Celebrating 100 Years Of Acadia's Carriage Roads & My Paintings In A Show

"Around The Mountain Break - Acadia"  Casein on  board ,  16 x 20"

 I have delivered my art work,  including my newly painted casein painting  "Around The Mountain Break - Acadia",  to Skyline Farm Carriage Museum, in North Yarmouth, Maine.  My work will be hanging there during their "100 Years of Acadia National Park's Carriage Roads" exhibit.

I feel so honored to have been asked to hang a solo showing during the summer months, and also to have been asked to do a "Meet The Artist" talk in mid June... to speak about the stories behind my paintings exhibited there. The show opened May18th , and that day was also their annual "PLOW DAY" with a scheduled 6 draft teams that  plowed the earth to prepare the farm's vegetable gardens. Love spring!

Colors of spring at Cob Cottage.

The Hawthorne tree puts forth its joy.

My Work In Two Exhibits 'Down South '

"Warning Signs"  casein on board   12 x 12"

 Just a quick up date and reminder.....My casein painting "Warning Signs" can be seen at The Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art - "The Horse In Fine Art", at 30 Atlanta Street, Southeast Marietta, GA from April 13 - July 2, 2013. AND  this Art Show overlaps the Spring "AAEA Invitational ...Exhibition" at is hanging in The Anne Wright Wilson Gallery , Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY. April 12 - May 24, 2013. My work can bee seen in BOTH venues for the AAEA Spring Invitational. Hope you all get a chance to see the shows!

I have been busy, finishing up a commissioned watercolor and now working on a large [for me] casein of the coaching carriage crowd at Acadia National Park in Maine. This painting will be included in a one "man" show that will hang in North Yarmouth, Maine at Skyline Farm Carriage Museum that opens next month....I will write more about this in another post.

Now it is time to clean stalls.....

Docent For A Day



Yesterday morning on Cob Cottage Farm

This past weekend the fall color was brilliant. Every year that we have been here on our small Maine farm, we marvel at the beauty surrounding us and feel so blessed to have this spot to call our own.

So having in mind that the driving scenery would be lovely this past weekend, we headed down to Skyline Farm and Carriage Museum in North Yarmouth, Maine to work as docents for the art and crafts show that is taking place there this fall. My art is hanging there, along with some absolutely beautiful pottery, glass work,quilting, jewelry and hand crafted furniture. There is art work from other Maine artists too.....a great show to be in or to see! Our dogs came with us. We had a busy day, but it was fun to talk to folks about the paintings and carriages that highlight Skyline Farm. I enjoyed be a "docent for a day"!



Skyline Farm's Art Exhibit has something for everyone!

One of the many interesting carriages at Skyline.

Now back at home today, I am working on commission paintings and some new ideas I have brewing, The wind is whipping the color off the trees out side. But the pups and I are cozy in the studio and will be here for the rest of the day. Galleries are asking me for new work..... I have my paint out on my palette...time to do what I was born to do, here on our small cottage in the woods.

Our Homegrown

Our arbor laden with squash and grapes!

My works are framed and I am finishing up the paperwork for the Skyline Farm art show that will be hung this week.......

The show titled “Homegrown,” a benefit sale of fine art and crafts is inspired by Maine’s natural state. Skyline Farm’s 5th annual invitational exhibit is open from 10-3 each Saturday and 12-3 each Sunday from Sept. 25 through Dec. 4, or by appointment. For eleven weeks, you can buy artworks or bid on silent auction items donated by the artists and local businesses. Bidding action will conclude at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4th.

Please join us on Saturday, Oct. 2 from 5-7 p.m., to enjoy light refreshments while meeting the show’s participating Maine painters Beth Carlson, Diana Johnson, Renee Lammers, Kathi Peters, Karen Pettengill, Anne Tarbox, and Wade Zahares; photographers Donald Verger and Laura Young; sculptor Jordan Smith; custom woodworkers Louis Charlett and Tom Dahlke; and artisans of fine crafts, including jewelry, glass and pottery Benjamin Coombs, Susan Horowitz, Gail Kass, Lois Kenney, Tony A.C. Kulik, Mike Mason, Lynda McCann-Olson, Deborah Peters, and Nance Trueworthy.

The artists are generously sharing a portion of each artwork’s sale and 100% of the funds raised from their Silent Auction donations to benefit Skyline Farm’s programs and operations.

Original creations for every taste and budget are for sale just in time for the holiday buying season. The show is complemented by carriages and sleighs from Skyline Farm Carriage Museum’s collection. Free admission.

Throughout the show, many weekends will feature artisan demonstrations, classes, and guest musicians.

The veggies and fruit hanging in our arbor [see photo above ] were the inspiration for one of my paintings that will be featured in the show. The photo below shows the work framed....ready to hang and enjoy.

 

"Interwoven"    oil on copper      10 x 10"

I am already working on new work..........all 'homegrown" for sure!

Horses and Deer, JRT and Camera

Our fawn.....who eats with our horses in their pasture.

We are surrounded by deer.They are taking over Cob Cottage Farm,eating my gardens and grazing with the horse quite comfortable with the arrangement. Me??? Not so much! I have been playing with my new camera trying to learn what buttons do what....all so I don't make a complete fool of myself when we are in Kentucky where I will be taking oodles of shots for reference for future paintings. Where else but in horse-country USA!! Lexington,KY. I am sure our farm-sitters will love seeing the deer around the farm. Something special to keep the New Yorkers amused!!

Nellie and her new chewy bone.

So I HAVE been reading and reading the manual on the camera and I must admit I am easily confused... Nellie has been helping my studies. [As you see above]. I am hoping that I can capture some action shots...something that I could capture before with my old digital. I am not even taking my 35 mm camera.....too heavy and too much film to develop when we get back!

My new camera is Fuji 12 mp and has a 18x zoom......this should help!

What has been "perking" in the studio???? Two new oils on copper,but I have to admit  that I have not been in the studio much of late.Too busy chasing deer out of my gardens and orchards! The below oil is one of the two, almost done......and will be one of the paintings headed to Skyline Farm for their 5th annual Fall Art Exhibit, which opens next month. I will tell more about this as we get closer to the opening reception.

 WIP of my Concord grapes and squash vines  - oil on copper 10 x 10"

I have to run ...deer in the orchard.....horses in the fields... and dogs in my face... saying it is their dinner time!!!

To Market To Market

There are days on end, it seems, where I don't even get down to the studio...[ or out into our gardens].. Why you might ask? Because more and more it seems that an artist has to self-market. This is sad. I feel that the most important part of being an artist is actually producing works. I have worked with galleries for years and they market my work, and I have been very happy with them...always had a good work relationship.But the buzz today in the art world, is you HAVE to market yourself. The Internet is the be-all and end-all of art marketing. I hope this is not true. I would so much rather be painting than "selling". My heart song is creating....not "pedalling".
And that brings up another topic concerning marketing....I guess you would say that my work is slanted to a certain market....The equine art market. That is my target market....and I have always considered that a plus..having a target clientele and not just creating "willy nilly". I feel that this has helped me over the years....but it has not limited me to be creating only work depicting the horse. I do beak the mold every so often and pump out a painting of a dog or a landscape!
I don't know what prompted this blog post.....but I supposed it does have something to do with hearing about yet another gallery closing [ not one that I am with! ] .......but I will continue to paint. I have to.  

"The Small Farm"      casein on board        12 x 12"

I am working on some new paintings for a show opening in late September at Skyline Farm in North Yarmouth, Maine. This is their 5th annual Invitational show and I am pleased to be included with their great lineup of Maine artists. This year's show title is "Homegrown",.......and that leads me to feel that I need to get out off the office,out of the studio....and get working on my veggie garden! Homegrown for sure! To market To market!!

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...........

Come to the Show Opening!

Come one, come all, to “Maine Harvest: Land and Sea,” a benefit sale of fine art and crafts inspired by Maine’s farmland and ocean. For six weeks Skyline Farm’s 4th annual invitational exhibit and sale will showcase talented Maine artists and artisans whose paintings, photographs, sculptures, and fine crafts are inspired by the cornucopia of Maine’s bountiful harvest - both from the land and the sea.

--- Please join us on Friday, Sept. 25 from 5-7 p.m., to help kick off the show, where you can buy artworks or bid on intriguing silent auction items. Enjoy light refreshments while meeting talented Maine artists, sculptors, photographers and artisans of fine crafts, including fiber, jewelry, wood, glass and metal.

Original creations to appeal to every taste and budget are for sale just in time for the holiday buying season for your gift-giving pleasure. The show is complemented by vehicles from the museum’s carriage and sleigh collection.

A Silent Auction, featuring artworks and related items donated by the artists and local businesses, will run concurrently with the art show. Bidding action will begin on Sept. 25 and conclude at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8. Artists are generously sharing a portion of each artwork’s sale and 100% of the funds raised from their Silent Auction donations to benefit Skyline Farm’s programs and operations.

Skyline Show and Painting Almost Done

I think I have been saying that a lot lately. "Almost done"... but I look at a painting and when I am not completely happy with it, I can't let go. I am at that point with this painting....I will let you know!
This is one of the paintings that I will be sending down to the Skyline Farm's Fall Exhibition which has it's opening reception on September 25th at 5-7 pm...on the farm.... in the Carriage Museum. The invitational exhibit is titled "Maine Harvest, Land and Sea", and this year showcases fine art and crafts too. My work in the show will cover the gamut.. from bovine to equine...and a bit of ocean too! I am looking forward to seeing the work of the invited artists and craftsmen. It should be a neat show for folks to come to, to find that very special Christmas present for their very special someone!


And speaking about someone.....Nellie , our resident Terrier-ist has taken to following me up into the studio...and then making a nest for herself on our bed amoung the pillows. She thinks if she hides her face...I can't see her! Silly girl!! So she sleeps amoung the pillows, like a princess, while I work!

I CAN SEE YOU, NELLIE!!!

Fenced In Up Close

Again I have been asked for a bigger up close shot of this painting. I hope this works as being up close enough. This painting is varnished and will be going down to Lexington's Gallery B.

Today I am busy getting works labeled and wrapped to head down to Skyline Farm 's "Fertile Ground " Art Show 2008 that opens next Friday night. Sept. 12 th, from 5 to 7 pm to meet the artists!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone there!!

Lipizzan Work Ethic

In spite of weather that is calling me to come out and dead-head spent perennials in my flower gardens…and to pick zucchini that are growing bigger by the second….I have been working on a watercolor and an new mixed media work. The watercolor is done, 18" x 8" and is called ‘Lipizzan Work Ethic”. When I saw the intense eye on this Lipizzaner and the power in the neck…I knew I had to paint this. Consider it done. And again I want to thank my good friend Juliet for your inspirational photograph.

I also finished the watercolor of Herefords and sheep, a winter scene from our old farm in North Pownal. For years we raised our own meat and veggies during our ‘ back to the earth” phase. Talk about being ‘green’? We were green before it became politically correct!

The mixed media piece I am doing, I did first in graphite to get my values right and to decide how I wanted to put the composition together…and I have now decided to do this one in acrylic and casein. I will be using the paints together, and this gives the work a different finish………another farm inspired work…getting ready for the Skyline Exhibit in September.

I am loving my new website and the fact that I can update it and change ” whatever” whenever I want. Check it out……… and the new artworks !!

Her Horse Was Blue

At least that is how he looked to me.... very blue...! This casein is done. It is 12 x 9" and is painted on Colorfix paper. I finished it this afternoon as my corgi lay beside me in my studio. While I waited for this work to dry, I worked on the two watercolors I am doing, one will be going to the 'Fertile Ground' show that will be exhibited at Skyline Farm, in North Yarmouth this September. More on that later.

My bags are packed and I leave on Thursday flying down to Lexington, KY for the first book signing of "Equestrian Style", Vicky Moon's new book at Gallery B. I shipped out my papercuts on Friday that will be shown at the Gallery ...That all will happen on Friday evening , the 18th. I hope to get time to see a bit of Lexington, the Kentucky Horse Park and the beautiful farms around that part of Kentucky on Friday and Saturday.

I am going to have a vacation from shovelling horses stalls!!! YAY!!!

Kennebec Starwalker

In last year's 2007 Lobster Bake and Concert held at Skyline Farm in North Yarmouth, Maine, a young lady from West Bath won the animal portrait that I donated for The Skyline Carriage Museum's fund raising silent auction. Becky decided on a head shot and this is the graphite of her handsome one and a half year old colt, Kennebec Starwalker. The colt is of course from the wonderful Morgan line bred by Ms. Margret Gardiner. Becky is going to have some fun with this boy as he grows and fulfills his destiny. Morgan's are such a wonderful breed!!

This scan is a bit cropped, with the original being a bit more open with space around this fellow's intelligent face. My graphite's are usually done as studies for the watercolor commission work to follow, but lately folks are seeming to be very interested in the studies on their own.

A fog is hugging our fields and woods now, after snowing all morning. I think I will go down and put the horses into their stalls. The ending of another day........

PC Problems Etc, Etc....

The month of August started with computer problems and went down hill from there.....but the "puter" is fixed and life goes on.

Yesterday, while waiting for my computer, I sketched a self-portrait in graphite. It is a fast study of myself. They say [and I don't know who "they" are.] that we should sketch ourselves often as a exercise in art. This was an exercise to say the least. But at least I can chock that exercise off as done for a while.

Over the last few weeks I have been finishing up some caseins and some graphite studies of works to be done. I have also been getting works ready for "A Dog and Pony Show " ,an Invitational Exhibit that opens on August 31st at Skyline Farm Carriage Museum in North Yarmouth, Maine. This is the second year that I am curating and exhibiting in this fun show.This year we have some great artists participating and I am sure there will be something for every one's artistic taste.