White Rabbits on Handmade Paper
The challenge of this painting was to create enough contrast to keep it interesting. All this white needed some balance. However I didn't bump up my contrast too much because part of what draws me to this image is the confusion it brings at first glance. You have to “think” about what it is for minute. I am rather fond of images that challenge the eye.
These New Zealand White rabbits were photographed at a local tourist trap. They had about 30 rabbits of varying ages (and sizes) that you could pay a quarter for some bunny kibble to feed them. So of course I did. And that's why they are all circled tight like they are.
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White Rooster on Handmade Paper
My fierce looking rooster was a bird from the farm we lived on in Rapid City. He wasn't ours, (nor were the peacocks, ducks, geese, Llama, horses, dog, cats or giganto goat.) But we got to enjoy them as ours, without all the feed and vet bills. (Sweet)
They had about 20 or 30 of these type of chickens with about 5 roosters. This white one here was a nasty bird who dug his spurs into everything else on the farm including the dogs and cats. Eventually he disappeared under questionable circumstances. (The actual owners of the bird weren't that fond of him, as he wouldn't hesitate to attack people as well.)
At any rate, I really liked this white rooster because he was terribly showy. (Hey . . . what can I say, I’m a visual person.)
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Sheep by Barn
This painting is based off a photo I took of our farm several years ago. We no longer have our flock of sheep. Now, years later, they still provide fond memories.
I loved having sheep. Our flock would range from around a dozen to upwards of thirty. They would always be there to greet us with a loud chorus of baaing when we drove in the yard. They were a mixed lot so their voices ranged quite a bit, from a soft lamb like baa to the deep baritone of the dark faced ones. Whenever we walked up to them, they would crowd around, snuffling, looking for a treat or a scratch on the nose.
They provided a sense of peacefulness to the farm. I'm not sure what it was about them that did that. I really miss "the old girls" as well as the spring lambs. My hope is that, someday in the future, when the craziness of life slows down a bit, we will once again have sheep.
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Polar Bear
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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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Longhorn Cow
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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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Mare and Foal
This is an excerpt from my Apples 'N Oats magazine column regarding the creation of the Devotion painting.
The main reference photo that I used, . . . is in many ways exactly the same (as the finished painting) and yet it is completely different. I like the foal looking out at the viewer. And I especially like the tenderness expressed by the mare. On a compositional level I find the tension between them intriguing. The lines of their bodies and the way their heads come together to form a subtle heart shape--it is almost as if it is a hidden symbol reflecting their bond.
Not so long ago, I worked hard towards a more realistic look. But over time this approach no longer fed my creative side. The older I get, the farther I stray from it. I feel I am transitioning now. More and more, my paintings are being approached from a new perspective. My work is not so much about trying to recreate reality, as it is about filtering reality from an emotional and spiritual place.
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Peruvian Paso
"Have the fearless attitude of a hero and the loving heart of a child."
-Ancient Sanskrit Manuscript
This is an excerpt from my Apples 'N Oats magazine column regarding the creation of the Dignity painting. Leo is the model for Dignity and here I talk about his owner Shawn, and the impact horses have on our lives.
Shawn and I talked a great deal about how Leo came into her life and what he has meant to her. At that time she was still deeply feeling his loss. She said something that resonated within me. She said that she had given him a home and love, but that he had given her so much more. Through my art and travels I have heard variations of this story time and time again. "I thought I was saving him. But in the end, he saved me."
I have always been fascinated with the bonds people form with their animals. How some can view them as non-sentient beings, while others regard them as family. For those of us who open ourselves up to the friendship and solace that animals have to offer, they can have a profound impact on our lives.
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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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Quarter Horse
"He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened."
-Lao Tzu/Tao Te Ching
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Sheep
This is an excerpt from my artist blog regarding the Ewekie painting.
Ewekie here, was my first purple sheep. ...And let me tell you she caused quite a stir among the locals in my dusty little rural town. People actually came into the gallery because they had heard about (a purple sheep painting) and I guess they had to see for themselves the insanity of such a thing.
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Yellow Bear Oil Pastel on Handmade Paper
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Gypsy Vanner
“Know the white, yet keep to the black. Be a pattern for the world, the Tao will be strong inside you and there will be nothing you can't do.”
-Lao Tzu/Tao Te Ching
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Horse in Snow
"One joy scatters a hundred griefs."
-Chinese Proverb
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Horse Herd
This is an excerpt from my Apples 'N Oats magazine article regarding the creation of the Kindred Spirits painting.
I am attracted to repeating patterns. The curves of the necks and the backs, as well as the monochromatic coloring of having all bays and grays, intrigues me. The models were once again my neighbor's herd. It was made up of about a dozen broodmares with foals and yearlings.
When I started this painting, I again toyed with the idea of horses as landscapes. I envisioned their arching necks and gently sloping backs as rolling hills. Initially, my plan was to have negative space or a background along the top third of the painting. It would provide the skyline, so to speak. However, the problem with this was that it made the horses look rather squatty. It didn't work at all. So on to plan B. Fill it with horses. From my experience, This is always a no-fail plan.
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This is from an excerpt from my artist blog regarding the story behind the Lambs painting.
These lambs are from our first year crop of lambs. A few years after we moved to Iowa we decided we needed to raise some livestock and we thought sheep were the critters for us.
We bought about a dozen ewe lambs of mixed heritage and let them mature fully. We like to think of our critters health in terms of the long haul, and waiting a little longer to breed them was they way to go. So when the time finally came, we went shopping for a ram. Since we had so few ewes, and since we intended to keep the ewe lambs, we picked out an older (cheaper) ram, which we would replace the following season.
He was a handsome stately gentleman, whom we named Chester. Chester was gentle, and there was nothing bully-like in his behavior at all. (You know, what you actually picture a ram’s personality to be.)
Well the girls loved him. He was always surrounded by two or three ewes, nuzzling his nose and ears, leaning against him and just in general following him around like a bunch of groupies. They never gave him a moments rest.
A few short weeks later we found him dead in the paddock. No coyotes or anything noticeable as to why he died. So we just surmised it was old age. Chester had done his job though. Every ewe had at least one lamb.
The following season we got a new younger ram. The girls wanted no part of him. He was course, where Chester was gentle. He harassed them while Chester just let them come to him. It was then that it dawned on us, that perhaps the girls had just sexed Chester to death. I mean he was older, but they really just kept after him the whole time. Nothing rough, just always gently touching him and surrounding him, grinning and winking.
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Swimming Tiger
This is an excerpt from my Artist Journal entries for the creation of the Making Waves painting. Below is from a time when I was struggling to finish the water portion of my painting.
So I think my problem is my reference photos. Or rather, that I am relying too heavily on the literal photographic reference they offer. I had made some minor changes to the tiger's positioning in the water as well as his physical shape. Also, this tiger was swimming in a zoo and there was a large concrete wall where I was standing with my camera. Because of this, the water did not flow backwards properly off the near side.
After some deliberation as how to research this, I decided to play in the bathtub. I created wakes and ripples and just watched how water moved. All in all, it really helped me sort out how to finish the water elements of this painting.
A camera is a must for me to collect the proper reference materials I need. But occasionally, I forget that I can't rely too heavily on what they show me. The camera can distort reality. It is important to be able to think for myself and to be truly observant.
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Friesian
I have a passion for heavy horses and the Friesian is at the top of my list. The model for this painting was based on a horse from the Minnesota Horse Expo. I was particularly attracted to the rolling curves and ample mane and tail.
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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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Horse in Water
“You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
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Paint Horse Foal
"However young, the seeker who sets out upon the way shines bright over the world. In him there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, no today. Possessing nothing, wanting nothing, he is full of power."
-Buddha/Dhammapada
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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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Three Horses on Grass
"Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself."
-Zen Saying
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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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African Elephant
The original of this piece is quite large. I wanted to give the elephant a strong presence, so I focused in on a small portion of the whole animal. I feel greater impact was added by leaving much of the animal "outside" the Image.
Elephant skin varies greatly in texture so when doing this piece I treated the skin like a landscape. This was my first oil pastel painting. I very much enjoy working in this new medium and I foresee great possibilities.
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Horses in Snow
"Everything that lives, lives not alone, nor for itself."
-William Blake
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White Tiger
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Appaloosa and Bay
“This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at movements of a dance. A lifetime is like a flash of lightening in the sky, rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.”
-Buddha
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Paint Horse Herd
This is an excerpt from my Artist Journal regarding the creation of the Unity painting.
I try to take my camera everywhere I go. You just never know when or where an opportunity to photograph something will present itself. I was traveling to pick up some matboard with a friend and drove past a large herd of paint mares with foals. After about two seconds of deliberation I turned around and hopped out, camera in hand.
It was a feast for the eyes. I was so excited about what I was viewing through my camera lens, I had several painting ideas even before I had finished shooting my first roll of film. All in all I took 6 rolls of film and most assuredly would have done more had I been alone and not on my way somewhere.
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This is an excerpt from my artist blog entries for the creation of the White Wolf painting. The original painting was done on handmade paper. And so this excerpt talks about working with this media.
The paper is quite soft, so my usual practice of drawing and erasing really can’t happen. To work around this, I could project the image. OR I could draw it out on something else, like tracing paper. Place the final drawing over the handmade paper and redraw the lines. This forms a barely visible indentation on the handmade paper. Carbon paper would also work, but the lines would be quite harsh and may not get completely covered by the oil pastel. (Besides, finding carbon paper these days, is like looking for something out of the stone age.)
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Red Buffalo Oil Pastel on Handmade Paper
When we lived in Rapid City I spent allot of time in the state parks out there and have hundreds of stunning buffalo pics to choose from. I chose her because she isn’t stunning and because of her wild eyed looks. As a wild eyed female myself I could relate and instantly bonded with her. I’ve always had a thing for imperfect critters. Somehow they seem more real and have more personality.
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