Barrel Racer is a portait of a horse which pays homage to the most wonderful sculpture I know - The Head of a Horse of Selene.  Selene, a female charioteer and the Moon Goddess of ancient Greece was tasked with pulling the moon through the night sky. All that remains of this sculpted narrative from the Parthenon's east pediment was the  head of one horse.  Now residing at the British Museum, its exhaustion and focused athleticism is my inspiration.

Two Horses at Capay Valley








The Old Windmill

                                                                      

Both of these painting, 12" x 24", acrylic on stretched canvas, were shown last year at Art To Farm Show in Woodland, California. Artists were invited to display their work at the 625 Gallery after participating in the Art/Ag project, allowing plein air artists to visit farms and ranches in Yolo county.  These lovely draught horses were at the Three Feather Ranch located in Capay Valley. 

The Bay is another resident of Three Rivers Ranch in Capay Valley.  I was struck by the sheer beauty of her coat.  This is a smallish horse, perhaps a mustang.

A quote by Ella Wilcox best describes my motivation for this painting.

"For the wonderful brain of man

However mighty its force

Had never achieved its lordly plan

Without the aid of a horse. "

The Bay measures 30 x 36", acrylic on stretched

canvas.  It, along with giclees and cards, will also go to the Art at the Classic in Nevada City this fall.

Paint and Friend are two characters who were watching me do a little plein air painting at the Three Feathers Ranch in Capay Valley.  Young and spirited, the pinto was most entertaining, so much so that I wanted to take him home.  That would technically be horse theft, so I ended up with a painting.  This measures 30 x 34", it is in acrylic on a stretched canvas.  I will be showing Paint and Friend at Art at the Classic in Nevada City this fall.  Giclee prints and greeting cards are also available. 

PAINTING PEZ

Today I worked on a 'portrait' of Pez, my neighbors most amazing warm-blooded, black horse. Glen Browning invited me to photograph Pez last month and in the course of that time I have been toying with what to do about Pez.  I created a silk screen image and placed that on various backgrounds, I transformed altered photos of Pez into laser prints, perhaps for later transfers, and I started a painting of Pez's fabulous head.  Today was productive in that the painting moved forward fulfilling the fleeting, yet strangely concrete notions I want to materialize in the work. Painting a horse that has little variation in tonality, (he is jet black) is one challenge.  Fortunately, it was a sunny day during my photo session, so there were some highlights, and shine, and bridle, and metal.   But beyond all of that,  I crave the vitality, war-like greatness of this animal.  He made it possible for Scythian nomads to course over the Eurasian steppes.  The Celts of middle Europe made Pez their means of dominating Gaul and then Britain.  His ancestors carried Crusaders!! He was a knights horse. Now his great mass and rich heritage are pulled into the dressage arena where horse and rider meld and restrain and float.

                                         PEZ, day one

                                         PEZ in studio

                                          PEZ, day two

St. Luke's Centennial Logo

      Our church, St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Woodland, California is going to celebrate 100 Years on the Same Corner on September, 29 2012. The celebration is for the church building itself as St. Luke's was established in Woodland in 1887.  Services were held at the Opera House (which pre-dated the present Opera House).  In 1912 the present church was built, and the old church was sold to the Second Baptist church.
     In commemoration of this event I designed a logo to be used as a magnet, a banner, and for literature.
The design was inspired by a 14th century medallion housed at the MET. St. Luke's attribute, the winged ox is seated in a bucolic setting against a cobalt blue sky on a grassy slope.  In my interpretation, St. Luke's building is being cradled in the ox's legs.  I remembered the many early renaissance portraits of church patrons holding model sized replicas of their churches or cathedrals and thought this would be a perfect use of that form.