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.

New Draft Horse Painting ....Bigger Biggers!

 

"Ground Driving The Belgian Pair" , oil  , 12 x 12" ©2015 www.kathipeters.com

 

The oil painting "Ground Driving The Belgian Pair " was actually painted a few weeks ago....but I am so slow at blogging about it. I guess I am slow about doing anything written, as writing is still hard for me since my 2006 stoke. There I have said it. I guess all the business part of being an artist is hard for me. But I can paint.....and I do a good job of cleaning stalls, so all is not lost! That being said, this oil depicts the most important part of ground driving a pair of horses....the pair themselves. This handsome pair made awesome subjects to paint. The painting is in my studio, and available on my website.

 

I've done some other paintings too.....Hope to blog about the new works soon.....and so I paint!!

 

 

Beautiful Belgian Horses With a Nip In The Air

The weather has taken a turn and there is a lovely chill in the air that whispers of fall, leaves starting to change color and the veggie garden has slowed down. I have pulled out most the veggies, leaving tomatoes to ripen and Swiss chard to grow in the clean fall like air. I now we have several weeks left of summer. I will take it with joy. Then begins fall’s cascading colors and even the cooler nights. Life goes on the farm with the never ending chores.

 

This recently done oil painting is drying and available on my website. Draft horses from the stable in Seal Harbor, Maine……The beautiful big pairs that carry the sight seekers along the carriage roads of Acadia. The drivers have groomed them nicely and added the lovely touch of braiding the big horses’ tails. It was that extra touch that caught my eye and prompted me to paint them.

 

                   "I Said HAW"  , Oil on canvas on panel,  12 x 12"  ©2014 www.kathipeters.com

When I haven’t been in the studio painting I have been outside painting and trying to paint doors on the house and then there is the new horse-fencing that needs staining…….yup………….never ending chores on a small Maine farm.

Dressed For Success And Carriage Driving In Acadia

 

"Dressed For Success"  Casein on paper    9 x 12"  ©2014 www.kathipeters.com

 

  I would have to admit that every painting, sketch, or even an idea that I create comes from my daily life, my love of our place in time and our life with horses. The entire month of July, driving with our horses up at Acadia National Park, has provided me with so many ideas for new paintings to be done, that I will be drawing on that wealth of inspiration for a long time to come. I have draft horses paintings that I have already painted in my sleep, but need to get done on canvas….driving scenes to paint, and Maine landscape paintings that I know I need to do. I know what I am going to doing this winter!

 

The Carriage Roads of Acadia

 

“Dressed For Success”, one the latest paintings I have done, is an image that was inspired by a photo I took years ago at a sleigh rally at the wonderful Washburn-Nor lands Living History Center in Livermore Falls, Maine. I had done a watercolor of these Percheron draft pair years ago, and that painting was sold. I wanted to revisit this handsome pair again, and this time I decided to use my casein paintings with a warm background, then that warm ground appears through the cool white paint brush strokes, creating warmth to the skin of the handsome draft horses. I am very pleased with the effect I get with this approach. You can see this approach a lot in my work.

 

 We are finally back home at the farm now…our horses enjoying a respite from daily carriage driving on the wonderful carriage roads at Acadia.  August is a busy time up there and we will wait a bit before we head up there again. Now we are busy catching up on farm work……painting the house, civilizing the perennial gardens and harvesting the bounty that our meager vegetable gardens are providing us with.
 
And I will get back to the studio and paint!!!


 

Good Bye 2013! Hello 2014!!! I am Ready!

 

Christmas has come and gone. Storms have buried my gardens and the farm in mantels of white. 2013 is almost done. I am excited about 2014. I anticipate a full plate of paintings, shows and new galleries. Bring it on!

 Commissions in 2013 took up a lot of my time. I will accept a limited amount of commission work in 2014, but hope the major part of the New Year will be all about original work, and working on some ideas I want to develop further.

One of my 2013 commission clients contracted me for 2 larger paintings of his driving horses, two different scenes and I enjoyed painting them both. Here they are! What handsome horses!

A 16 x 20" casein painting done on board

Driving through a sea of lupine.....casein on board 16 x 20"

It feels so good to be back in the studio and working again....a lot of new happenings are prompting me to pull up my socks and get to work. Love it!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Snow bound And Two New Small Horse Paintings

First published  12/15/2013 

 

Old mother nature has covered our farm's landscape with a new cloak of white. It is a thick cloak...at least 10" thick! So needless to say, time is being spent shoveling out from the winter storm. On a farm, winter chorses take more time...less studio time for the artist who insists she needs horses in her life. I plead guilty. But I wouldn't change it for the world. And more times than not, my paintings involve horses. The latest two small gems coming out of my studio are of two horses....grays,  and full of attitude. They are available on my website .... a fun pair.

"Stand Tall #1"  casein  on board   4 x 4" ©2013 www.kathipeters.com

"Stand Tall #2"  , casein on board,  4 x 4" ©2013 wwwkathipeters.com

The blanket of snow that covers our farm will become a subject to be painted in the near future, I am sure. I have said it before and I will say it again....I could stay on this farm and I would have enough scenes that I could paint for my life time.

Here is one..... !!!!

A Change Of Address.....Or A Need To Simplify My Life

"Ground Driving The Belgians - Acadia"  Casein  6 x 6"

I have moved....well , no I haven't moved....my blog has. It has been a long time it seems since I started my blog on BlogSpot....ions ago. It is time to make my life easier NOW. I am not getting any younger.....in fact the opposite seems to be so. So, one less Internet connection would be nice....less bother .I am moving [or HAVE moved my studio blog to my website KATHIPETERS.COM

There you can find my usual  mundane chatter and new art works in the making, ... or already done. Just like I have been doing here for nigh on 6  years now???? Wow , times sure flies when you are having fun! And I am having fun! Finally back driving our horses, and enjoying life to its fullest!
I hope you will come on over to my NEW BLOG PAGE .......and stay in touch. I love to read your comments and to have you continue to follow my art... and collect my art!  I have to feed those horses you know!  So bookmark the new blog page.....and come on over.
 

Sit and visit for a while.....you are always welcome at Cob Cottage Studio!

 Nell and I are waiting for you!

 

 

Another Small Oil And Summer Is Here

Bee working hard.   copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com

I have been busier than a bee in spring....and now that summer is officially here, I can't see things slowing down for a long while!!  The spring that brought us lots of rain, turned sunny and warm and the gardens are growing like Topsy. I can't keep ahead of it all.In fact I can't even catch up!!!!  But I am enjoying each new flower that bursts open with color and scent. I know that we are thoroughly blessed here on the farm.

Rosa Rugosa just starting..how sweet the smell.

The horses are enjoying all the green that their pasture has put forth.... and we all are resting easy since their winter's hay is put into the barn and sweetly perfuming the loft air. 

Clematis adorns the arbor giving us shade to enjoy.

Nell and I have taken to the cooler woods paths for our walks....and on one of those woodland walks we spied a small bird's nest hanging from a sapling, swaying in the breeze. One tiny egg lay in it, all speckled, it was safely hidden under an umbrella of the sapling's green leaves. How sweet and small a promise it is.I think it is a nuthatch egg. I had to do a small painting of it...small as the egg and nest themselves. "One Egg" is an oil on copper, 4 x 4" image size.....and will be framed in a golden wooden frame, available on my website.

"One Egg"   Oil on copper     4 x 4"   copyright 2012  www.kathipeters.com


If you enjoy my blogging....please feel free to share my blog and my work with friends!!
The more the merrier!!

Springing Along With Small Oil Paintings

"Spring Fling"   Oil    8 x 6"    copyright 2012 http://www.kathipeters.com/

The weather has been so spring like and singing of promise of summer.This is always wonderful! I have been the the mood for painting foals...seeing that I am no longer enjoying the excitement of foals being born on our farm...I am enjoying the antics of foals from other farms. This might be the easier way to get my foal fix!!

So actually since the last time I blogged....I have painted three foal paintings....two small oils on canvas on board and one casein on  Ampersand claybord. All three are available for purchase on my website.

"Spring Bounce"    oil     8 x 6"    copyright 2012  www.kathipeters.com

I have been spending as much time as I can in the studio. I know I have commitments, but really, spring is in the air and I need a spring fix!! If I am not in the studio, you can find me in the garden!! [or at the barn shedding out two horses!!]

"New Friends"   Casein on Claybord   12 x 12"   copyright 2012    www.kathipeters.com

American Saddlebred Painting Done

"A Sweet Ride"   casein on paper    9 x 12"            ©2012 kathi peters

The first week of the new year is over and I have two painting chalked up as done. I have had the luxury of long spans of uninterrupted time, where I have been able to start approaching some paintings that I have been meaning to do for a long time. I am starting into them now!  
We are expecting snow tomorrow....I am in the mood for painting with oils, so I am starting a winter scene to get ready to shovel the real thing tomorrow. Today is a sunny day but very cold out.....I am staying cloistered in my studio.

The above casein painting is finished....a fun Saddlebred horse painting.  Now back to the easel.

Painting With Casein While Juggling

"Storm Brewing"  Still in Progress   Casein on Board         12 x 12"

Lately I have been working on paintings from photos from my last year's trip to Lexington,KY. I have a life's worth of subject matter filed, ready to be painted. I am sure I won't get them all done in my life time, but I will have fun trying! The above painting is almost done....I think it needs a bit of a tweak...and will get it done today. Then "Storm Brewing" will be up on my website. Remember all work bought from my studio is shipped free in the USA....even if it is framed....so don't hesitate to buy through easy secure Pay pal.....!!!

My poppies.

The almost summer days are busy now...gardens call.....horses call...sometimes even hubby calls...Kathi,Where is ..???..etc etc!!" I am trying to juggle....so far so good.

Now to the studio now....

Spring Brings Foals

"A Yearling"                       Casein on board                          6 x 6"  

Between shoveling and dreaming of spring I have had some creative progress in the studio. 

This little  casein pictured above is done and available through my website's Small Works Collection.  The subject is a handsome yearling  who I met at Cobra Farm during my Lexington,KY  visit last year. All the yearlings were getting ready for the weekend's Young Stock Sales.......a sad and a happy time. Young stock were headed to their new life....no longer left to just play and grow.They had a purpose in life.....and the weekend  sales would determine that to a point. I saw so many at Cobra Farm that I would have loved to take home with me. Like I need another hole in my head!!

It is raining today.A spring misty moisty morning. The farrier is here trimming our horses feet. Our horses are left barefoot. They have not felt the metal of shoes for years. I think they like that. I am headed to the studio for the rest of the afternoon. I need to clean the studio up a bit before I start on some bigger paintings now....and finish a commission.

Wrapped in Snow

Rocks with wraps of snow.

The winter months loom before us with days of snow and gray skies to come for sure. The daily chores of the farm still need doing, whether there be sun or snow, wind or hail....much like the proverbial postman...I trudge out to the barn, with dogs in tow, to do that which needs to be done. My award for this dedication is a whinny from a mare,a neigh from a gelding. I wouldn't change a thing! [Except maybe longer days with more sunshine??]

The meandering brook by our cottage.

The brook looks so lovely this time of winter, cloaked in its mantel of white. This winter the brook has been open with running water. This winter has so far been a bit mild and so the water runs and gurgles through the woods. I am going to get out , plein air, and paint the brook...some warm sunny winter's day. I swear!

I have been busy shipping sold works to their new homes. Thank you too new collectors!  I have sent works down to Freeport, Maine to Edgecomb Potters, so please check them out if you are in that shopping mecca of Maine....And it is that time of year when I need to get the office cleaned up, and pay Caesar. I do have a new watercolor in the works, and some other new work in the beginning stages, but office work is calling me a bit loudly at this time......

And Nellie is getting on the bed more often than is really necessary!!

A New Year Has Started

 

Our back arbor & winter grape vine

Our New Year's eve was spent with friends, feasting on Maine lobster and steak. Our New Year's Day was quiet and reflective, my goals established for 2011, personal and career-wise. I have opened the door on the new year armed with my word for the year."Strong" ..... Strong in mind and health....strong in creativity......strong with friends and family....strong in faith.

I have been out of the studio too long. The holiday was good, but it is time to get back to a daily routine and stick with it. I have grabbed and hour here and there, to find my way to the sanctuary of my studio space, but I have so many commitments and show dates ....These will  need a strong work ethic from me.That word again...."strong".  That being said...........to the studio! But not before wishing everyone the best of New Years......and thank you so for your 'strong" support of my art!

The winter shadows and clouds stretch across our Maine farm today.

Mooooo-ving Paintings

"Number Two Cow"    casein       10 x 8"

Two casein paintings done ,one small...one not so small...and both are available on  my website.  Our weekend was busy, but I did get time to work in the studio and get these done. I love looking at cows. Their eyes are sooo big, liquid and sad. For years we raised beef cattle....mostly Herefords. We had one cow who was always going right through the fence , and heading down the road towards a farm a mile away where some bulls lived. A lady with a mission! But how I hated chasing that lady, trying to get her back into her pasture. She was the reason we stopped raising our own beef. The 'girls' in this painting are dairy cows from a local  farm just down the road from us ......We will not be having cows on our farm again. I will enjoy them at neighbors farms, thank you. 

Today the sun keeps peeking in and out of the gray fall clouds. Today I will spend mostly in the studio.  But first my barn chores must be done. Everyday has barn chores...........I do not get into the studio everyday. But I have some ideas that I need to get formulated and today is the day!

I have work in an art show that is opening this week in Cazenovia, NY.  " Le Cheval:" the horse exhibition, is an invitational  exhibition of national artists ...and I am honored to be one of the artists. The exhibition will open with an Artist's Reception & short artist's lecture series on  Wednesday, .Nov. 3rd @ 4 - 5:30 PM. at Cazenovia College in  Reisman Hall Art Gallery, 22 Sullivan Street, Cazenovia . NY . 13035  I have all casein work hanging in the show...not many artists are painting with casein,,,,,,I hope you will check out the show if you are in the area!

Heading down to the barn now...pups tagging along! We have a mission!

"She Was A Cow"   casein     7x 5"

After October

The summer hammock is gone.

I enjoy the 'September side' of October.....when the days march forward with the forest cloaked in its ever changing cloak of many colors. Now we are in the 'November side' of October...the forest sits striped of its coat, standing gray and brown. All business and no frivolity suggested, it waits for winter.The yard is cleared of its summer furniture.The old ash tree stands with all its color at its feet, tall and gray, with no hammock swinging in the fall wind.

The reading nook by the garden pond sits empty.

Our  tiny garden pond needs to be emptied of it water-plants, the plants heeled into the empty veggie garden until spring.The weeping cherry is the last to shed it's fall red.....but today is cold and gray, so I enjoy its color from the warmth of the cottage. The sun comes and goes as clouds appear.

Tamaracks stand tall.

When the sun does peep through the gray clouds, a burst of yellow appears behind our barn, the Tamaracks' last song of color.

Addie and Nell cleaning up.

The farrier came and trimmed the four horses hooves. Addie and Nell love to see the farrier coming for a visit. They know that there are treats galore awaiting them on the barn floor after the trims. Smelly treats ...but they love them! Sort of their Halloween treats! The horses are now ready for winter layoff...? I can't say that they had a very busy busy summer.It seems that is their lot in life lately.

One chubby Cob doing what she does best...eating!

The sun is lower in the sky now, the days shorter, nights longer. My days are spent more in the studio now.....and I hope I have more to show for it. An oil painting, on copper substrate, sits on my easel and two casein paintings are being done on my drawing board..... and a watercolor commission awaits. I am busy.



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.

Plein Air Equestrian

"Plein Air Equestrian"                oil on copper                 10 x 10"

When I first saw the reference shot for this painting, I knew it had to be painted. I can relate to so much of it's subject matter. Riding, plein air painting, side saddle.....just so inspiring. The photo that has these images [but not as actually depicted here] was provided by friend Yvonne Kauklija of Coldwell Productions from Sweden. Yvonne is a lady full of novel ideas and she never ceases to amaze me with her myriad of inventions. Yvonne's ideas have spurned me onto several paintings in oil, that needed to be done on their copper substrate...a substrate that lends the finished painting a warm and inner glow."Plein Air Equestrian , a sort of surreal depiction of a moment in time....is available on my website.

The World Equestrian Games ,that are taking place in Lexington,KY, end this week. Lexington was a hopping place to be these past 3 weeks. I was there the week before the 'hopping' started,but did get to see some of the preparations that were going on for the influx of visitors for this equine event. I have heard from so many friends and collectors of my art who are down WEG and who actually went into Lexington city proper to see my artwork hanging at Gallery B and at the AAEA 's Invitational Exhibit at the Lexington History Museum.

Maybe I wasn't there physically ...but it's best sometimes to let my paintings speak for their selves!!