Sunday, August 29, 2010

Bob


"I Loved You First"

6" x 9" watercolor on Yupo paper

This is Bob.

Say hello!

You can call him Santana, too, if you want. But his name is Bob.

This is my husbands horse. If it's true that what is yours is mine and mine is yours then this is my horse. Mine because as the title suggests I loved him first.

Bob is an 8 year old Tennessee Walker. When he first made it to my in-laws farm he was just a young thing, all spindly and weird looking with legs all over the place. I nicknamed him Stilts.

Or Giraffe.

I'm an unapologetic nicknamer.

No one had very high aspirations for Santana. He had papers, sure, but also a luxating patella that guaranteed him a cush life of grass eating and little work.

From day one he was the most friendly horse I had ever met and since I'm scared of horses that's saying something. While everyone else thought he was cute or weird or whatever, I was falling in love with Santana Bob.

Finally, after a year or so, my husband began to love him, too. In fact, while visiting his parents on their farm, Jerry began working Bob, introducing him to the saddle and bit, arena and ring. Bob was a natural. He never caused trouble, never kicked or fought, and within two days Jerry had him saddled and was riding him around the arena teaching him left and right leg leads.

This is about the time when everyone else started loving Bob, too.

One Christmas Jerry's parents surprised him by giving him Bob. Now it's official! Bob is MINE!!! Oh, I mean, he's ours!

We don't live near the farm so we don't get to see Bob very often but when we are there we try to spoil him, ride him, and give him lots of love.

He's not lonely, though. My father-in-law is a fantastic horseman and in his retirement has been staying busy teaching horse riding lessons to skiddish women both young and old. He rides one of their horses, usually Scooterbug or Lacey, while the student rides, you guessed it, BOB.

Bob is a tall horse. Very tall. It's very intimidating to be up on his back thousands of feet in the air. But he's so calm, so sure of himself, so wonderful that Jim trusts his students up there on his back in the clouds.

He's Bob of LOVE!!!

(Oh, we got his knee fixed so now he's even more perfect.)

This painting was done on YUPO paper, achieving the funky texture by squirting the still wet watercolor with rubbing alcohol.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Figs


This is my submission for the current Paint and Draw Together blog. What with all of the moving and craziness, it feels like I haven't painted or submitted in ages when in fact it's only been a few weeks!

Isn't it funny how at the moment time seems to go so slow but in retrospect time really zooms past like a speeding train?

Anyway.

This is a small painting, only 4.5" x 9", done with watercolor on Yupo paper. I stumbled across this type of paper while web surfing a few weeks ago, and ever since my online purchased pad arrived I have been having fun experimenting with what it can and can't do.

Yupo is a fully synthetic watercolor paper. It's plastic, well, polypropylene. You can't paint on it like regular paper because the brush strokes will stick out like a finger painting. But it's really good for applying different types of mediums and techniques.

This painting was done by applying a medium thick wash on one section at a time and then spraying the section with straight rubbing alcohol. It stinks to high heaven but leaves a really unique texture to the painting.

You can also add table salt to a wet painting and when it dries there will be tons of little "dots" left on the painting.

There are other techniques you can do with Yupo, like dripping, freezing, splattering, etc, but I've only tried the rubbing alcohol to mixed reaction.

How ya gonna know if you don't give it a try?

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Santa Fe

This is an archive picture of one of my first ever large scale canvas paintings. I did it ten years ago or so as a Christmas present. It was hard, new, and time consuming but I was, and still am, thrilled with the end result.

I didn't have any kids then.

I'm trying to come up with some ideas for themes for my art show in May. It may seem like a long way away but as fast as life is it will be here in no time.

I'm waiting for that Ah-HA! moment to hit me. When you know suddenly what the answer to your problem is, the solution you've been waiting for.

So far I have lots of little ideas, some good, most fleeting.

Do you have any suggestions for me? Any good ideas or themes you've seen at an art show or museum?