Category Archives: saddle horses

Harmony

Horses, runningWhen horses are allowed to live as they evolved to live….in herds, they move as if of one mind.  Horses running in a herd are like a single entity that flows in harmony.  Even as this happens though, it seems that no two are on stride with each other; every horse choosing his rhythm within the band. Such perfection needs no interference from us, and for me, I just want every opportunity to witness it.

5 X 7″ on 200lb paper     SOLD

Under Dusky Skies

Today’s painting isn’t a little one…this one is 8 X 16″ on watercolour board; the Q Ranch horses as they jog to the corrals the night before branding.
It’s such a treat to see horses in groups; they move together as if of one mind.  Add a wild sky and some waving prairie grass, and you have an dramatic story. 

Blue Duck

Here’s Blue Duck, one of the horses on my cousin’s ranch.  Don’t you just love the blue and purple! Those colours are no exaggeration; he really is this colour….. a real pastel painted pony.

If you’d like to own this original watercolour, email Gena with your bid today! gena03@telusplanet.net Minimum bid $100 (plus gst and shipping). First bid, or highest bid wins the painting.

We’re Up Next

This painting was a treat to do! For one thing, it’s so great to paint large-scale after doing all the little “dailies” which are 5 X 7″.(This one is 30 X 20″ ). Another is that I really appreciate the bond between horse and rider, and I think that’s what was the driver for me to paint this at all. 
Thirdly, I enjoyed painting all the gear;  leather & silver, rawhide and horsehair, straw and denim.  Such rich textures with rich history. 
Not sure it’s finished. Should I lay in a big of sky behind?  Am sitting with it for now.

30″ X 20″ on 300lb Fabriano

We’re Up Next-beginning stages

This is a piece I’ve been working on all week.  It’s large…30″ X 20″ and it’s been a challenge to draw.  However, we’re off and running now!
This was from a photo I took at the Ranch Horse Competition this summer, and I loved the body language of both cowboy and horse.  Though they are still, you can feel the intensity of the horseman as they wait their turn.  The horse though, seems to be saying “We’ll be fine man; just chill!”
 Will post the finished product when it’s ready.

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Horses of the High Country

Good friends operate the trailriding in summer and sleigh rides in winter, at beautiful Lake Louise in Banff National Park. Their winter pasture is high up on the front range of the rockies just east of the park. I was lucky enough to visit there for the spring gather a few years ago; an unforgettable experience.  

If you’d like to own this original watercolour, email Gena with your bid today! gena03@telusplanet.net Minimum bid $100 (plus gst and shipping). First bid, or highest bid wins the painting.

On the Bit

Here’s a larger project that I’ve been working on for most of the week, amongst other diversions. After a summer of fooling around, it’s time for me to get to work!
 This beautiful horse won the ranch horse competition in the Hat this summer and I wanted to paint him at work,  all geared up in silver spade bit, handbraided bosal and romel rein, and handmade horsehair mecate. 
The honouring of those traditional art forms is one of the side benefits  of modern horsemanship, and I for one, am very appreciative of all of it.

16 x 14″ on300lb Fabriano

Paint!

Today I was cleaning out a closet in my office (you have NO idea!!) and I found some exercises from the workshop I did in Taos N. Mexico a few years ago with my friend John Farnsworth.  I found a page full of horses that I’d painted in the style I’ve been trying to achieve with my sunflowers lately!  So I did this paint horse today as an illustration of that! No drawing…just watercolour and a brush. No stopping; try and keep a continuous flow going! Lots of water and let the paint mix on the paper.  Oh what fun!  

If you’d like to own this original watercolour, email Gena with your bid today! gena03@telusplanet.net Minimum bid $100 (plus gst and shipping). First bid, or highest bid wins the painting.

Matt & Shorty

This painting is of  Matt Robertson  at the Ranch Horse competition here in the Hat in July, while he and his catty little grey gelding were waiting for their turn to compete.
I like Matt’s face, the light as it emerges from the shade of that palm-leaf hat he’s wearing, and I like his relationship with his horse

 Not only is Matt a good horseman, who makes his living as a ranch cowboy, he’s a wonderful singer-songwriter. Check it out at his web-site www.mattrobertson.com. His newest album, “The Voice” is awesome. 

SOLD

If you’d like to own this original watercolour, email Gena with your bid today! gena03@telusplanet.net Minimum bid $100 (plus gst and shipping). First bid, or highest bid wins the painting.

The Horseman

This little painting was a lot of work……but
I wanted to do it; there’s something irresistible about cowboy gear. What is it?….the extra long fringes of these chinks? the distinctive indigo blue of denim, which is the absolute compliment to the colour of the chaps? the silver conchos on his spurs? the horsehair macate? the sunshine and the dust? A lot of it is associated with the magic of being around horses, and the mere sight of all these things evokes a lifetime of pleasurable memories.  I’m just so glad there are young men & women today who continue to value the time honoured traditions of fine horsemanship.  

If you’d like to own this original watercolour, email Gena with your bid today! gena03@telusplanet.net Minimum bid $100 (plus gst and shipping). First bid, or highest bid wins the painting.