"Blinker Hood", oil on canvas, 20 x 20 in.
A few months ago, I found a call for entries for a show at the Attleboro Arts Museum, (Massachusetts). The show is called "Out of the Blue", and all the entries had to feature the color blue. I decided to do a couple of paintings specifically for this show. I don't usually paint things to fit the requirements of a juried show--usually I just look through my recent inventory and select something suitable, but I had plenty of time to meet the late spring deadline, and the theme inspired me. "Blinker Hood" was from a photo in my reference library, and since I have been doing so many close-up horse portraits, I was eager to zoom in on the blue hood, and see what I could do with those colors and shapes, when so little of the horse's head was showing. I love fabric folds and the colors that show up in white objects such as the eye cup.
So this piece is the result and this is the one that was accepted into the show.
The opening is July 11, 7 - 9 pm.
"Blue Cooler" oil on canvas, 20 x 20 in.
This is the second piece I did for the "Blue" show. (This one didn't make it in.) I threw my blue cooler on my mare, and shot a bunch of pictures of her in late afternoon light. She has such a soft expression, and the blue really complements her orange-red coat. You can't really see it in this web image, but my studio building is reflected in her eye.
The studio is pretty much like a blast furnace these last few days. I was moving paitings into the cooler first floor as it seemed like the paint was going to run right off the canvases. I think sometimes a heat wave is terrific excuse to goof off. I spent an hour or so this afternoon in the hammock under the trees, reading a book, and didn't feel the least bit guilty about it!
