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.



Imperial Dominator D. - My Muse

"Spring Green"     casein       6 x 6"

Last Thursday was a sad day for us on Cob Cottage Farm. My 31 year old Tennessee Walking Horse crossed over Rainbow Bridge. We knew he was failing and that we would be facing this moment ....but it is never an easy decision.Imperial Dominator had been my main man for 26 of those years. He came to me a very green, just gelded ,still stallion-y and in need of manners. Dom and I had years of learning...and we bonded and melted into one. Rider and horse...covering miles...always sound and sane. Dom was my main man....my strength and protector. I treasure years of riding with friends, in competitions, for fun and game. Dom could be difficult. There where times when he did NOT want to go into a trailer.....and it was his call when he would eventually load. Other times he would march right on  Life was lived on his terms. He was a thinking horse and often did not think what I wanted to do needing doing. And on occasion his stubbornness saved us from a wrong step, a bad trail...a bad decision on my part. He took care of me. I hauled him to Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire.... where we competed in long distance rides against GAG's ......."Gray Arabian Geldings"......Dom was a black Tennessee Walker gelding....not the right color or breed for endurance races....but we showed them to never underestimate a determined TWH, no matter what his size of color is!! We did well.
Dom was handsome...impressive...and he knew it. But he could be a fool too. He loved opening locked doors, pasture gates, untying ropes. He loved to have his ears scratched, his nose scratched...but hated having his teeth floated. He loved apples, but knew when a pill was hiding in one and would refuse the "poisoned apple". Yes, Dom was a thinking horse.
I miss him so. I have not painted...have not even worked in the studio since his passing. His barn buddies, Victoria , our Welsh Cob mare and Duster, our other TWH gelding, miss him. It is a big loss in all our lives.......but this too will pass. The pain will lessen and sweet memories will soften our sorrow.
Dom is buried on our farm.....but I have to believe that one day I will be with him again in heaven.

Imperial Dominator D.    photo copyright Dodo Knight 1989

Paintings Of Kentucky Done In Maine



"Foal From The Farm"       Casein     5 x 5"

Winter came early.With leaves still left on the deciduous trees a heavy wet winter storm covered the farm here in Maine with a taste of what is coming in the next few weeks.That was on Saturday night.This Monday most of our snow is gone...the grass is green or ice covered.Time to get ready for the hours of studio time that winter affords me. Most of today I have been busy packing done works away and making room for new works to come.....and getting rid of some old work too. A cleansing of sorts. Maybe it is also the nesting syndrome?

One of the new works done is a small gem...5 x 5".... and is offered in a gold wooden frame. "Foal From The Farm" is one of Cobra Farm of Lexington, KY's foals....all cozy in a nest of sorts it seems. And then I also did a small oil on copper of the wonderful barn at the Red Mile race track in Lexington,KY. This is a 8 x 6"  and is also offered framed and shipped for free within the USA . "The Barn At Red Mile" is on my website.

Now back to rearranging the studio.....right after taking a fresh air break with Nellie.I am going to walk the dog!!

Immortalizing The Chippie



"Little Chippie"     Casein       6 x 6"

Nellie and I have a certain chipmunk who likes to chatter at us when we are working in our garden. He darts in and out of the rock wall that surrounds the garden, then he is up the tree and throwing crab-apples down. Nellie has declared an out and out war with said chippie.I chose to paint him. There is a gray squirrel family that lives in our woods too...they are raiding our bird feeders. Nellie is waring with the squirrels too. I will do a painting of the squirrels. But for now the small casein painting of "The Chippie" is up on my website and available.

I also painted a small landscape of an old barn that is down the road from us.This barn was shelter for an old appaloosa horse and a small mismatched herd of cows.I drive by this barn a lot and always wanted to paint it.....so I did.This 6 x 8" oil is also on my website and offered frmaed and ready to hang.

"The Shade Barn"  Oil      6 x 8"

Les and I have been busy painting the house,.....still. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have had a bit of time in my studio, but not enough to get into anything big or complicated. Soon I will be able to......I can't wait!

Dressage, Oil Paint and Cats Hunting

"Tempi Changes"   oil on board       6 x 6" 

A beautiful day out today in our part of Maine......I sit with the door open,the sun spilled in and the air is filled with the sound of the wind blowing through the defrocked trees, stripped of their fall color, the rustling leaves blow across the lawn and into my gardens. I want to head out to plein air paint today. It is too beautiful a day to stay in.

I just did this small 6 x 6" oil of a dressage scene shown above. I have explored before. I often do this, re-explore a previous work, tweak it, change colors, composition...my approach. This small painting will be available on my website in the Small Works section.

While was outside this morning our Mittens went hunting.She has spent most of the morning stalking a chipmunk.....I am doing a small casein of this chippie.....Mittens is determined that she will be having a chipmunk dinner soon. I will immortalize him for prosperity.

But for the time being...the chipmunk runs around storing food for winter, Mittens waits for the perfect meal [in her eyes] and I am going out to paint or sketch.....out into the sun!

At Last

They popped today it seems!

This morning I awoke to see Fall had finally arrived.while I was sleeping.The loft window looked out on the farm with it's garland of  autumn color. Even though it also means that soon snow will arrive, I always marvel at the fall display that brightens our days as a harbinger of the cold gray winter ahead. I took Nell for a long walk around our pastures and woods beyond.The woods smelled sweet with leaves that crackled and snapped beneath our feet. We met a doe who stopped in her forging for food and watched us before turning and running into the depth of our woods.Nell wanted to give chase, but she, of course, was on a lead.

So close we got!

We are still painting our house.....inch by inch it seems. And in between our house painting days, I am grabbing studio time as I can.I did one fun Polo casein...it's all about color. And then yesterday afternoon, I did a quick oil of our Nellie....a painting that I have been wanting to do for a long time...from a photo I had taken of her on our bed.It is oil on canvas on board and sized at 8 x 6". It will be put up on my website and available for JRT fans......I think.

"My Bed Too"   oil      8 x 6"

The Grapes Are Ready

The grapes are ready.....   copyright 2011 Kathi Peters

A sure sign of fall is the ripening of the Concord grapes on our arbor.I am ready to do a painting of them,and have been checking on their progress each day.The time has come!! Now if the rain would stop....just for a while...I will do a painting of them in their lovely purple hue...it will be an oil on copper....I can't wait!!!

My last roses of summer are on the bush....I think I need to do a painting of them too.This all needs to be done soon....the days seem to fly by....I feel a need to capture the sweet songs of summer  and of fall as they slip away.

My roses   copyright 2011 - Kathi Peters

This Friday,Nov 7th is the opening reception of the TWO PERSON SHOW at Gallery B in Lexington,KY. I regret that I will not be there in person....but my artwork will share the stage with the work of Veronica Clark...and I will be there in spirit. I am also donating a portion of my sales  to the American Stroke Association.....so please help me to help them!!!
and enjoy the show!!!