This guy thinks it’s ridiculous that there are no job opportunities for horses such as himself on that North Pole run. Not being someone who takes injustices lying down, he’s disguised himself and is going to slip in there and see if anyone notices. ( Look at the sly look in his eye.) So check it out in a day or two…see if you can see any outsized and oddly spotted reindeer in Santa’s line-up.
Tag Archives: pen & ink
Pigs Love Christmas Too
The reason that this little oinker is so on board with the Christmas thing (to the point of helping out with the decorating!) is, of course, that she knows she’s unlikely to be on the menu. Her least favourite holiday is probably Easter, which we won’t mention right now, OK. Let her enjoy her Christmas.
Cocka-jingle-DOOO
OK, here’s another on this theme of farm animals as Christmas ambassadors. My favourite part of Christmas is the few days just before…the anticipation and preparations, the baking, wrapping, decorating, organizing of bedrooms and juggling of schedules. I hope all of you have time and space in your life to enjoy these special days, remembering that every day is a treasure.
Jingle Bull
Today I had too much fun with this. I can’t imagine a better job! Th
e dicipline of daily painting is interesting; I paint things that I never would in a larger format. They’re so much FUN though, that it’s hugely added to the enjoyment, and I think has opened up a lot of venues of expression. I find myself asking myself “what if” a lot more than I ordinarily would. Like today…what if I painted a pretty rodeo bull all decked out for Christmas. What IF!!
5 X 7″ on 200lb paper
Spirit Ponies Descending
Today you get a new large painting I’ve been working on. Although it’s a continuation on the Spirit Pony theme, it differs 
in that it’s entirely out of my head…no photo references at all. I loosely sketched the horses in pencil, and once I had them roughed in, drew them more completely in charcoal. The painting part was fun, with multiple layers of colour and scribbling back into it with charcoal and gold metallic pen.
27 X 12″ on 300lb Fabriano Paper
Echodale Christmas
This blog has introduced you before to our gem of a Regional Park here at Medicine Hat, “Echodale”. It is a restored farm with all kinds of recreational advantages for us all. Summer time is great there with the poultry and animals in residence, the garden growing and the cooks in the kitchen baking bread in the old wood stove. But winter is fun too, with hay rides and wiener roasts. Here it is, the beautiful old log house garlanded up for Christmas.
Doing these latest paintings is gradually getting me in the mood for the Season, and today I had some really great young friends drop by with their various beautiful kids in tow. Now that REALLY made my day! Hope your Christmas joy meter is ticking up a notch or 2 every day as well, remembering that it really is all about relationships.
The Return of the Redpolls
All of a sudden my bird feeder is full of Redpolls and there’s not a chickad
ee or a nuthatch in sight! Being irratic migrators, you never know for sure when they’ll show up, but they come in flocks when they do! The subject of my painting is a little female, since she lacks the rosy colouring the males sport on their breast. Now the only problem is to keep Possum from turning them into hors d’oeuvres.
Starry Night Bison
These days it’
s so dark, and when it’s clear enough there are so many stars, which we we cling to for comfort. For me, the season conjures totemic images surrounded by darkness and light. Today’s painting came with more struggle than usual. Nothing seemed quite right to me till this bison came to mind. A sacred animal of First Nations People, he symbolizes abundance, and yet we see how vulnerable he was to our arrival on this continent. Let us be ever mindful of our power to eradicate even such great power and abundance.
Today’s painting is #600 in my daily painting enterprise, which began on Jan 1, 2010. It feels like quite a landmark, and that’s one reason I wanted to have a more symbolic painting than usual today. I did miss a few days over the 2 years, and sometimes I posted photography, sometimes larger works I was creating, but mostly I managed to do a painting-a-day! 600 paintings and 50,000 hits on my blog really feels like an amazing feat. I truly thank all of you who have come along with me, and I hope you’ll continue to do so. Who knows where this is going?
SOLD
Harmony
When 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
Aurora Ponies
These painted ponies seem to have taken over lately. When I stop to think though, I’ve often done little pony paintings at Christmas time; they make nice little gifts…. I’ve also been trying to work in series this fall, exploring various themes…like my birds, cats, abstracts, and especially these fun little nags It’s been nearly 2 years since I started this blog and I can’t begin to explain how much it’s done for me as an artist. I have my good friend and mentor John Farnsworth of Taos, New Mexico to thank for that. Check out his award-winning web-site and daily painting and daily photography blogs at www.johnfarnsworth.com. Thank you Juan!!!