So Much Going On!

Cantering along!

Look at those ears!

 Hello to you All!!

I've got so much to say, so much has happened lately! 

First, I did it!   I rode a real endurance ride!   On a real endurance horse!   I was honored by a friend who asked if I would like to ride her experienced gelding, Seth.  What a ride, what a strong, forward happy horse!   I was happy this horse was ok just tagging behind my friend on her mare.    I learned more on this one ride than I would've in a long time of simply reading or figuring it out on my own.   A huge, heartfelt thank you to Laura Hayes, and Seth.   This team is headed to Tevis, a very tough 100 mile ride held in California.  Good luck to you both! 

Laura and Seth on a previous ride.

As this event was coming up, I spent much more time riding than painting.   It happens.   Then when I got back to my art, ugh!  It was awful. I struggled.  This shows me how important daily work is.   I had been doing simple ink sketches and one tiny plein air but it wasn't enough.   I needed a kick start!

So,  a couple nights ago I spent a long time, into the wee morn even!, going thru my digital photo stash.   Its been dreadful hot, so I just won't bother with much plein air and I am happy to have all these photos.   After a few hours I had saved, deleted and edited.   I am still going old-school on lots of stuff, and sometimes I still print out photos.    I really like to print them 9-up, sometimes of both the raw and edited versions.   Then it makes it pretty easy to pick out a paper and get working very quick; leaving no room for procrastination!   

For this small work, I had brushed off the previous effort, it was a stinker.   I flipped the paper upside down to visually 'mess up' the image, and started something from my new print out.   Much better!   I was pleased with this one finally, it expressed the mood I was after, its all about the light.    This scene was near my home, while out riding one evening.  

Beanfield,  7x9 pastel;   framed $100.