Pond Lilies and Horses - New Paintings

"In Our Pond"      Oil on Copper        6 x 6"

June has come and gone. The farm gardens are resplendent with color and heady with fragrance. I love it. I want to stay sequestered in the comfort of our cottage and wrapped in the atmosphere of my surroundings. But it seems lately that every summer I am called away to do painting demonstrations and attend show receptions...all away from home. I am busy now getting things done for Saratoga Spring's Equidae Gallery show that opens the end of this month. But I have been able to get a few new paintings done...One ...the small 6 x 6" oil on copper, "In Our Pond",  pictured above. An afternoon was spent painting our pond lilies,,,,,sweet summer grass  perfume filled the air and  bugs buzzed by....a lovely humid summer day past before the thunderstorms came through

Back in the coolness of my basement studio I did a 6 x 8" oil painting of a Saratoga Race Track scene...And "Saratoga Sea Hero"  and the pond lily painting "In Our Pond" are both now on my website.

Today I work in my studio, after a brief reprieve. The farrier came to trim the horses.

The skies darkened and a bit of thunder rumbled,....but no storm.

Now it is back to framing......And before I know it, the day will be here for shipping paintings. Back to work.

"Saratoga Sea Hero"   OIl on copper    6 x 8"

March in February

Chickadee sings a spring song!!

The weather continues to sparkle and with the sun higher in the sky, days seem warmer....much like March! We at Cob Cottage welcome the warmth....we are not complaining at all.The bird feeders are kept full and our yard is full of bird songs,with the Chickadee already singing its spring song.Bring it on!!

I completed another small oil on copper....but this time it is of an old barn,long empty of it's critters, in northern Maine. The old barn stands in Wytopitlock, Maine, up near the Canadian border, near New Brunswick. I changed it out a bit....added the yellow door which makes it remind me of our barn here at home. The fence was falling down and the fields overgrown. It is a scene you see a lot around Maine ,as farms are abandoned .....and the horses are gone.And that is why the title: "The Horses Are Gone"  I have 2 more copper panels prepared and ready to go. I am headed to the easel!!

"The Horses Are Gone"   Oil on copper   6 x 6"    ©2012 kathi peters

Spruce Head,Maine New Painting In February



The start of the Mill Cove painting.

I  often get questions on how I work....and I must admit working in oil on a copper panel is very different than working in casein on board. For one thing the oil on copper goes on slippery and slick. Casein on a toned board or paper goes down gritty and matte. The difference between the two is one of the major reasons I enjoy them both.

With the oil I start with a full color block-in which leaves me with a sort of abstract image. Once I have established the composition I go in to the "embellishment" ....deciding what I want to detail and what I can leave out.I don't want too much detail.I personally prefer less detail, more nuance, and that is the song I want to sing. The oil I just finished is pictured here, in this blog post, in the beginning stage and then as the finished work. I think you can get an idea of how I went with it.

I do use the same color palette with oil as I do with my casein work. My watercolor work is a whole different palette and is approached from a complete different direction. But that is another story!

I am having fun with my oil on copper while doing these past small Maine landscapes. I plan on doing 2 more, but the next 2 will be more inland scenes,not costal. But they are all what I love about Maine! We love living here.

"Mill Cove-Spruce Head,Maine"      Oil on copper      6x6"   ©2012 kathipeters.com

OIl Painting of Port Clyde, Maine

"Raspberry Island-Port Clyde,Maine"  Oil on copper    6x6"

I have started on several small oil paintings  from the recent trip last week to Spruce Head and Port Clyde. The sun was so bright that day and the late winter landscape with all it's abstraction really inspired me to get out my oils and prep some copper and start to paint. This is the first painting done...bright blue Cerulean sky and Ultramarine Blue water.....What fun! It is available on my website as it dries!!

Maine is beautiful anytime of year, and this winter has been so kind to us.I know Spring is not here yet,but the snow is melting,and today with the temps at a high of 50F here , Les had his lunch on the deck. That really helps one with cabin fever!!!

Back into the paint now....working on anther  6 x 6" oil and this time of Spruce Head. Taking a break from equine paintings for a bit!!

Plein Air Or A Wonderful Afternoon

My Thumb-box that was a gift!

Today is one of those summer days that we, here in Maine, dream about when snow piles up to our windows and frost bites our noses.The day dawned cool and sun filled. A constant breeze blew through the trees and the smell of my roses filled the air. I HAD to paint outside. I do have work that needs to be done in the studio, but this was too good a day to miss. I headed out after lunch. I didn't go far. I sat on my garden bench, by my pool where water trickles over stones and through flowers... and I painted.I painted my "pond" and the water-plants....my Japanese Iris and the rocks. At one point two deer walked through the woods beside me...I yelled at them, as I am sure they were looking over my garden like a smorgasbord meal.

Various bugs also stopped in to check out my progress and approve......

My critic



I used my Guerilla Thumbox and painted in oil on a copper substrate. My thumbox was a gift from good friend and fellow artist Renee Lammers. Renee paints plein air everyday [just about]...and on a day like today, it is easy to explain why. But Renee also paints in the winter when the snow is up to the windows and the frost bites noses!!!! Her work is wonderful!! I have some hanging on our walls. Renee also has got me painting on copper panels.....I love it with oils!!

Here is the painting I did Alla Prima.......in about 2 1/2 hours. I will get a better shot of it later, but I just wanted to share a great day!! As Renee says..."Get out and paint". ;-)



"Japanese Iris"  oil on copper     6 x 8"       copyright 2011 Kathi Peters



My Roses In Oil And Acadia Drafts In Watercolor



"The Garden Hat And Roses"      oil on copper           6 x 8" 

 I have been painting in oil.In fact I did a small oil on copper of my hat and my roses as I thought I would might in my last blog post. I have put this small work on my website and it is available for purchase in my Small Work Collection.  'The Garden Hat and Roses'  is offered framed... and shipping within the USA is free!!

The past few days have been wet and muggy.....good studio weather! So I have been concentrating on a new watercolor of draft horses I saw up at Acadia and on getting my art work ready to be framed,.....and then to get shipped out to Saratoga ,N.Y.  for Equidea Gallery's race season art show.
More on that later!!

A watercolor work in progress!

Inbetween studio and barn chores I get to enjoy new colors as they bloom in the gardens!! Always a joy and that offers constant eye candy!!

Monkshood have blossomed!

Landscapes And Birds



"Lazy Kentucky Day"     oil on copper panel         8 x 10"

The weather as been very spring like. Very Fickle. One moment warm and sunny,,,,the next the winds howl and the sky is filled with gray ominous clouds. I have had time in the studio and last week did this new pasture scene of horses grazing on one of the many horse farms I saw last year in Kentucky. "Lazy Kentucky Day" is available on my website Our pastures here are not green yet. Our horses still pass most of the day near our barn, eating hay that we provide.Occasionally they venture out to back pastures to look for new grass growth.....it is is sparse pickings. But even at the height of our grass growing season, our pastures never look as beautiful as the bluegrass country's pastures. Maybe that is why we do not raise thoroughbreds?!!

This past weekend we had hard driving rain come through our part of the Maine. Winds blew rattling the cottage, while the trees surrounding our farm danced and swayed.We lost our electric power for about an hour,but we were safe and warm...and dry. I watched the little birds come to our back feeder,braving the stormy weather for their sustenance.

A wind blown Yellow Finch waits his turn at the feeder.

I was able to capture some shots of those plucky little fellows as the jostled for their place at the feeder. The wind blew the feathers about on this finch. A Purple Finch waited for his turn on a branch of the Hawthorne tree.

Purple Finch are not really purple are they? 

During the storm our horses were cozy in their dry stalls...munching hay.  Better to be a horse than a wild bird  in weather like that!!





Quick Little Landscape Oil Painting

"Duck Brook Bridge Again"      O/C                5 x 7"

I like doing small quick oil paintings... sometimes just to capture a scene and see if I want to go further with the idea. I have so many Acadia scenes that sing to me....this is one of them. I think I will pursue this scene in more detail....but it may take me a while to get to it. I have work I need to finish, both originals and commission works. I am still looking through photos taken while in Lexington and Georgetown, Kentucky. And I have winter scenes I need to get painted now.I have put this small oil on my website.
Fall is starting to show its colors around the farm. The horses are starting to sport the beginnings of their winter coats. I am so not looking forward to the Corgi's shedding [blowing] her summer coat for her winter' woollies'.....and WHO told me that JRT's don't shed???