sitting There" [ 4 x 6"]

And now I need to get focused on the job at hand..........more on that later!

For Chip

I have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi....Our Sweet Adeline has often been an artist's model for me in my studio.......but I am always happy to paint more Corgis.

Yet sometimes it is sad to have to paint a "fur kid" after they have past. This is the situation with this handsome Corgi boy. Chip was a 'more than handsome' fellow.. and now is missed by his human mom and feline siblings. I hope this casein will help them to re-live good memories of better times and Corgi kisses.

An Italian Greyhound Called Penny's Pooch

This casein painting was included in the Nation’s premier juried fine arts exhibit devoted entirely to man’s best friend, the Dog, The Art Show At The Dog Show in Wichita, Kansas from March 2 through April 4, 2007 at the Foyer Gallery and the City Arts Gallery. Then the artwork will be on display from April 6, 7, and 8, 2007 at the Sunflower Cluster Dog Shows at the Kansas Coliseum, Wichita, KS. Penny Plumb, a dear friend and fellow artist, is mother to two adopted Italian Greyhounds. They rule her house. This is Packard, Penny's pooch.

Dogs have always been a part of my life too. From Saint Barnard's, Standard Poodles, black and yellow Labrador's, Blue Tick Hounds, to our currant one an only Pembroke Welsh Corgi, "Sweet Adeline". So now while I finish up a color portrait of a horse, a black Tennessee Walker, I have started a small casein of a Boston Terrier.