Mockingbird

I thought it was a day to paint a big canvas, but all that white space seemed menacing. Here is a Mockingbird - some people call them catbirds - on an old rustic piece of wood that I collected out on the trail. I rode the colts for the first time in two weeks and brushed the hair and mud off of all the horses yesterday. I think I pulled a muscle near my shoulder blade. Sometimes I feel like one of those old rodeo cowboys, but somebody's got to ride the colts or they won't grow up with a proper education and that spells a very bad life for a horse. If they grow up wild and uncooperative, they could be sent to auction or the glue factory. It's a responsibility that I take seriously.
This painting is oil on rustic barn wood approximately 17" x 7" x 1/2" - $45 includes shipping.

Horse Woman - Under Construction

Hello. It's a rainy day here in San Diego. That gives me a chance to catch up on indoor work like painting, housecleaning, and working on my Friend's of Hellhole Open Space Preserve duties. My job is to find corporations that will donate funds to purchase property in order to expand the preserve for wildlife habitat. I better get going with that. If anyone knows of any corporations who are into donating funds for environmental groups, let me know.
Today's painting is a little different for me. I said I wanted to get into abstract and suddenly I find I'm getting into surrealism. Oh well. My mind and my art don't always coincide - in fact they never coincide! My right brain refuses to co-operate with my left brain. When I was in Palm Springs a few weeks ago I saw a bronze sculpture with the body of a woman and the head of a horse. I was delighted, so here is my version. I put her as decoration for a Native-American looking piece of pottery. I kind of like it. 8" x 10" oil on masonite. $45 includes shipping and handling.

Meditation Bell

The meditation bell that sits on my piano. 5" x 7" oil. This isn't quite finished. It's too dark now to go further or even to photograph it well, so tomorrow morning I'll finish it and re-photograph it. I'm still recharging so the painting feels a little dull to me. I don't know. Rain today, so no exercise with the horses. I wormed them though. They hate that. You give them a plastic syringe full of wormer in the back of their throats. I'm sure it tastes nasty even though some brands are "apple" flavored. This one actually smelled like peppermint and my mare seemed like she wanted more. $40 and free shipping

Purple Cow - Painting 78

Painting is like pulling teeth again. Sigh. Sigh. I need exercise. Going outside to ride!
Quote of the Day
"When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge."
– Tuli Kupferberg
SOLD

An Uninvited Guest.

This painting ran away from me. Ike Turner died today and he lived about 20 miles away from me in San Marcos, CA. I thought I would look at some photos of him and make a little tribute painting. Well I found a portrait of Tina that I liked and I started to paint a portrait of her. Before you know it the hair that I had sketched for her began to look like a turban so I went with that. I added an Ike style mustache and this character showed up in my studio. He doesn't look all that happy to be here. 6" x 8" oil on canvas panel. $40 Free Shipping

The Death of the Newspaper - Dan's Collection

My husband asked me to paint a picture for his office wall. He works as managing editor for the North County Times and so he said he wanted a picture of a newspaper and a pair of work gloves or a cowboy hat - something manly I gathered. I painted this composition with a newspaper, a cowboy hat and a mug on a table top. Something was missing or not right with the background.(scroll down to December 2 post). I abandoned it until the other day when I painted a round red table top and that finished it off. Pun intended. I now had the newspaper lying on a red table top or in a pool of blood. I thought it was appropriate because as everyone knows, the newspaper business isn't doing well. I guess people like to get their news on the internet - blogs, etc. Additionally, the cowboy hat represents the dying of an old tradition - the newspaper. The green mug represents the "green" movement - saving paper/trees. I'm happy with the the symbolism captured in this piece. 36" x 12" oil on gallery wrapped canvas