Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Two heads are better than one...



More works in progress. One nearly completed, the other I just started last night.
You may remember the bay from a previous post. He used to have a landscape behind him but it was looking absolutely hideous and I was revolted every time I walked into my studio. I think his new background looks much better. Still have to work on it a bit. The horse is basically done.
The chestnut horse is from a photo I took of a thoroughbred stallion that was under my care named Signoir Valery. I have no idea why I chose to paint this horse since it was the only horse I have ever hated in my whole life. Maybe I feel bad for hating him. "Siggy" was as mean as the day is long and one day I was walking past his stall and he stuck his head out and bit me. It was the worst pain I have ever felt in my whole life, like a white hot Bowie knife had just cut a hunk of my arm off. He actually torn the muscle in my upper arm and I still have a lump there. My whole arm turned black and blue for a month (at least). Let's hope this painting goes along smoother than our relationship!
I'm leaving his background a grey/green/sage color. It reminds me of one of my favorite paintings, Whistlejacket. I have a large print of that painting in my living room and saw the original a few years ago. It was breathtaking!




I wanted to thank a few people for a recent blog award. I'm to list a few things that I love. Since I'm a little short on time today, I'll have to post that another day. Suffice it to say, my family, animals, nature, painting, gardening & music are on that list (oh, and chocolate too).
Thank you Kat (Life, Earth, Sky), Linda (The Briar Rose Gate),
Jane (My World in Pictures).


My crazy cat got to go outside yesterday to explore:)

14 comments:

Sarah Sullivan said...

Girl you are amazingly prolific!! Where do you find the time!! Not to mention amazing work!! I hate getting bitten- or stomped on - it hurtttttts. I could feel the pain in your description!! Cute kitty - were you laying down??

agoodwitchtoo said...

At least this time there's no chance that "Siggy" will bite you :)

Beautiful paintings! I simply adore your work!

Kathleen Coy said...

Siggy looks ornery in the painting, I wouldn't turn your back on it..! :-P
You're really making me want to paint some horses!

~M. said...

WOW! (again!)
I love the picture of "Siggy"!

jane augenstein said...

Ouch! I bet that did hurt something awful!!! I have never been bitten, thank goodness but kicked, stepped on, fallen on and rolled over on...and I am so lucky that I have never had any broken bones! :-) Horses can be very dangerous, even if they don't mean to, but some really mean it when they do things like bite! Your painting is beautiful, at least this one can't bite!

artbykarieann said...

Wonderful horse portraits

Rosanne said...

Isn't it odd, my friends had a horse named Dude and one day I walked by him while he was feeding.
He reached out and grabbed my arm so fast and bit the heck out of me. I have a scar and a bump on my arm too...
I love your paintings. Makes me miss my girls.

Gail H. Ragsdale said...

I like the dark background much better. The one of Siggy is excellent!

Angie @ thejunkranch said...

I like the new background - very sophisticated! I've only hated one horse in my life as well, but I cried when I sold him...

backattheranch said...

Very nice paintings! Maybe you needed to paint "Siggy" to remind you of the lovely times you had together!!! lol lol :)

Carol Buck & Dottie Martz said...

I like both of these backgrounds, the sage is very soothing, the brown one is perfect!

Zan Asha said...

As always Jen, your work is just stunning. Where do you find the time? I am hopelessly mired down at this point!

And congrats on the award :)

PurrPrints said...

What a fun cat pic--love it!

Anonymous said...

When I saw Siggy, he absolutely brought to mind Whistlejacket before I even read your post! Yep, background is better on the bay. Love them both!