Rearing To Go

"Shades Of Gray #6"  casein on paper         12 x 9"

The past few days were a blur of movement. I have been up and down mid-coast Maine, yet loving it all. What a great time of year to be driving through Maine countryside and coastal roads...and all in the call of duty! Through all this flurry of activity, I have managed to finish a small casein on paper and chalk it up as number 6 in my series of "Shades Of Gray". I am working on some larger works for this series, with some lovely Arabian grays and some Pre grays too! Where my 'Shades of Black' series have been mostly my own two black geldings, the grays seem to be from all over the world. Interesting that new friends I have found on Facebook are willing to let me use their photos of their horses as inspiration. It always intrigues me how small the world has become with the event of the Internet!

Warm weather has descended on Maine.Today feels like August.The horses sleep in their run-out sheds, out of the hot sun . The dogs are sleeping on the living-room floor, trying to catch a cool breeze....and I am headed down to my studio where it stays cool.  I think I am going to really appreciate my downstairs studio this summer!. I am working on the drawing for a new oil painting on copper. This will be fun! I am excited to be doing this. One could say I am 'rearing to go"!

Another White Horse

I have been working on this 11 3/4 x 13 3/4" casein for a few days now, on and off. Yes, another white foreshortened horse. This is a subject that I can not get tired of exploring. And I will be doing more white horses over time...a series of sorts. [Like my 'Shades of Black' series that can be seen on my website.] This is a stallion from the Darley Farm in Lexington KY., a wonderful Thoroughbred Stud Farm that I was privileged to visit last spring.You don't see many farms like this here in Maine!

It is quiet today at Cob Cottage Studio...Nellie, our non-stop Jack Russell Terrier, is at the vet's, where she will spend the night, recuperating after having been spade this morning. She is doing well..or so I was told when I called a bit ago to check on her progress. Addie, our Corgi, is enjoying her reprieve from her nemesis and napping and taking leisurely strolls around the farm. How Nell has changed our life...for the better....since she came into it a year ago. But for today we are enjoying a quiet time.

It Never Rains in Southern California

But it rains in Maine!!! And as been raining since the beginning of summer. My perennial plants are the tallest they have ever been. The gardens are lush and green but inundated with snails and slugs. I don't think I have enjoyed one afternoon of reading and relaxing by my garden pond on my bench, due to the weather. If we have had a clear day or two, it was spent mowing the grass and trying to keep up with the weeds!

So I have been in the studio, and I am working up some new ideas and different directions where my muse is taking me. I will be working more on my family series....and after my 'Shades of Black' series am doing a 'Shades of White' series. I also am doing new work for a show in North Yarmouth, Maine that opens in September. And of course the commission work....fitting that in where I can.

I am not so happy to announce that I will not be physically able to attend the reception or to do my casein demonstration at the Saratoga, NY show at The Equidae Gallery August 7th., due to some health set backs. But I will be making good use of my time at home, keeping busy in my studio.....and in my gardens if the rain would stop!!

More For The Shade of Black Series

Instead of doing things I should be doing..like paperwork and other sundry stuff..I did this casein for the "Shades of Black Series / Winter". This is a 12 x 12 casein and has lovely peachy colors in it and lots of blue.

I have also been working on the bigger image of my mom on her pony and that is almost done. It too will be a 12 x 12" work, but this time it is a mixed media...with some casein and acrylic in the mix...and pen and ink!

I have booked my flight down to Kentucky for May and the opening reception of my art show on the 8th. We are planning on getting to a few horse farms while there for photo 'ops' and the Kentucky Horse Park too. Granted it will be a whirlwind week...but I am still looking forward to it!

Now after having taken some time off to be sitting in the sun with the dogs...back to work...on yes!!! The Taxes! I promise!

Cruel Mother Nature

Today the sun shines brilliantly onto the snow...it feels so warm out, that the dogs and I sat on our deck just drinking in the sunlight, bathing ourselves in the promise of spring. But then the weatherman says we will have a winter storm tonight that will dump up to a foot of white on our already white landscape! I'm sorry..I don't think we need this! I prefer the warm sunshine thank you!!

I did take advantage of some good weather to shot some paintings that are done.. ..before the snow flies. These are two new caseins just finished. [Titled: "Shades of Black-Winter" are #1 and #2 ] and they are each only 4 x 4". I am thinking I might redo the same composition bigger. The abstraction of them attracts me!

But in the mean time, these little 'masterpieces' will be put up on my website. I am planning on making a separate collection of just my smaller works. Check it out......!

Now maybe I need to walk the dogs in the sun while we still have some!!

From The Loft 1 And 2

This idea came to life a while ago.

First I finished the casein and acrylic painting above and liked it. The concept excited me...so back I went up into our barn hayloft this winter and came up with the design for a second painting, same size [16 x 20"] and medium. The composition called for a vertical format for the second painting. I just finished it today and was able to shoot it with the digital before I varnish it. I can get a better photo of it before it is varnished . Casein is a lovely paint to get prints from, as the paint has a matte and velvety finish. But I wanted to protect these works with varnish, as they will not be framed by me. Having been done on gallery wrapped canvas, they are ready to hang without a frame.

The above painting is titled "From The Loft-Summer". The black horse depicted is my special man , Imperial Dominator D., a now 28 year old man, turning gray...but still the head of the herd on our farm and our resident grouch. Dom and I have logged about 1000 competitive miles over his [and my] lifetime. And as I said, he is my 'main man'. He and I have a very special relationship that has grown over the many miles of trail we have covered in the past. I know him so well.



"From The Loft-Winter" depicts my black Tennessee Walker gelding , Duster. Duster is 22 this year. I find it is hard to believe how fast time has gone. It seems like yesterday that Duster was born on our Pownal farm and I was there with his mother "Ebony" when he arrived. He has been a good boy all his life ...even if a bit too to eager to do his job at times. He and his buddy Dom are my models for all my "Shades of Black" series.

It seems I have a non-ending source of inspiration here on Cob Cottage Farm.

Italian Lover

Two Italian Greyhounds rule the roost at the home of a friend on Deer Isle, Maine. They are the men in her life right now....how handsome are they??!!! AND I get a taste of Bella Italia while I paint these handsome men!! This is one of Penny 's men....and I call this painting "Italian Lover".

This is an 8 x 6" casein on canvas mounted on board, that I worked on while I also am working on a casein of a male Corgi.. and another 16 x 20" casein for the 'Shades of Black' series. I find I need to be working on several paintings at the same time, and I go from one piece to the other as glazes dry and the paintings seem to emerge from one stage to the next. This is how I have worked for years....and I don't think I could change my system at this point in my life.

It makes for a messy studio, but a productive one!!