Fur In The Paint

Well, we got rained out again. I can’t express how much water there is. The city we were in was already at flood stage. And then it poured. People who lived along the river were evacuated. So in comparison, my not being able to sell stuff is pretty minor troubles.

My horse safari was also a mixed experience. I did go and photograph some horses, but was unable to get to the Friesian Farm that I scheduled in the afternoon. I am very disappointed, (Heavy Sigh) because they were very nice and offered to do whatever I wanted with the horses. Like run ‘em around and such for great action shots. (Pinch me, I’m in horsey heaven!) Hopefully we can try again next time I’m in that part of the state.

I do however, have some lovely photos of a blind arab gelding named Colton. I fell in love with him and will be painting his portrait and donating it to the Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League. IERAL. They plan on having prints made and selling them as a fund raiser. The original will most likely be auctioned off, also to raise money. I used all 35mm film, so you gotta wait to see any pics until I get them developed. And since I live in the boonies that may be a week or two. It’s great living far from civilization, unless you actually need something.

I will tell you more about Colton and IERAL soon, but today I am draggin butt.

Catch - Water soluble pencil 15 x 18 1/2
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

Well the latest issue is out. So, if you just can’t get enough of my writing, check out the latest issue at Applesnoats.com Or if you’d rather get your own hard copy you can always subscribe.

This issue is all about Catch and includes a lot of stuff not mentioned in the blog. Click here to go directly to my article in Applesnoats.

Since we have been talking about creating art that people connect with enough to spend money on. I thought I would share with you my best selling image. Natural Grace has been my highest grossing image in print for the past couple of years.

Natural Grace
Oil Pastel 10 x 30
Copyright by
Mona Majorowicz

Who Knew?
Truth is, it’s not great art. Oil Pastels were still a very new medium to me when I created this piece. I was just kinda playing around and I didn’t try particularly hard with it. I seriously thought of tossing the painting when I was done. My husband had to talk me into making prints of it. (Actually we debated for weeks and he finally just went ahead and did it. Hooray for Mike, that he could see what I could not.)

I started the original at the bargain basement pricing of around $500 and took it, and a couple of prints to an event. People loved it, (or they made horses ass jokes.) I sold several prints and had a few serious lookers at the original. I raised the original painting to $650. Another event more prints sales, more serious lookers at the original. I raised it to $850. This went on for half a season, raising the price to match the interest of the public. I won’t say what it finally sold for, but I am so grateful I didn’t toss the painting. The prints continue to do well. When I create 5-10 more images that do as well, I will be a very happy woman.

The 80/20 Rule.
Often 80% of your sales will be coming from 20% of your work. If you want to increase your sales you need to look at what sells and then do more of it. I’m not saying you need to make duplicates but if you take a gander at the wealthiest print artists in america today (like Thomas Kinkade, Terry Redlin or P. Buckley Moss) you’ll notice that they have one similar painting after another. They have figured out what sells, branded it (meaning just their name alone will trigger an image in your minds eye of what they paint.) and keep producing more. They get a lot of heckling for it, mostly by other artists. But I would think being multi-millionaires really takes the sting out of any bitter remarks.

For myself, I estimate that 7-10 of my prints are making the vast bulk of my print income. While the other 25 images or so sell just enough to keep them in print. I regularly look them over to see what the popular ones have in common.

As a side note.
I have a very dear artist friend, who is quite a good equestrian artist. She has a strong dislike of the Natural Grace image. So for a while after every event when it did well, I would poke her and say “I sold $ of Natural Grace this weekend”. Her usual response was “People have no taste.” I find this hugely funny. Makes me smile still, to think about it. Had anyone else said such a harsh thing to me, I most likely would have felt a little offended, (it takes a lot to hurt my feelings these days) but since it was her, I just find it funny.

I tell this to illustrate my point that even though she is knowledgable about both horses and art, she also would never have guessed Natural Grace would be such a stellar selling image. Friends, artists and collegues are not always right.

The day has finally come when I can turn my boy out onto pasture. Mind you, he has been grazing for some time now. I put him out onto small areas for limited amounts of time to get his gut used to the grass. He has been on hay and grain all winter and in order to avoid colic or founder, as well as to keep an eye on his overall well being, I gradually introduce him to grazing. I do this by penning off small areas for him to graze and start off with one hour graze time. Then gradually extend the grazing time over 7-10 days. Other than a slightly runny nose, he is doing good, so it’s freedom time.

When I did the bale buddy post, Mike said it would have been nice to have some photos to illustrate my story. So this time in preparation for the big event, I take my camera. I would guess from barn to the far end of the pasture, it is close to 3/8 mile distance. I open the gate and he bolts down the lane like a race horse. As he reaches the post indicating entrance to the big pasture, he does a rolling stop (any quarter horse reining professional would have been proud of,) then promptly drops his head and begins to graze. I barely got my camera to my eye and the party was over.

Normally, he gallops happily around the fence. Eventually he gets a little winded and stops. Ponders the meaning of life, then starts bucking, farting and squealing for joy. Followed by another gallop around.

I wait. . .he eats. Hmmm. I come up and try to drive him away. I flail my arms and cluck, he lifts his head trots 5-10 feet and resumes eating. I try again and get the same result. (big surprise there) I try inducing him to run, by jogging away from him. He eyes me from a distance. I wait some more . . . he eats some more.

After about 20 minutes I decide that there will be no great photo shoot of him galloping through the rich green grass. His mane and tail flagging out behind him like burnished copper in the sun. Instead I’ve got a pudgy, dusty (because to add insult to injury he had to roll right after I groomed him, for the big photo op) quite average looking horse, grazing.

As I wander off defeated, I think to myself “I bet he is waiting until I am gone and then he will do something truly spectacular, like the macarena or hula or something.” Harrumph!

Starring Chicory in I Want Out.
Ah . . . Spring. Subtle flute music plays in the background amidst the chirping birdies and fluttering butterflies. The tender green shoots of grass are bursting forth from their earthy slumber. The rains have come and everything smells clean and green.

I stand outside the barn scratching Chicory, who has almost completely shed out, but still has plenty of those crazy-making itchies. Mind you, it wasn’t so very many days ago that we could have knitted some cozy little chihuahua sized sweaters, from the fur I was pulling off him.

We quietly enjoy the warmth of the sunlight and the gentle breezes. He looks wistfully out to the pasture, of which he has been denied access to, since December.

A thought comes to him. (I could see the wheels turning) He looks at me and nickers softly. I look him in the eye, silently questioning. He looks out to the pasture, pauses a moment, then looks back me. I continue to scratch him, but don’t move. He waits for a moment, then swings his head s-l-o-w-l-y back to look at the pasture. He holds a little longer than before, then looks back at me. I smile placidly and continue to pet him. The words, “Whats that Lassie? Timmy’s stuck in the well!” roll through my head.

Chicory sighs deeply, his frustration at my apparent dull-wittedness is obvious. Since I am failing to comprehend what it is that he wants, he decides to take it to the next level with charades. He steps away from me and walks over to the gate. Makes eye contact again, then tosses his head dramatically over the gate leading to the pasture. This time he doesn’t look back at me, but rolls his eye over to see if I am paying attention. I think if he could have pantomimed the unlocking of the gate, he would have.

I walk over and pat him. “Sorry big guy, You’ll have to wait another week or two before I can turn you out.” He drops his head, and again sighs deeply. I would like to think he understands my meaning. But truthfully, I think he is just resigning himself to the fact that his human is a complete and utter idiot.

Catch - Water soluble pencil 15 x 18 1/2
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

Catch Penny II
Here is the completed water soluble pencil painting of Catch Penny II. I had been holding off posting it until Carol got her painting. She had been following its progress on the blog, but had wanted the finished painting to be a surprise.

Prints are available, click on Catch’s picture or the title underneath, to view the details.

Catch is a 28 year old Morgan owned by Carol Eilers. He has been a Pony Club horse and has taken three youths to USPC Nationals. Two for eventing (he can jump just about anything.) And one for dressage. He “loves” kids and thoroughly enjoys being fussed over.

He is a dressage school master and still ridden occasionally on trail rides. Carol says, he has a naughty streak and can be ornery, but has a marvelous willing attitude when it really counts.

I may have over romanticized him a little bit in the painting. But Catch has always fancied himself somewhat of a playboy. I like to think Catch would approve of his Fabio like hair-do.

Latest WIP
Here’s the latest work in progress. The color is way over saturated but you get the idea. The coloration from the previous post is much closer.

I will post How To Frame Oil Pastels Part3 tomorrow.

The Shire
I was watching the end of BBC America World News (waiting for Kitchen Nightmare’s to begin) and they had a small segment on the Shire horse breed. The Shire has been a symbol of British heritage for centuries. Currently though, they are dieing out faster than they are replacing themselves. It has been projected that they may become extinct (in the UK) within 10 years, unless something is done. The good news is, the global gene pool is strong.

I must say I am surprised in this day and age of cloning, embryonic transfer and frozen sperm, that extinction in a domestic animal was even possible.

It seems, that currently the Shires that are being bred, are primarily for show purposes. Oddly enough, those people who are actually interested in getting a good work horse are buying Percherons. The French have national studs and work hard to promote their breed. It is estimated that they need at least 300 Shire fillies born each year to maintain the status quo. Last year 150 fillies were born and 50 mares were exported, so only an additional 100 mares were added to the population. Unless steps are taken, the Shire may go the same way as the Suffolk, and fade into history.

The photo here, is of a handsome shire stallion, taken at the MN Horse Expo a couple of years back.

Here is the outline drawing for my next painting, if it gets approved that is. I rarely (pretty much almost never) do much for commission artwork, though I get asked all the time. I think a horse artist could make a good living, just painting for hire. I . . . alas, don’t have the stones to paint portraits on an on-going basis. Frankly, I barely get the time to paint, what I want to paint, without scheduling it in. Let alone, work on stuff for others, and under their parameters. Kinda kills the creative juices for me. I sure respect those who can, though.

So, what is it that will get me to agree to do your horse’s portrait you ask? Well . . . in a nutshell, flexibility. You must have a willingness to let me do what I want and the fortitude to let me do it in my own time frame. (Yup, I’m not asking much huh? No siree, not much at all.)

The saint who requested this painting, is my editor Carol Eilers. She has been waiting patiently for almost a year. (Umm … maybe it has been a little over a year. I’ll have to check.) I think what has held me off for so long, (besides wanting to give it my undivided attention that only the off-season months can provide) is, I just couldn’t get excited about doing the traditional head shot. But once I let go of the idea of a head shot portrait. I got inspired by all the possibilities. If she doesn’t like this composition, I do have a backup plan. Something slightly more portrait like where the horse is in profile. But I love this composition, as well as the wistful look in his eye. I will probably go ahead and do this piece regardless.

This painting is to be done in watercolor pencil. I am kinda jazzed about this because it has been years (literally) since I have worked in watercolor pencil. I am curious to see how, what I have learned with oil pastels, translates over in the pencil artwork. We shall see. I will be posting work in progress (WIP) shots, so you can follow along and judge for yourselves.

Since I posted yesterday about the importance my neighbors horses played in their lives. I thought today, I would show a couple of paintings that I have done, that were specifically inspired by those same horses. I have done at least five paintings based on their animals. But I have included only one, of each of the media that I work most commonly in. My neighbors are Percheron people. They occasionally have other breeds but they have always had Percherons.

The Greys - Water soluble pencil 16 x 24
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

The Greys
This is an earlier painting and the first that I did that was inspired by their horses. I was walking one winter with the snow gently falling. The mares and yearlings were all out along the fence row watching me (I think they were in hoping of goodies.) That really is all there was to the inspiration. By the time I got back from my walk, I had it all planned out in my head. The bells in the painting are also my neighbor’s. I sketched them a few weeks later, as they hung by their door, for a Christmas decoration.

Kindred Spirits - Oil Pastel 10 3/4 x 30 1/2
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

Kindred Spririts
This painting came from several photos I took just a summer or two ago. I always carried my camera in my van. So, when I drove past their pasture, on my way to the gallery, I was ready if something photo worthy was happening. This day was late into summer and the black horses were bleached bay by the sun. The herd had been mingling under the big shade tree, when the boss mare decided it was time to go cool off in the soothing waters of the creek. At first one or two straggled after her. Then the rest followed as a group packed tightly together. I am always fascinated by repeating patterns. And their arching necks and sloping backs were intrigueing. So tah-dah! a painting is born. You can read a more complete story of the creation of Kindred Spirits in my Apples ‘N Oats article on my website.

As an artist, having upwards of 30 draft horses, within view of our farm has proved to be quite inspirational. Currently all the horses are gone. I’m not sure if they will be bringing any horses back with the loss of the barn. This too, is something that I am really going to miss.

My favorite Story About The Neighbor’s Horses.
Several winters back, in the dark of the night I would hear noises coming from outside. Just thumping and rubbing type sounds. In the morning light, their tell-tale platter sized footprints and poo piles, were everywhere. So I called over to the neighbor and said “I think your horses are out.” She takes a moment to look and says “No, they are all in the yard pen.” (Hmmm.) So this happens for a couple of nights. Until finally she calls us up and says, “We caught them!” Apparently, they were just stepping over a low spot in the fence coming over to our place to check things out and play. (I bet they also touted their new found freedoms, to Chicory as well.) Then, when morning came around, they just headed back up our lane and stepped back over the fence for their morning grain ration, thinking no one was the wiser.

Clever girls!

Soul is a small water soluble pencil painting (approximately 6×8) of my horse Chicory that I did some while ago. This is his baby face from when he was a 2 year old.

So, yesterday we put in a fresh round bale of hay for Chicory. This is kinda like Christmas for him. He always rushes up and takes massive energetic bites of hay while I am removing the twine. I finish up and move away and then the partying begins.

Soul - Water soluble pencil
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

Usually he trots around it several times squealing. A couple of small bucks and a few kicks towards it, are thrown in for good measure. Perhaps, he will take a break to munch a mouthful or two of hay and ruminate. This is followed by snorting and rubbing his body along it like its a giant curry comb. He pushes it around the pen, breaking it up and then, flops down in total abandon and rolls and snorts and farts. Ah, such simple pleasures. In the course of the next few days he will have pushed all one ton of it around. Every few hours I will look out and see the bale has moved from its previous location. That part drives Mike a little crazy. It tends to waste hay and occasionally is really hard on the fence. But I think from Chicory’s perspective its the best horse toy ever!