Stepping Lightly

I've started the new year in a slightly new way. My usual comfort zone with a painting is on the smaller side. That said, I have done a couple of 3 x 4 foot wall murals (acrylic) in a local school and had fun with them. So to make a break with the past few years of mostly little paintings, the first one of the new year is bigger. This is a 14 x 18 inch watercolor on Arches Hot Press 300lb paper (or 'board', as I think of it), and I've called it STEPPING LIGHTLY.

This painting came out of something I saw one lovely spring morning a couple of years ago. I was watching this mare and her new foal, and snapping photos, when the foal lay down, sprawled all around his Mum's hind hooves. I was sure she was going to step on the little guy - how could she help it? But with enormous care, she picked her way out of the tangle without brushing a hair of the little fellow's body. I knew then, that sooner or later, I would have to paint this scene.

I'm really pleased with the way it has turned out. I feel that I captured that fresh, spring morning in the sweep of the clouds and with the clear, bright meadow. I also like the contrast I achieved between the power of the mare and delicacy of her movement, and I think I showed the utter trust her baby has in her.

STEPPING LIGHTLY will soon be on my website, and it is available for purchase.

New Year, New Ideas

Here we are, staring the New Year in the face, and I'm wondering if it will be a good year. I'm hoping so, because I have to say that 2010 was very difficult, both personally and professionally. On the personal front, I'm proud to say that the challenges were met, and I am grateful that myself, my husband, and our darling dogs and cat are well, comfortable, and happy.
I've seen some people whom I thought of as friends, make it known through deed and word, that they were not. So I am leaving those people and the situations surrounding them, in the past where they belong. (No fireworks involved - courtesy reigns in any future contacts.) On the other hand, I am savouring a couple of new friendships that have blossomed over the past year, and of course, I treasure my dear friends of long standing who have been with me through good times and bad. Love ya . . . always will!
On the art front, I am about to implement some changes that I've felt were needed throughout most of last year. The trouble was, I wasn't sure what those changes needed to be. The year was a strange one, with some wonderful and unexpected opportunities turning to Chimeras, and very ordinary little things becoming something very wonderful. There were also moments of total hilarity, and they all helped point out the new directions for me. I need to paint what I NEED to paint, and not worry about who will find the painting appealing, and not concern myself with the pursuit of commissions. 2011 is my year to follow my dreams. I will be concentrating on watercolors again because I love them above any other medium, but there will be some Colored Pencil work and Graphite as well My subject matter will remain what is in my heart - dogs, cats, horses, and Fantasy, with one or two surprises thrown in. I am beginning my second series in watercolor, titled ME AND MY DOG. I'm not sure yet how far that will go, but it will be fun to find out. I plan that some of this year's work will be larger than usual for me, and some will be smaller too. And sometimes, I will just "follow the music and see where it leads me".
So like the little Shelties in the painting, I'm peering at 2011 and wondering what it will bring, and am hoping that it will be a very good year. Let the Year unfold!