Rocky Mountain Horse Expo Art Show

I entered my 24 inch x 24 inch pastel painting titled "Breeze on Beauty" in the art show at the 2014 Rocky Mountain Horse Expo held at the National Western Stock Show complex in Denver on March 7th through the 9th. My painting won the People's Choice Award which means the visitors to the show voted for their favorite art work and mine got the most votes. Most artists feel this award is the best one to receive (including me).

The background story: Rich and I drove up to deliver the painting to the Colorado Horse Council office in Brighton, CO in February. It's a long drive for us to get there. Just as we were walking into the office building Rich fell down some steps. I heard a loud CRACK. I turned around to see my husband on his back still hanging on to the big painting.Thank God the crack I heard wasn't Rich. It was the corner of the frame hitting the concrete. But the frame was destroyed so instead of dropping it off as intended, we drove it home to be reframed. We brought it back the day before the show. I was considering giving up on the whole thing but I'm glad we hung in there. The ribbon made it worth it.

After the artist's reception on Saturday we were treated to a wonderful horse show with just about every kind of riding you can imagine. We saw a mustang being ridden bareback and without a bridle. We saw a USA Olympic medal winner in dressage. That horse was all champion. We saw a 9 year old Hispanic boy riding a beautiful white stallion alongside his father on a black one. We saw a Gypsy horse, Icelandic horses, Roman riding and vaulting... you name it. It was quite a show! Rich and I took along a 16 year old and her 8 year old riding student. They loved it.

Back from Moving Land

I have been absent from this blog since December 28th. I have been in Moving Land, a place I have no desire to visit again! Our home went under contract on January 1st of 2014. With a lot of help from friends and lots of prayer, my husband, Rich, and I were out of there on January 27th. Needless to say, January was a whirlwind. The purpose of the move was to downsize our house and our debt so that I can devote myself to full-time painting. But February has been taken over by unpacking the boxes we spent January packing plus starting remodeling projects to make the new house our own. I love having the chance to decorate again.

Even though I have yet to pick up a paint brush or pastel since the move started, I have had some sales of paintings on Etsy and at the John Deaux Gallery in Pueblo, CO. The still life pastel painting above sold. It's a 16 x 20 inch painting — one of my favorites. I'm told the new owner loves it in the spot she's picked for it in her house. I also sold a couple smaller oil paintings of bison that were inspired by my trip to the Zapata Ranch in southern Colorado last year.

My 24 x 24 inch pastel painting of a horse titled Breeze on Beauty (shown in an earlier post on this blog) has been juried in to the art show associated with the annual Rocky Mountain Horse Expo and will be on display at the horse show from March 7 through March 9. The artist's reception is March 8. Rich and I are bringing a couple young horse lovers we know to the artist's reception and to the Mane Event afterwards that night. I created a flyer for the show to advertise that I am now taking commissions for equine portraits.

It's GOOD to be back. I'm looking forward to creating paintings again soon. Our new house is more remote and surrounded on all sides by prairie and mountain views. I've already seen some glory-to-God sunrises that are waiting for me — just brewing in my mind.

Ready for Take Off - SOLD

This house sparrow visited our bird bath last summer. Did you ever notice that birds are always on alert? Constantly looking around? Their world is much different than we imagine it. I love painting them. They are too cute. This is a smaller format than I've tried before. I used to think 8 x 10 inch paintings were small : )

This painting is not framed. The image with a frame is provided to show you what it would look like framed. I can tell you where to buy this frame if you like it.

This 4 x 4 inch unframed oil painting is available in my Etsy shop for $40. Click here to purchase or to see my other available paintings.

Grazing Gray - SOLD

I have a soft spot for horses. From age 11 to 19 I owned four of them. I did every kind of riding from dressage to jumping to barrel racing. Great memories! I really enjoyed painting this horse. Thanks to Martin Pettitt on Flickr for use of his photo as reference. This unframed 5 x 7 inch oil painting is available on Etsy for $50. Click here to purchase or to see my other available work.

Tangerines - SOLD

This is my first painting on oil primed linen instead of canvas. It does feel very different. I love the way the painting turned out but the linen will take some getting used to. This is the surface that painter Daniel Keys recommends in a DVD tutorial I watched. Now I understand how he gets some of the textures in his work. You wouldn't think changing one thing would make such a difference. This 5 x 7 inch framed painting sold for $120 at the John Deaux Gallery in Pueblo, CO.

Testing the Water - SOLD

We had a flock of robins show up at our birdbath this past fall — at least 2 dozen. It was very unusual. I took lots of photos. I couldn't believe my luck in catching this one as he dipped one foot in the water to check the temperature. Time for a bath maybe? I love to see animals show their personality.

This is an unframed 5 x 7 inch oil painting. It's for sale in my Etsy shop for $50. Click here to buy or to see what other paintings are available.

First Snow and Aspens

 

A friend in California, Gina Schemenauer, put some gorgeous fall photos up on Facebook that she took in the Sierras. She was kind enough to let me use them for painting. This is my first attempt. The trees were just glowing. This unframed 6 x 8 inch oil is for sale in my new Etsy shop for $60. Click here to purchase or to see the rest of the art in my shop.

My husband, Rich, and I are hoping to downsize our debt and our house which is now under contract. We made an offer on a new one that was accepted. But ours won't close until a house in Utah sells. So we wait and pray. All this to say that I have been distracted from painting too much lately. The goal of the move ultimately is to free me up to focus on making art : )