It's A New Year ! More New Paintings!

 "The Cob Mare" , oil, 12 x 12" ©2015 kathi peters

 I can't believe time has past so quickly since the last time I posted new work ....but it has, and needless to say, I have been painting between holiday commitments  and snow storms and doctor appointments! Life on the farm goes on and I do get time every day to get into the studio and do something creative. ............even if it is only balancing my checkbook. Believe me, that can be VERY creative!

At the end of 2015 I did an oil of a Cob brood mare, fond memories of a mare that produced some awesome foals. The painting is available on my website and hopefully she will find a new home in the new year.

  I also have been working on some smaller works on paper , in mixed media, and they are turning into a series of works I will be doing as I explore the pulse of the prerace ride, the feeling of the horses and their side riders, as they ready for the gate loading and their race. So far there are three done  in this series......

 "Before The Race #1"  ©2016 Kathi Peters    

"Before The Race #2"  ©2016  Kathi Peters

"Before The Race #3"     ©2016 Kathi Peters

I have had  papercut drawing work juried into an exhibit opening at River Arts Gallery in Damariscotta, Maine January 15th,2016......Good to have my  papercuts back in the mix of my portfolio of work again. I am looking at some changes in my work in the new year. I hope to keep you engaged in my work. 

And so I paint....create!

  

SALE Of Select Small Works

In a attempt to de-clutter the studio,  by re-homeing a few small paintings,......I am having a sale ....and it will be up for a limited time only.

Most of the work is NOW priced at only $100 , and some even lower than that. To be able to price them at this low price, I am offering them unframed , but will ship for free within the USA. There are paintings of horses, thoroughbred horse racing, dogs [Jack Russells and more], flowers and landscapes!

This sale will be posted on Facebook and Twitter page too, so don't miss out!

I hope some of this small gems can find new homes, new walls to hang on.

And I can get back to painting.......more!

Here are some of them:...........................

 "Spring Fling" Oil , 8 x 6"  ©kathipeters.com

 

 "Leaping Lizards" , casein on board, 5 x 7" ©kathipeters.com

Thanking you in advance for checking out the work.......And they are selling! .

Thank you so supporting my art!!!

May Is Always Special

My Bleeding Heart

 Sometimes we miss the small details. Sometimes we miss the beauty and wonder that each day provides, while we hurry along with our daily obligations. I try to not take each day for granted. Each and everyday for me is a blessing. I am reminded of that on a daily basis...and especially in May..... I want to remind everyone that May is Stroke Awareness Month. This month always means more than the beauty of spring to me....it means the beauty of life.....and all the God given blessings that I see each day in my life and surroundings. I am a Stroke survivor [See my story on my Tuesday, May 6, 2008 blog post.] and proud of it. So when life gets too busy and full of details, I really like to take the proverbial time to smell the roses...in this case the Bleeding Hearts....and look what I saw!! A little guy who is way busier than I!

Busy Bee

 May is also special for me this year because I have a painting in the 57^TH Annual Exhibit of the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic [ I am a member.] that will be hanging in the prestigious Salmagundi Club of New York City! The show opens today May 23, 2011 and hangs

through June 10^th, when their Awards night will take place. I am so honored to be included in this show ….!!!  And it is one of the only national exhibits that have a medium category for casein. This is wonderful! 

"Shades Of Black #9"  casein on board        12 x 12"

 That being said….Here is my latest ‘oil’, a small 8 x 6” painting of our JRT that I have titled ”Boogie Eyes”. Our Nellie often lays and looks at us with these eyes….big and dark…Boogie eyes! 

"Boogie Eyes"      oil on board     8 x 6"

 With rain still coming down, gray skies surround the farm…..I am headed down to the studio to finish a new casein…and work on another I have just started. I also need to start making notes about my method for painting in casein for a demonstration I will be giving in August in Saratoga Springs for Equidea Gallery.

I am busy….but what else is new?

Around the Farm

All our equine kids on the farm are well fed and busy these days, keeping the fields mowed. They complain that it is a full time job....and that I should not bother them this summer, as they are far to busy! Our bay Cob mares are the busiest, for sure!

This afternoon I took a walk out to the pond to snap some photos of our pond-lilies that are in bloom.The sun was too bright to get the true color of the lilies, but I so want to paint them and I am thinking this HAS to be done in oil and on copper! It won't be plein air, but close to!!

And then, as I walked back from the pond and the fields, I  saw the hydrangea in full blossom, a delicate blue and begging to be photographed...and should be painted! I know these are not horses, but I just have this need to try everything on copper and in oil!

 But I have been painting too....between the walks....

 "Pokey Pembroke"           5x7"              oil on copper

Today I finished this small oil on copper of our Corgi...this will be added to my website and is available.In the meantime I need to get some caseins done for the September show at Gallery B ,in Lexington, KY. So it is back to the studio for me!

Equine Painting On Copper

Starting the oil with the sketch.

Over the years, I have enjoyed learning to work in new mediums, trying new approaches and learning new skills. I suppose that is why I am enjoying the plein air experience .... but need to keep my eye on my goals....and where I want to go with my artwork.So though I will be trying my hand a plein air on occasion, I will still be painting with my caseins, and watercolors....maybe even a paper-cutting or two. But when I met fellow artist, and now friend, Renee Lammers....and saw her lovely plein air painting on copper, I had to try it...painting with oils on copper. Renee was nice enough to give me a copper panel to try..and try I did. Above is my sketch, with a bit of the painting started before I remembered to photo it for the blog!! The copper panel was easily drawn on with ink magic marker. Great!

So in between working on a commission I am finishing, I went back into the oil painting and started working the magic with oils. The oil on copper certainly gives a different feel than working on canvas or board.There is no drag at all with the paint, which seemed to just slip onto the copper, leaving a bit of copper peeking through, highlighting the scene I was working on. I am liking it. So different from working with casein, which has a drag, a granular pigment throughout the casein emulsion. But I still love my casein!!

"Trot On Cob"    oil on copper       6 x 8"

I am done. One oil on copper under my belt. I don't really know if I am 'hooked' on it...I would paint on copper again...might try a bigger work where I can be more creative. But the truth is that I do like the feel of the oil on copper...and hopefully someone else will like my work on copper too!! 

I am always game to learn something new!

Plein Air With A Friend

 We had a plan. Renee Lammers and I met at a local farm to paint together. When I arrived Renee was there before me and already into her paint. It was such a beautiful day out...very bright and very windy. But we were able to find a spot out of the wind, protected by the house and barn behind us. We choice different angles to approach our paintings from... of the farm's chicken house. The local hen-ladies pecked and scratched around us...and gave their approval of our work! A resident kitten was fascinated with my pens as I sketched my paper..and kept leaping into my lap singing a spring song and waiting my full attention! My finished work has muddy kitten paw prints added into the mixed media!!

I started out working on a pen and ink sketch, and then thought I would like to add some color....it was a good thought, but not very well thought out, as I had drawn on drawing paper and so my finished painting is a bit buckled...but I had fun! ...got out into the fresh air and sun....and got wind burnt!! Renee is determined she will make a plein air painter out of me yet!

"The Hen's House"  watercolor and pen and muddy paw prints   8 x11"

Renee's oil came out a lot better than mine! No cat paws included.

Renee's oil, above.... with the sun kind of bouncing off it in this shot. 

Check her blog to get a better shot of the finished product!!

Okay, Renee....where are we going tomorrow???

Thinking About Painting On Copper

  

Yesterday was a day of learning for me..and a day of a bit of enlightenment. A fellow artist and a very interesting lady, Renee Lammers came to our farm to paint our fields, barn and horses.....and tucked into her plein air bag of tricks were not only her oils, brushes, sun umbrella, and wet painting carrier box, but also panels of copper. Yes, copper metal...Renee paints with oil on copper plates and does wonderful plein air works that need looking at! Like a impressionist Mary Poppins, she dropped her bag on our back deck,set up her pochade and panel and went to work. She says she loves having someone watch her paint...so that is just what I did. We talked, she painted and I learned. The afternoon flew by quickly, even though she was interrupted several times by a certain JRT who wanted her [or any one's] attention.

I have been wanting to try plein air painting, as I usually work exclusively in my studio space....and it was great to see Renee in action, see her set up and talk with her about why she chooses to stick with plein air work. Renee travels all over Maine and beyond to paint.

She is a great teacher, easy to talk to and she explains her why and wherefores so well. Even I could understand, and must admit I am taken with the idea of stepping out of my 'comfort zone' more and go plein air ...even if only for a change. You know to wake up the old brain cells!!

So if you want to see what Renee painted... go to her blog and see her work...and her take on our day! I know Renee and I will be painting together in the future....and I want to learn more about her 'bag of tricks!!


Tell her I sent you!! ;-)

First Oil in 2010

I say first because I plan on doing more in between my usual watercolor and casein work. These horses and their driving party were up at Acadia enjoying the miles of carriage driving roads there....I have portrayed them before in several casein works..how I love the white team put to the black and red brake. And the seemed to be enjoying themselves too! The horses and their passengers!

I will be putting this up on my website too....more works to come! But now.......time to walk the dogs! Nell is 'terrier-izing' poor Addie...I hear them wrestling in the living room....time for a walk!

Day 2 Of Casein Of Pony

This is where this casein painting is at mid-day of day two. I will now let it sit and dry before I go back into it with more color. I usually do my casein paintings on a colored ground and leave a bit of that colored ground show here and there in a painting. I feel it give it a depth.

So now this afternoon, I am working on an oil....started with casein and am now painting over the dried casein under-painting. This is a carriage driving scene too, but with 4 white horses...not one little cute Welsh pony!

Back into the paint!

New Year, New Painting

The new year blew into Morrill with a major snow storm, high winds and over a foot of snow. My loft studio was a good place to stay and get some paperwork done and to start several new works on canvas. I am planning a year of artistic growth and exploration. I am pushing the envelope a bit with my casein work and working a bit in tempera and in oil. The newest painting is a 24 x 48" canvas of a driving scene...a lovely welsh pony hitched to a governess cart. So stay on for the ride....it might get a bit bumpy!!