Young Does On Our Farm

"Young Does" charcoal  on Strathmore Gray Scale paper , 9 x 12"

Often, on my walks around our farm , I come upon wildlife that share our woods. These young deer were grazing on a patch of green that grows in our over grown woods. I've captured them in charcoal.... maybe to paint at some future point.
 This sketch has been sold.

Volare Study

 

"Volare-Study" charcoal and gouache, 5 x 7"

It's time for horses playing in snow, brilliant blue skies against winter's white snow.

I have an idea for a larger painting  and this the study for that painting.

Stay tuned for the painting....AND the study can be yours now.

Shipping within the continental USA is included in its price.

Burro In Harness

"Burro In Harness" , mixed media, 18 x 12"

 

Long Ears have always fascinated me since I was a child.  I have had ponies, horses. ..big and small over the years. .... Yet I have never had a burro, donkey or ass. I remember the sweet burros that were pulling brightly colored carts on the Canary Islands and Sicily on my first voyage to Europe. This burro was from a locale closer to where I live now. This cute fellow is an American 'Equus Asinus'.....and he is a fine subject.

 

This mixed media work is done in charcoal, conte and gouache on Strathmore Gray Scale paper. This work is available through Equis Art Gallery in Red Hook, NY.

White Fight - A Charcoal Study

"White Fight" charcoal and gouache 8.5 x 11" copyright 2016 kathipeters.com

 

Another charcoal and gouache study done of winter horse fights...when they are bored and cold.This might be developed into a painting.

This study is available now unframed , and shipping within the USA is included in its price.

The Wheelers At Acadia - A Sketch Now, A Painting Later

"The Wheelers At Acadia", charcoal and conte, copyright 2016 kathipeters.com

When the four in hand coaches come driving at Acadia, there is never a lack of inspiration for me. Often the four horses in a team are taken out as pairs....only two pulling the carriage. Its a good way to exercise the horses or get them familiar with their new surroundings. Sometimes one of the four might have a problem that keeps them from being used........and then I get to capture a pair.....its all good! "The Wheelers At Acadia"

 

This sketch is available. I will be painting this scene...edited a bit. But now I am offering the sketch , unframed. Shipping is included for shipments within the USA. You'd be surprised how low the price is on my sketches!!   I do ship overseas...but that of course costs more. Contact me for that.

Sea Holly and Alpaca Sketches

"Sea Holly" charcoal on paper, 11 x 8.5"

"Sea Holly" is one of the perennials growing in my gardens. I love its spikey presence. I explored their personality in charcoal...I know now I have to paint them. Their design element is strong as they stand out in the garden. But I need to capture their lovely incandescent blue....a color that stands out in  a sea of green, Their spikey flower heads and spikey leaves ask to be touched, experienced when one walks the garden paths. I am waiting now on their growth in the front garden. I think I want to try capturing them plein air....painting in the garden. I want to do more of that this summer, as time permits.

For now, this sketch was an interesting approach. This drawing is available unframed. Shipping within the USA in always complimentary.

 

  "The Wet Alpaca" , charcoal  , 11 x 8.5"  ©2016  www.kathipeters.com

 

Another sketch done recently was prompted by a visit to a friend's farm one cold, very wet spring day. I was photographing spring lambs when two inquisitive resident alpacas came to check what the strangers were doing in their lambing barn. What intelligent soulful eyes the alpacas have.  Their hair coats were soaking wet, but they looked huggable. This sketch is also available on my website. I am fascinated by alpacas now!

 

In a couple of weeks we are headed to Acadia with our Morgan pair. I don't know how much painting time I will be able to squeeze during our 'driving marathon". I'll do my best.  I can't wait to drive the carriage roads of Acadia again. I'll be taking lots of pictures for sure, for future paintings! 

More Charcoals and Gouache Work

"Bedded Ewes" , charcoal and gouache, 7 x 9.5" ©2016 kathipeters.com

 

While still working in my charcoal , and adding a splash of color .....I captured some images of the sheep in a friend's flock. We visited the Maine farm on a cold rainy April day. The birthing barn was warm with wooly mothers and their off spring, bouncing lambs with sweet faces and bright eyes.

This artistic venture back into charcoal, seems to have kindled my artistic muse. I am enjoying getting my hands dirty, and thinking in black and white, working with values. Some of my small charcoal works on paper have gone to Equis Art Gallery in Red Hook, NY. I hope collectors of my work go check them out. They are 'going' at very easy on the purse-strings prices.  Some I consider studies, as I really liked them and feel as if I would like to explore them more as paintings. Some are really finished artwork.

 

 

"Dinner Is Served" , Charcoal and gouache, 12 x 20.5"  ©2016 kathipeters.com 

So far our spring has been lovely. I am behind on getting my veggie garden in, but the perennial gardens are coming along fine.

In between gardening and barn chores ....I am fitting in studio time. More works in the works!!

 

Drawings, Watercolors and Spring Is Here

"A Fine Cob" , charcoal, 16.5 x 10.5"   SOLD

I have been drawing a lot lately.....It is always a good practice to draw...free hand ....To get your values correct before starting to paint. Time spend drawing is time well spent. It helps get my creative brain working, seeing my subject and while I draw I start envisioning how I want to approach the subject matter, what medium, what support, what direction. The charcoal drawing "A Fine Cob " was drawn with charcoal and when I finished the drawing [which was immediately sold after posting it on my Kathi Peters Art page on Facebook] I knew I wanted to try to approach the same subject with my pastels. I haven't had them out for a long time and I felt it was time to get back into pure pigment and build pure color. I am working on that now, and I am grateful for the fact that pastel is a medium sitting patiently waiting for my getting back to the painting.

 

In the mean time I have finished the two new watercolors featured below. Both of these watercolors are now available for purchase on my website. The cute colt is a Welsh Cob foal ...all legs....and foals are a sign of sweet spring. Our spring is slowly appearing here. All snow is gone from our farm, and left in its wake the season mud, that seems to cover our chestnut pair as they sleep in the sun. I captured them standing together in the winter sun in a 12 x 16" watercolor, "The Winter Chestnuts". No mud coats at that time....white snow and winter's barren trees abound.

 

"The Bay Colt" ,watercolor, 10 x 8" 

"The Winter Chestnuts" watercolor, 12 x 16"

 

On the recent days, ones where we were blessed with sun and warmth, I have been out starting the cleaning of winter's debris....stones and dirt on the lawn, stones on the grass surrounding our stone pathway to our cottage and matted leaves burying the perennial gardens. I have made some headway, but there is still lots to do. It is always a labor of love and time spent out of the studio, cleaning the creative cobwebs out of my head, is always good for my soul.  Fresh air and sunshine.

A New Flower Casein Painting And Why Studies?

 

"Zinnias In Jelly Jar", casein and ink, 12 x 9" ©2015 www.kathipeters.com

 

I have been working back and forth with oil paint and casein paint. Each medium makes my " creative brain"  work in a different way. Each has it's own personality and temperament. Each creates its own challenges. Mixing it up keeps me focused on the work at hand. The last of falls zinnias provided a pleasing composition. My caseins provided the color pallete that I wanted. "Zinnias In Jelly Jar" was born. A happy painting to grace someone's wall.

 

"Yellow Apple Tree"  oil study , 6 x 6"

 

And then...... Why offer studies you might ask? What are studies? A study, for me, is a small [but not always ] work done in graphite or charcoal, oil or casein, in a quick capture, to see how I might want to approach a larger more detailed work of a certain subject or landscape. Studies are a peek into an artist's thought process, a closer look at what makes them excited and what moves their muse. I have found that many collectors like to collect these very personal unfinished works , rather than the actual finished paintings, and so I am offering them at a very reasonable price......in a special collection here on my website. They are offered unframed, no frills attached ....I hope you will find something there that will "excite" you......  in my Drawings and Painted Studies collection.

Here is a sampling...........

 

 

 "Study Of The Grays" , charcoal, 12 x 18" ©2015 www.kathipeters.com

 

"Birch Study" , oil on gessobord, 6 x 6" ©2015 www.kathipeters.com

 

 There are others....please check them out......I would love to help you start your collection of my work.

And so I paint..............

 

 

 

 

 

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.



The Tree Line

Our pastures are surrounded by forest...spruce, pine, cedar and fir..and tamarack trees..and some hard wood too. But it is the tall spruce and pine that captures my muse ..tall like sentinels they stand protecting our farm. They dance and sway in the wind, are clothed in white robes when it snows...and the air smells of their sweetness on damp days.

This is one of two pen and ink I have done of the fortress around our farm. They are both sized at 8 x 9" and are on watercolor board. I love doing pen and ink. I used to do a lot of them, mostly landscapes ore figurative works...and am thinking I will do more in the future.

They will be on my website in my Sketches and Studies Collection.

Sketch of Victoria

I was thinking that maybe I could post another version of our Trevallion Victoria. This charcoal sketch was done in 2006 ...I can't get over her eyes.......and sometimes I am sure she is looking at me with disdain. After all she is a queen or at least is named after one!

Now back to the painting of two grays from Acadia!