Fur In The Paint

I recently received an update email from Karla Siebert regarding Colton and his recovery. Here is her email in part as I have trimmed some of it, due to it’s length.

Colton was taken back to ISU on Friday. Dr. Betts, the surgeon and the ophthalmologist at ISU explained to us the eye, the procedure and the possibilities of his sight in that eye. His report was this “Colton will never be able to read, however he should be able to see objects at afar and his sight should improve in weeks to come”. The second vet, came in and did a new test on Colton’s retinas in both eyes. The retina’s have been damaged, and said it’s unknown if Colton will be able to see in either eye.

The long term effect on this particular eye is unknown. I am confident that he does see things, just not close up. Because of the retina damage we are unsure what the next step is, except to watch him for the next 45-60 days and see how he comes along. “IF” he appears to still have some vision in the 1st eye, we will reevaluate the second eye for the possibility of removing the second cataract.

Okay this is the last time I’ll push the Colton images, I promise. (Well . . . better make that probably.)

We just added two new ways to get some Colton artwork and same as before, 50% of the print proceeds goes to IERAL (Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League) to help Colton with his surgical expenses.

We are now offering the large sized print with a framed option. (Shown Here) Also we now have greeting cards available in boxed sets of 6. Just visit my website www.wildfacesgallery.com for more information or to place your order.

Here’s the latest on Colton’s first eye surgery. He is having one eye operated on, at a time.

Once again the commentary is in Karla Sieberts’ own words. Karla is the president of IERAL (the Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League.) and she has been the driving force in helping Colton regain his sight.

Colton is at AEC and traveled well yesterday, despite the horrible winds/weather. Colton loaded on the trailer like a charm, and is a VERY GOOD BOY! He is now settling it at AEC, he will be there for approx. 30 days, with med’s being administered 4 times a day. He is located in the Stallion barn if any one is interested in seeing him.

I can not explain, how thrilled I am on Colton’s behavior. He is such a well mannered boy, who has probably never seen the light of day. Let’s hope that he will regain some sight in the first eye in the next few weeks, and his disposition remains as he is today, calm and very quick to learn!

Links to the other Colton posts.
Purchase Colton prints
Colton Update pre-surgery
IERAL Fundraiser
About IERAL
Meet Colton

Buy a print and help support IERAL’s efforts, to restore Colton’s sight.

Colton

50% all of print sales of this image will go to IERAL (Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League) for Colton’s medical expenses. With the purchase of a print, your name will be added to the list of donors (unless you’d prefer to remain anonymous) for Colton’s eye surgery.

The Colton print comes in two sizes. Just click on the image for more details.

I received an email recently from Karla Siebert of IERAL (Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League) regarding Colton. They took Colton to ISU (Iowa State University) on Monday to get his eyes evaluated.

According to Karla, he did amazingly well, for never being away from foster care for the past 14 months! Below is part of Karla’s email.

“Dr. Betts, thought both eyes were candidates for the corrective cataract surgery, so we agreed to start with one and then see how that goes. Interesting enough, Dr. Betts felt that Colton has been blind possibly since birth or shortly after.

On Tuesday, the surgery was suppose to happen, however Colton’s blood work came up odd. On Wednesday they retested the blood, and they moved forward with removing one cataract from one of his eyes.

I spoke to Dr. Betts last evening and he said the cataract was extremely yellow, old, and hard, meaning it had been there for a very long time. The eye was swollen more than usual, because of the size of the cataract, but felt Colton would do well.

I will get a report from him today as well, and hope to pick Colton up on Saturday, if all goes as planned. Colton will be at Dr.Abraham’s for at least 30 days for recovery, will have a tube for draining, and drops will be administered.

This experience will be very interesting to say the least. This horse is 7 years young, and probably (according to Betts) has never been able to see. Colton is a very calm Arabian who I think will adjust fine to his new world, but we will wait to see, how things go.

We’ve been approached by an anonymous donor wanting to match “new” donations for Colton starting Monday of this week up to $1000.00. So, if you know anyone who would be willing to donate to Colton and his ability to see for the first time in his life, please have them send donation to IERAL C/O Colton, PO Box 8726 Cedar Rapids, IA 52408.

The surgery is estimated to cost $3200.00 per eye, with the 30 day recovery. We have had some donations for Colton, so thank you for supporting him prior to his first surgery, and we need to continue on with recovery and 2nd eye surgery, after the 1st of the year.

After some hesitation (and some convincing by my hubby) I decided to attend the IERAL (Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League) fund raiser. My trepidation stems from my naturally anti-social personality. Plus, I had no idea what to expect. I’m not the hob-nobbing type. But no cause for concern, it was very rustic and very much my kind of crowd. I mean it was held in a barn!

They had live music in the loft (or perhaps it was a mow?) with wine and cider tasting, gourmet carmel/chocolate apples and miscellaneous noshes.

Outside, you could meet some of the horses available for adoption. They also had a fire going to complete the whole experience. All in all an enjoyable weekend.

This is me (of course) with Karla Siebert (on the right.) Karla is president of IERAL. She also runs a frame shop (among many, many other things) and she is the one who framed the original painting of Colton. The mat looks kinda dark here, but it is a lovely blue-green color, which looks great with the painting.

I didn’t stay all the way until the end, so I’ve no idea what became of the original painting. We had made some smaller prints of it and they seemed to be selling pretty well. The event had a pretty good crowd, so hopefully it was a success.

Or more appropriately: Some of the other horses of IERAL.

I thought I’d show you a few of the other horses at IERAL (Iowa Equine Rescue and Awareness League) that I had the option to paint for the fund raiser which is to be held this Saturday, October 25th. You can visit IERAL website for more details. or to see who is available for adoption, or make a donation at any time.

Thoroughbreds have such great faces and contours. Also I was liking the idea of a grouping. They were a little bony, though it was not so obvious to see in this photo. I really liked these guys. They were a very close second choice. If Colton hadn’t won me over with his sweetness, it probably would have been them on the print.

This is Bo. He is Colton’s father. You can see the family resemblance. Bo is another really pretty horse.

I have a soft spot for arabs. They were the first breed I fell in love with. Of course the Black Stallion helped that along quite a bit. For most of my childhood Arabians were my dream horse. How I went from petite and lovely, to Roman nosed and rotund, I’ve no idea.

How cute is he. This was Colton’s pasture mate when I was out taking picture. He was kinda stand offish but he and Colton got on well enough.

IERAL had several other horses up for adoption as well. But these (and of course Colton) were the horses I photographed the most.

Tomorrows post: When Good Dogs, Go Bad (It’s not what you think.)

Colton
16 1/2″ x 22″
Watercolor Pencil Painting on Arches 140# Hot Press

So here he is all finished. I waited to post him until I sent an image to Karla Siebert of IERAL. He is a little more portrait-y than I would have liked. But it is a pretty enough painting that it will hopefully make them some money. I chose to do a background very similar to Catch’s portrait because of the time constraints. (Meaning I had no time to start again if I buggered it up.)

Progression of the painting,

The early stages with only the nose completed.

Head and neck are complete and shoulder is started.

Body is completed.

The mane is added.

The early stages of the background. Many changes yet to come before the painting is declared finished.

Finished image (same as the top most pic.) He is slightly tilted in this photo because I didn’t get it quite square in the camera lens. However, he is also leaning forward in the painting as that is how he stood much of the time while I was there. I imagine since he is blind, he does this when he’s curious about something.

Shh . . . do you hear it? It sounds like a kind of a frantic pitter-patting. No, it’s not Budda trying to catch me unawares. That my friends is the sound of panic . . . (in a hushed voice) and I think it’s gaining on me.

So I am down to the wire on the Colton painting. I have 2 weeks left (and that includes time for scanning and print making AND shipping. Plus depending on time and just how generous I am feeling, framing as well. YIKES!!!)

I haven’t done a single thing on the Colton painting since the last time I posted a WIP. And so now that art shows are done (for a little while) and I have met most (there was quite a few) my deadlines with the exception of this one. It is time to chain myself to the drafting table and get after it. I had seriously thought of keeping my gallery doors locked yesterday for a full day of uninterrupted working, but in the end I kept the gallery open. I mean really, that is what I am supposed to do. And yes I had customers. And yes it blew my afternoon with no work getting done on the painting.

So what’s a girl to do? Come in, in the evenings of course. When I can keep my doors locked completely guilt free. I was at the gallery until 9:30 last night and in by then the following morning. I plan to work non-stop on Colton today, until some framing comes in via SpeeDee delivery, and then I’ll work on framing for awhile. But I’ll be back tonight.

And to add to the pressure I really want to run wild this weekend. There is a horse event that I really want to see, that I missed last year as it was same weekend as the Octagon. But this year we got separate weekends. Whoo Hoo!

The best laid plans . . .
So since I am short on time I had decided to start a new painting using oil pastels. As they are so much quicker. (Let’s call that Plan B as Plan A was my first WCP painting of Colton.) But then as the hours rolled by while I was looking at my reference photos trying to come up with a new composition. I realized that I was wasting time and since the hard part of my watercolor pencil painting of Colton was done (and Karla Siebert of IERAL had already approved it) I’d be farther ahead to just finish it. Besides, I can’t work oil pastels at night because of the whole metamerism thingy that happens.

But then, late last night as I lay in bed glassy eyed, with images of Colton rolling through my mind, I had an Aha! moment. A composition came to me, that would be simple yet artsy. I thought “Thats it! That’s what I’ll paint. I’ll go in first thing in the morning and (with doors locked mind you) get the new drawing started and with any luck I’ll be able to knock that painting out in 3-5 days.”

So what do I do? I get up early, run into the gallery and look at the Colton piece I have so far, glance at my stack of reference photos and return to plan A. Finish what I’ve got. It’s a good start and has the potential to be a good painting.

So thats how I know it is panic gaining on me. Because I am switching my mind back and forth, when what I really need to do is stick with Plan A. And that’s exactly what I’m gonna do . . . I think.

IERAL stands for Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League. IERAL is located in the Cedar Rapids area and is an established non-profit organization which provides care for abused livestock for the state of Iowa. They partner with law enforcement, attorney’s and veterinary agencies all over Iowa to help fill the void when it comes to the rescue of large animals like horses. IERAL offers a rehabilitation program for the horses they take in.

Earlier this year, I went out to visit IERAL to learn about the operation and take some photos in the hopes of creating a painting for auction as well as prints to help raise some funds. I am pleased to be able to participate in this cause as it is something I believe strongly in.

Karla Sibert took some time to show me around and introduce me to some of the horses. (I’ll introduce you to some of them in an upcoming post.) I liked Karla quite a bit. She struck me as tough, honest and passionate about the cause. I recognized in her a fellow spirit who pushes herself way past the amount of hours she has in a day. Her work for IERAL is just one of many things that she is a part of.

If you would like to learn more about IERAL visit their website at www.iaeral.org. There you can also see who is ready for adoption and who they are helping now. Also as the need for equine rehabilitation continues to grow they are always in need of donations of any kind. Check ‘em out.