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A Rough Draft

Clydesdale Mare

I found this diminutive Clydesdale mare spending her retirement years at a petting zoo where she enjoyed the treats and attention the children gave her. I have mixed emotions about this. In a perfect world she would be in a sunny pasture, belly deep in grass. However it is hard to say what her fate would have been had the zoo not taken her in.

Despite her age, she had a beautiful face with kind eyes and a soft expression. I see beauty in all horses and I am just as compelled to paint a back yard pony as I am a show champion.

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Courage And Valor

Clydesdale Team

This is an excerpt from my Artist Journal entries regarding the creation of the Courage and Valor painting.

I was once asked by a friend what exactly is it that I like so much about horses. I am not one to spend a whole lot of time analyzing myself, so I had to give it a bit of thought. The truth is I like everything about horses. The way they look and sound and smell. The gentle manner of my horse and his sweet disposition.

I love to spend warm summer evenings sitting on his hay bunk in the barn just listening to the soft whisp and grind as he eats hay. Occasionally he runs his nose over my leg or foot just to let me know he is enjoying my company.

I think I was just born with the love of horses embedded in my genetic code. I don't remember when it all started, I have just always been "horse crazy". I don't know why I get so much enjoyment from just being with my horse. I don't know why I create horse paintings one after the other. Perhaps I should spend just a little time analyzing myself....Nah.

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Days End

Belgian Draft Horses

This is an excerpt from my Apples 'N Oats magazine article regarding the creation of the Days End painting.

We recently have had many storms pass through, which has left our farm soggy and battered. After the latest, I was out walking the pasture, looking for downed branches and shingles. While doing this, my horse followed me about, taking nibbles of grass every few feet. I was rushing around trying to get done as quickly as possible. There were more chores to be done, than hours left in the day.

Chicory patiently followed me, as always the courteous gentleman. Whenever I would stop for even just a moment, he would softly nuzzle my back or arm. After a few of these gentle persuasions I finally got the hint and took a break. I just stood there in the misting rain, leaning against his warm body and watching the flood waters flow through the low spot of the pasture. I let myself get absorbed in the pleasantness of it all. It is a wonderful feeling to let the quiet and stillness get inside.

It was with this feeling of peace that I worked on "Days End". I wanted the horses to convey their harmony and contentment with each other and their surroundings. When working on my art I draw upon my relationships with my animals. It is often said that you should paint what you know. Which I do. But more so than that, I paint what I feel.

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Earth Movers

Percheron Team 4 across

This is an excerpt from my artist blog regarding the creation of the Earth Movers painting.

I think there may be a colorist deep inside me trying to get out. Many of my paintings start out with all sorts of color and then I start toning them down until I finish with something that looks quite realistic with just hints of brightness.

Mike rolls his eyes every time, when I look at a near completed painting and declare, “It looks too purple.” Apparently there is something going on unconsciously and then I have to pull it back into reality.

Anywho, this painting started out as being quite realistic in coloring and then I was getting bored. (Yawn) So I thought what the heck, I doubt I will be happy with it as is, lets bump up the color. And here is the result. The sad thing is you can’t actually see the color that I am talking about in this scan of it. But trust me, it is just crammed with purples, periwinkles and gingers. (I just love that color combination.)

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Joy

Horse in Snow

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Power And Passion

Belgian Team

This team was a working pair at a draft horse pull in South Dakota. I was particularly attracted to the broadness of their faces and the expressiveness of their eyes.

They were such massive powerhouses. When the time came to pull, they threw themselves into it with gusto. I don't remember how they placed in the competition, but I do remember their willingness, and of course their power and passion.

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Show Girls

Belgians

This painting is a scene from the Britt Draft Horse Show in Britt, Iowa. It is the largest draft show in the area and most of the large breeds are represented. This image is pretty much the "behind the scenes" view. The actual motivation for the painting, aside from the fact that it amuses me, is the repeating pattern of the soft curves of the horses set against the strong vertical and horizontal lines of the stalls.

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Strength And Glory

Percheron Team

This is an excerpt from my artist journal entries for the creation of the Strength and Glory painting.

It is a constant challenge to really “see” what I am trying to portray. In this case my reference material for this painting is several photos of a couple of different horse teams, taken at different locations, times and lighting situations. My mind struggles with what I actually “see” before me in the photo, and with what I “think” the color should be. Then I need to decide what color to actually put down to make it an interesting painting.

I like to deviate a little from what reality is. After all, if my goal was to produce hyper-realistic artwork, I would most likely become a photographer.

I very much enjoy collecting the reference photos that I use. But for me it is the use of my senses to filter an image into a painting, that makes it enjoyable.

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The Greys

Percheron Team

Horses have always been a great love of mine. I don't actually remember, but I think a horse was quite probably the subject of that first drawing I did as a child. I read stories about them, drew them, dreamt of them, saved up my money to buy picture books and plastic figures of them.

The heavy breeds of horses have become my favorite and I am fortunate enough to have a neighbor who raises Percheron draft horses. They are living works of art with their ebony coats, thick necks and robust form. I often walk along their pasture watching them graze and delighting in the antics of each years new foals. I guess it was inevitable that at least one painting should come of that.

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The Solace of Open Spaces

Horses in Snow

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Working Girls

Draft Mule Team

These draft mules were taking a break from giving buggy rides at the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa. I shot over two rolls of film on them but because they were feeling quite nappy I was hard pressed to find a couple of photos without one of them yawning or with its tongue stuck out.

This is one of my favorite paintings and one of the few originals that I am keeping for myself.

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