This Painting is Galloping Away

This is Black Mare in Summer, one of my personal favorite canvases. Based on a snapshot I took of my horse, it's made of layers of oil paint and wax, and measures 40" h x 30" w.

And I'm putting it in the Live Art Auction at Schmidt Artists Lofts on April 25th.

This may surprise those of you who read my recent post critical of charity benefit art auctions. I'm so burned out on those that I almost deleted the email about this auction without even reading it. 

Glad I didn't. This auction is put on by a group of people who want to support and promote the artists while providing a fun time for everyone.

How rare is such an event?

I have never seen one like it before. I have been asked to give countless times. This is the first time I have ever been given an opportunity to sell my work in an auction.

So here I am, sending one of my own very favorite paintings to this auction. Retail, this is a twelve-hundred-dollar canvas. My reserve on it at auction is just four hundred fifty. It could go for that; that's the gamble I'm taking. If you love it, and you want it, here's your chance.

Purple Pony for Friday!

Today I have a drawing I did as a study for Bug Bite, in one of my classes. I was demonstrating how to use watercolor to create quick areas of light and shadow. Yesterday, I found the unfinished drawing and added pen, deeper washes of blue and purple, and some white acrylic for highlights. The result charmed me, so here it is. Purple Pony is 6" high x 7.5" wide, so it'll fit a smaller space and could be float-mounted in a 9 x 12" frame.

Available for $20 at my Etsy shop.

Isengard

Sixth in my Horse Crazy Series of 12" square canvases. Isengard is a Friesian cross and this painting is based on a photo of him galloping in the afternoon sunlight.

Yes, More Horse Paintings

Bug Bite, 22 x 28" oil on canvas. Available, $500

In reality, she was scratching her leg after I put salve on it for the bizarre scrape she gave herself in some mysterious way. Nobody ever could figure it out, but if you know horses you know that's like saying they have four feet; the equine talent for "how the hell did that even happen" injuries is boundless.

But back to the picture. This kind of thing is why I so often take my camera into the pasture. Usually I get nothing worth using, but sometimes there's a moment when I can catch something a little beyond "pretty horse" and more like their characters. Those are the photos I use for art.

This painting is available until Monday the 14th, when I'll take it to an interior designer who may or may not purchase it for her client. I can't predict that outcome, so if you love it, snap it up (remember, artists do layaway). As usual, I've also made prints available on Fine Art America -- a fun site I recommend checking out; there's a lot of fantastic art there.

Northbound and Southbound

These were designed and painted as a pair, both 20 x 16". They're a little different -- drawn in various pencils on basswood panels, then coated in translucent wax medium and painted with a wax medium/oil paint mixture. The grain of the wood is one of the things that made me buy the panels in the first place, so I left some areas with only the translucent wax coating, allowing that natural texture to contribute to the paintings.

They're priced at $300 each/$575 for the pair, and prints are available here at my Fine Art America page.