Fur In The Paint

So I know I usually write something here telling about how wonderful this magazine is and you should all run out and snatch up the newest issue or maybe even subscribe but I’m just not feeling like being all chatty.

Oh wait. Maybe I just did say all that. Hmm.

Once again I failed to get an article ready for it because … well you know. Frankly I haven’t painted in forever but hopefully I’ll manage the next one. Hard telling since there is so much change happening with me and I’ve got a steep learning curve to overcome.

But it IS a wonderful magazine with all sorts of wonderful information. So go get it! or just hit the Apples ‘n Oats website. AND I believe they are now on Facebook so dash out and friend them.

Okay I’m done giving orders for now.

PS Seriously how cute is this cover?

Go and get it folks! It should be available at all the it’s usual haunts or of course you can view it online at their website applesnoats.com.

But if you’re like me and love the feel of an actual object in your hands while you read you can always subscribe.

Alas once again I won’t have an article in this issue. It seems I’m doomed to only get 3 articles a year. But as usual there’s lots of great horse information dealing with equine health, training and events located throughout the Midwest.

The new issue is out so go get it people. As per my usual I’ve provided an excerpt from my column which this time around was about the painting Tuckered Out.

What is Cutecritteradoraphobia?
I suffer from a condition known as Cutecritteradoraphobia, which is fear of overly cute baby animals in my art.

Yeah okay, I made that up. But it does exist in the deep recesses of my fevered imagination and in reality, as an actual aversion of mine.

As with all phobias the best way to figure out how to deal with a debilitating disorder, is to try to find the root cause of it.

Hm … let’s see. I can’t blame my schooling because I’ve had no formal art training.

I can’t blame actual baby animals because I love baby animals.

And no, it’s not because overly adorable baby animal art doesn’t sell. The fact is, it does and does so quite well.

Tuckered Out
Original Painting Size 12 1/2 x 16
Print Image Size 11 3/4 x 15

So after much pondering and reflection I have decided to blame my mother. (I know … how original of me, huh?) But hear me out. She is a painter and during my early artistic endeavors she pretty well drilled it into me that painting overly cute, doe-eyed baby animals is at the very bottom of the artistic pool.

In an artistic family her saying “Cutesy is not art” rings in my head much the same way as phrases like “Eat Your Vegetables,” and “Don’t run with scissors.” Those early art lessons taught me that an adorable little Appaloosa foal touching noses with say … a baby kitten, is to art what a prepackaged snack cake is to fine dining. As a result the number of baby animals I have committed to art is countable on one hand.

So today I leave for the Holiday Thieves Market event held at the Union Memorial in Iowa City. (Yup that in Iowa)

I have been doing this event for, hm … let me see … well at least 8 years. Some years it’s excellent and some not so much. But I keep going regardless. I’ve been doing it so long and it has always been “The End” to my art fair season it just seems only fitting that it’s how I end my art fair season every year.

The Many Way You Can Get A Copy Of The Latest Apples ‘n Oats magazine … Let me counts the ways.
Also I just got a fresh box of magazine goodness with the winter edition of Apples ‘n Oats. Man doesn’t that cover make you wish for Spring. (it’s kinda hard to see but the horses are covered in Hoar frost) As usual you may peruse the issue online by visiting the Apples ‘n Oats website. Or you can run out and pick up at a copy at the many fine equine stores in the Midwest. Lets see … Oh yeah, the always popular subsription and lastly … stop by my booth this weekend and ask me for a copy.

The art event runs Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 10-4

See you on the other side hopefully with a new card image and a boatload of cash.

My Trip
I’m back from my visit with mom. We had a lot of fun and now I’m plumb wore out from all the running about we did. We went to a small local zoo where I photographed some critters. I’m hopeful I’ll get a new totem critter (coyote) and a small duck painting out of my zoo time. We”ll see when I get the pics back.

We also went to visit an artist friend of moms who I hadn’t seen since I was in high school, Dale Bendel. I am absolutely annoyed to not find much of anything online about him to show you because this guy is just all kinds of brilliant. Hey paints women with the same sensitivity that I paint critters. But he also incorporates mythology and metal leaf into his paintings and wood carvings.

I know thousands of artists and rarely am I as impressed with the genius this guy puts into his work. Not to mention he carved a huge carousal horse which sits in his living room. Yup it took all of my personal restraint not to climb up and ask om to take a picture. It was stunning. Oh and he’s a sous chef in his spare time. (yeah I know right?)

The good news was the ghosties remained silent for my visit so maybe the next time I go back I won’t be dreading it quite so much. Okay enough of my trip.

And when I got back I had a box of the latest issue of Apples ‘n Oats waiting for me. So as my usual I’ll include an excerpt for your reading pleasure. To see the whole article rush on out and get yourself a copy. OR just check out the Apples ‘n Oats website. Yup my article is there too. Just peruse the sidebar.

Those Clever Girls
One of my favorite memories of these horses was several years ago when I awoke in the morning to the tell tale signs (manure piles and dinner plate sized hoof prints) of horses having run amok in the yard. After checking to make sure my horse was safely grazing in the pasture, I immediately called my neighbors to tell them the girls were out.

We received a call back a few minute later to say that all their horses were in the yard paddock. “Huh” was all I could say to that.

The following evening in the wee hours, I was awakened by strange noises. As I looked out my living room window, I saw giant black shapes moving about in the darkness. The noises were the horses stepping on the cellar door and it groaning under the weight. They seemed to be intrigued by it as a few moments after stepping back off it, they would step back on. Frankly it a miracle it held them.

So with the dawn came a repeat of the previous morning, where I call and again the horses are all peaceably waiting by the barn.

After the second call my neighbors did a more thorough search. As it turns out after a closer inspection, the fence was found to be weak in one area. The mares apparently pushed on it and just stepped over. How the whole herd managed this is unclear. Whether one held it down for all to leave and all to return or whether each horse did the same maneuver to attain freedom is still known only to them.

Whatever the case, the end result was they frolicked and cavorted in our yard all night long (probably taunting my horse and sheep with their freedom.) Then just before dawn they’d return, sneaking back in the same way they got out. Only to be found standing around waiting for their breakfast grain ration looking bored and hungry. And if it weren’t for my ratting them out, they’d probably have continued doing it for quite some time.

Those clever, clever girls.

UPDATED: Okay so maybe it’s help if I spelled the guys name correctly. Dale Bandel. His artwork is awesome and I really got to say the photos on his webpage do not (at all) do them justice.

The latest Apples ‘n Oats is now available at all the usual locations.

Actually it’s been out for a couple of weeks now but I just haven’t been blogging as faithfully since my world has been all chaos and work.

Sadly, I have no article for this issue so once again I have failed to fulfill this years goals list by having an article in every issue. Who knew it would be that hard to do four horse paintings a year.

Weekend Fun
For the next issue I should give some serious though to a Percheron piece since this next issue will be at the World Percheron Congress and so will I.

Actually the very next thing I’ve got to do is a rodeo bull for the Rolfe Rodeo and Saddle Club Commemorative t-shirt artwork. So that’s my plans for this weekend despite a mountain of framing and preparation for the next art fair weekend after next. Hopefully I will get it done this weekend or very nearly so. (no pressure in my life at the moment)

I’ll post what I got (or lack thereof) tomorrow.

Isn’t he just the cutest little guy. Makes me want to squeeze his fuzzy little nose, followed by a kiss of course.

At any rate you know the drill. Either run out and get yourself a copy or get a subscription from the Apples ‘n Oats website.

Below is an excerpt from the article about my Spanish Gold painting.

An Excerpt
“Of course I was not alone in my adoration as Big Al was almost constantly surrounded by fans. I, however was by far the most tenacious, probably because I was there for a completely different reason than all the others. I was on a mission to get some seriously beautiful horse photos.

When I got my photos developed, it was very much like Christmas. I’d be carefully opening up the many packages and rifling through all that glossy equestrian goodness, all the while breathing in the deeply that hint of developing chemical wafting from the photos. Ahhh! All in all, I took around 800 pictures that weekend with well over 400 being of Big Al. Choosing on which of the photos to base the first painting, took quite awhile (like aound a year.) “

Let the Preparations Begin.
Well as it’s Sunday you might think I’d be working on my Buffalo painting but alas no. I am packing my artwork so I can deliver it tomorrow to the Redrock Art Center in Fairmont MN with my friend Barb for our joint show.

The reception is set for the 16th and I plan to take some pictures for the blog. I may even take a few of the hanging if I can remember the camera.

Have a great weekend ya’ll

After a brief period of being down the Apples ‘n Oats website is back up and running. The current issue is now available online but the archived past issues have yet to be made active.

At any rate for those of you wanting to read my current article about my Liberty painting or any other the other great stuff, you now can.

A Teaser
I just received my box of the latest issue of Apples ‘n Oats magazine. (Ahhhh . . . love that new magazine smell.) So I’m assuming they are now available at the usual locations, which of course includes my place. Or as always, you can subscribe by contacting Carol Eilers (the editor.)

But for those of you with no access to the magazine here’s a teaser excerpt, until the whole articles gets posted to my website

Tall, Dark & Studly
My model for this painting was a young stallion that I photographed last Fall at a farm in the Cedar Rapids area. He had come over to investigate me. And after finding me completely unremarkable (and treat free) he started ambling away when a breeze caught his mane and sent it swirling. The title Liberty is in reference of him being “at liberty.” Free to wander as he would, unhindered by the desires or devices of man.

When I entered the broodmare field they all gathered around to have a good snuffle at me. I scritched a few noses and whispered softly to each how beautiful they all were. After a few minutes, they began to wander off in ones and twos, their curiosity satisfied that I was not bearing gifts.

This works well for me because it is notoriously hard to get a good photo of a horse that is in my face and slurbering on my camera. So it was at this point, I was able to take the type of photos I like best. Which is of horses just being horses. I was hoping for some playful cavorting (to be clear, I was hoping for some cavorting from the horses. I haven’t “cavorted” in decades.) but mostly I got peaceful grazing shots.

It is yet another testament to the breed that the barn manager had allowed me to go into the pastures alone. It was a lovely afternoon and I was in my bliss to be able to spend it surrounded by a herd of these equine giants.

The latest issue of Apples ‘n Oats is out in all it’s glossy horse magazine goodness. In this issue, I write about Chicory and the creation of the new Soul painting.

Oddly enough, a good part of my story came from blog posts. I’ve included an excerpt from my article. (pretty much the only part that hasn’t already been in a blog post.)

If you want to read the whole thing you’ll have to run out and pick up a copy or better still, visit the website and subscribe. (or wait and eventually it will get posted to my website.)

Knee Deep and Belly High
At the moment Chicory is a deeply contented horse. With the unusually high amount of rainfall we’ve had this spring and summer, his pasture is quite literally belly high. It was also freshly seeded last fall so the grasses are particularly tall and lush.

I take great pleasure in watching him so deeply absorbed in his snacking. If he sees me watching he will pause, bob his head slightly and nicker. He then waits to see if I am planning on bringing him in for something. When he sees that I am not, he continues on. Nibble, chew, step. Nibble, chew, step.