Going to the Dogs

Pyrannes Pup 4 x 6 oil on canvasboard, $50.


Bulldog Study 5 x 7 oil on gessoboard, $75.


Little Collie Mix 11 x 14 oil on canvasboard, $125.


St. Bernard 4 x 6 oil on canvasboard, $50.

Hmmm, last year was the year of the chickens..I think this year might be the year of the dogs. At least it's starting out that way. I have been inspired as of late, to do a number of quick, small paintings featuring dogs that I have photographed in my travels. I usually find one or two to photograph at an outdoor art show, and there are also dogs at town events, parades, and soccer games. Since I tend to photograph these dogs on the sly, with a long zoom lens, I have no idea what their names are, or who their owners are, but something about them just called out to be captured in paint.

Since these are quick studies and unframed, I am offering them up for sale at very affordable prices. If you are interested in purchasing any of these--shoot me an e-mail.

More dogs to come...

Painting in the New Year

"Snow Lashes", photograph, 2009

I'm back in the studio at last, after a month of Christmas preparations, holiday concerts and gatherings, gift shopping and wrapping, and holiday baking.
Just days after Christmas was over, I was driving to Long Island to deliver paintings for a show in Oyster Bay, New York, home of Teddy Roosevelt and the Teddy Roosevelt Association. TR and the Horse is an exhibit featuring myself and four other equine artists. We will each be exhibiting 7-10 pieces of our own work, and a few drawings of Teddy Roosevelt's favorite horses. My contribution is an ink wash drawing of Manitou, his favorite hunting horse. The preview party will be January 9, and the show will run through the month of January.

Oyster Bay, as is turns out, is also home to quite a few Underhills, and there is an entire room full of archives and geneology on Underhills, maintained by the Underhill Society. Since I'm only an Underhill by marriage, I lack the knowledge of family names to do any real research into the family history, but it was fascinating to know that it was there.

My little trip to Oyster Bay was a perfect excuse to visit a friend in Manhattan, and so to avoid the scariness of driving into the city, left my car in Oyster Bay and took the Long Island Railroad to Penn Station. This made my return trip quite the ordeal, as it is an hour and a half train ride to Oyster Bay and then it was a four and a half hour drive home in bumper-to-bumper traffic on 95. Apparently New York City rush hour begins at 2 in the afternoon.

So now I am back in the studio, inspired to paint a few dogs. Kimberly Kelly Santini's book, Painting a Dog a Day, was a Christmas gift, and her wonderfully expressive paintings of dogs have inspired me to tackle a few myself, and revisit some of my reference photos of dogs I have encountered at various events.

Today, I ventured no farther than my own paddock to photograph Niqui and Keeper in the wet snow. The photograph above features Niqui and her beautiful long eyelashes.

Max's Debut

Permit me a moment of parental pride, here. Max has been singing with the Fourth Grade Select chorus this year, "Fortezza", and really enjoying himself. We always thought he could sing in tune, but coming from a family of lousy singers, we're not always sure that we're the best judge of his vocal talents.

Today, with the help of our friend, Donna Lynch, and Brenda Rich-Pike on the piano, Max made his singing debut in church today during a very musical service of carols and Christmas readings. Despite the onset of a head cold, he was a trooper, and he impressed everyone with his singing voice. Way to go, Max!

Here is Max's duet with Donna, singing "There Was a Little Baby".

Open Studio Weekends

The paintings are all hung, everything is arranged--stop by my studio this weekend or next Nov. 28-29, and Dec. 5-6th, from 10am to 5pm.

I am at the far northeast edge of the Artist Open Studios of Northeast CT. That means I may not get as many visitors as some of the artists. For me, though, it is a welcome opportunity to take stock of the inventory, and spend a whole weekend (or two) in the studio, catching up on projects.

In hanging work for this weekend, I am realizing that the inventory is quickly outgrowing my space! You'll have to come just to check out my bargain bin, an assortment of smaller paintings just waiting to find the right home. All the originals in the bargain bin are priced at just $75.

Windham Arts button wearers will get a free Horse Alphabet (or Cowman Numerals) poster for supporting Windham Arts.

The kitty up above is Pixel, of course. Lounging in a windowsill is his favorite summertime activity, and he likes to lie on his back or his side, and wiggle and squirm, showing off his furry chest and belly. This is an 11 x 14 oil on canvas.



"Bay with a Blaze" is an 8 x 10 oil on board. This horse was just shining in the evening sunlight of the Woodstock Fair. I like the shadow that his head casts on his neck.

Cheerio and the Chicken

I caught this moment on camera while grilling some juicy sirloin and vegetable kabobs. Ran in to get the camera while Cheerio and the chicken faced off. (And that trench in the background is for the conduit that is finally going to bring the internet to my studio!)

Also up this week is my online interview with The Equinest:
http://www.theequinest.com/alecia-underhill/
Since this interview tells all about me, I can keep this blog post short.

Getting ready for the Glastonbury Fine Art on the Green show, this Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 12-13, 10-5 rain or shine. (It better shine!)
It's going to be a busy fall, with shows ever other weekend until Columbus Day. I just agreed to do Artists in the Country in Woodstock, CT on Sept. 26-27.
Then there is the RISD Alumni Sale on Oct. 10.

Round 'em Up Cheerio!

"You want me to what?"

My English Shepherd dog...my intense, somewhat high-strung, bossy, territorial, prey-driven dog...is not chasing the chickens. She's not eating the chickens. Okay, she's not even herding the chickens.
When they were baby chicks in the brooder, she nearly put one in her mouth. I was convinced these chickens would be coop bound. No free-range chickens for us...we have a dog that goes at about 100 miles an hour after a squirrel. And though I have put a lot of time into obedience training, and her basic commands are well-mastered, I thought there was no way she was going to come to me when there was a chicken dinner strutting across the lawn.

So I invested a hundred bucks in an electronic training collar. There are a few behaviors other than chicken chasing that I needed to nip in the bud. Barking at the lawnmower, for instance...when you're in the driver's set of a roaring Cub Cadet, it's hard to train your dog. Chasing cars up the driveway is one, although she has gotten much better about that lately. Circling the inflatable pool and barking at us while we splashed around in it was another behavior that I figured I could zap away.
The lawnmower and the swimming pool barking each took two electronic corrections. She has not committed either one of these misdeads since. And she hasn't chased a car while I've had the training collar on, either.

So, now I thought I'd try it out with the chickens. The first day we let the hens out of the run a couple of hours before sunset, so they could explore and stay pretty close to the coop and want to go back in on their own. I kept Cheerio in the house, just to give the hens a easy introduction to the wide outdoors.

The second day, when it was time to put them back in the coop, I put on Cheerio's electronic collar, and her regular collar with a long lead--a horse lunge line, so that I could remain at a distance and see how she would do. She trotted right up and investigated the chickens, never barked, never chased. I asked her to help me "round 'em up" thinking, here now she finally has a chance to use those herding instincts. All that practice in trying to herd the family together on walks could now be put to use for an actual job. My dog is approaching three years old, and it's time for some gainful employment. I demonstrated to the best of my ability what I wanted her to do, but the blank look she gave me said it all. She ran in circles, but not in circles around the chickens.

A week later, the chickens are still fully enjoying the great outdoors, and Cheerio is a contented observer. Chicken wrangling just might not be her thing. They just may not be challenging enough. The horses, however, now there is an animal worth herding.
"I think I'll go bark at the horses" Cheerio says. "Hey, you there! You're not supposed to lie down. Get up right now! Right now, I say! Horses are not allowed to lie down around here!"

Driving, Daisies and Dot

Gentleman's Turnout
oil on canvas, 9 x 12 in.
"Pulling Their Weight", the Horse in Fine Art Exhibition is up and running at the Mackinac Island Public Library. Gentleman's Turnout is one of my three entries. The show can be viewed online at the AAEA website. It looks to be a stunning selection of work. I am so honored to be a part of it.

Pulling Their Weight, The Horse in Fine Art


The whole horse pasture is just full of buttercups and daisies. I wish it were full of more edible grass for the horses, but I am hopeless at pasture management, and it has been made difficult this year with all the rain...it just grows and grows faster than the horses can eat it, and there is very little time to mow it. But on the bright side, the daisies make a beautiful, very long-lasting display in a lovely old mason jar.


Yellow Chick
oil on canvas, 11 x 14 in.


And this is "Dot", my little yellow chick. She has grown into a beautiful cream-colored pullet with a bit of orange on the edges of some of her feathers. Here is a photo of her all grown up.

I am moving on from the baby chick paintings to hen paintings, and I will post as soon as one is finished and scanned.
The coop is nearly finished, just a few small details left to do, and the young ladies seem to be very happy in their home. They have all figured out the chicken ladder and go into the coop at night, safe from all the wily predators. And here is what I'm calling "The Egg Drop Inn", complete with window box.