Gypsy Soul

I've been asked before why I call my business Gypsy Mare Studios. Many reasons come to mind. 

The palomino mare my mother owned when I was born was named Gypsy. My mom had bought her as a baby and broke her to saddle. When I was an infant she would take me for trail rides. I blame that mare for my horse addiction. Another reason is that I associate the word gypsy with something magical and romantic; a lust for life, a passion for the open road. I always strive to put a little magic in everything I make. Through photography I enjoy showing people that magic in the world around them that they may not have taken the time to stop and notice. 

Lastly, I tell them, that I dream of owning a Gypsy Vanner someday.

It was my great fortune yesterday to meet a horse most magical, D' Artagnon, the beautiful Gypsy Vanner. 

I spent two hours photographing this beautiful, intelligent boy. Truth be told I could have spent days. 

Thank you so much to his owner, Carol, for sharing him with me so now I can share him with you!

More photos on my Flickr Page.

I want to rock your gypsy soul

Just like way back in the days of old

And together we will flow into the mystic

~Van Morrison

Just open your wings and fly!

Zoe and I have been witnessing one of natures most amazing transformations the last few weeks. 

Right before Hurricane Irene I found some caterpillars munching on rue in the garden. We brought two in to see what would happen.

You can see two different stages of caterpillar in this photo. The tiny dark brown and orange one is a baby. The more they eat the bigger they get, shed their skin and turn green and black.

After eating for a few days they made a chrysalis. 

Fast forward about 10 days and they emerged from their cocoons today as beautiful 

Eastern Black Swallowtails. 

First the wings were damp and crinkled.

Then they pumped them and let them dry out.

It was amazing how fast they went from chrysalis to beautiful butterfly!

"If we did all the things we are capable of

we would astound ourselves."

~Thomas Edison

I've started painting for Halloween and this is my first piece, a ghostly Gypsy Vanner (sold).

To save on listing fees, I will be offering ALL pieces on my Face Book page first. 

If they don't sell, I will move them to Etsy or Ebay.

Dreamin' of a Gypsy Christmas

It may come of no surprise that my dream horse is a Gypsy Vanner.
Want to see what he would look like?



I've painted him (or her) on my newest Holiday horse sign. I'll hate to give this one up. For the meantime I'm hanging him in my living room so I can dream a little.

If you like this artwork, you can order Christmas cards from my Cafepress Shop. I have many more cards, shirts, ornaments and other great gifts available there too.
Please order something directly from the links provided by me. Cafepress changed their policies recently and I get far less if you order one of my products via a search from their site - they also will charge you more! Can you believe that? I may close my shop after the holidays because they are also charging me more to have a shop.

Okay, back to dreaming about my someday horse. My daughter says she'll buy me one when she's older.

Wild Ride

Just finished this fun new Halloween tray with a witch out for a midnight ride. I was inspired by this little poem. The author is unknown so I'm thinking it was on an old postcard or something...

When witches go riding,

and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers,

‘tis near Halloween.



Also finished a new Gypsy Vanner welcome sign. I did the lettering in a Celtic font and added some wildflowers and butterflies. Both pieces are on Ebay!
Thanks for looking :)

Gypsy Mare & Night Mare

Two new pendants for Etsy!

I won't be painting anything else for Ebay until after Christmas but I do plan on making some things for Etsy, maybe even an oil painting soon!

The kid and I managed to make a snowlady yesterday. Isn't she sweet?
She has hydrangea hair, an oak leaf necklace, ivy belt and pine bough skirt.

Peace Signs

As promised, I've finished some new "Peace on Earth" signs including one with a snowy owl.
I have the Gypsy Vanner on ebay but may wait a few days to list the owl.

Also I've taken autostart off of my music player so if you'd like to hear some tunes, you have to hit the play button. I like to listen to it while I paint but realize others may not share my taste in music;-)

Thanks for visiting! Jen


Snowy Owl sign has been sold. Look for more in the future!

Coming Soon!

This is a detail image of a sign I am putting on ebay tonight. The sign will be personalized for the high bidder. I think it would make a fabulous Christmas gift!

My second Headless Horseman painting on masonite. This one is larger than the last,
it measures 11" x 14". It's called "Horseman's Lament". I thought that maybe the HH and his steed get tired of wreaking havoc and just wants to rest in peace.

Gypsy Tambourine

I just finished this SUPER COOL tambourine with a painting of a Halloween Gypsy Vanner on it. I was so excited I had to post it to my blog immediately!
I will be listing it on ebay later tonight.
Also finished a small painting of the Headless Horseman for those with limited wall space. Would look great sitting on an easel. It measure 6" x 6" and I will list it later tonight as well.
Thanks for looking!!



Oh, I almost forgot to mention. That gallery I walked to yesterday in my town, well I think they want to include my art in their annual Halloween show next year. Yippee!!

We're all mad here!

Another piece for the AHAO Challenge... the Cheshire Cat!

I will be listing this piece on ebay soon.
Also just added another Gypsy Vanner Halloween sign. I have a tambourine I hope to paint with a Gypsy Horse too and I am in the sketching stages for a large Gypsy Mare Cafe sign (or tavern, can't make up my mind).
No time to paint today. I think Zoe and I will walk into town. There is a cute little gallery that is advertising a Halloween art show and I think I have to check it out!

Gypsy Caravan

Just finished my new gypsy caravan Halloween sign and had to post a picture. I'll be adding it to ebay in the next day or so.

I also just finished a "Happy Halloweenie" small sign with a trick or treating Dachshund. Thought I would celebrate my new puppy with a sign featuring her likeness. Sorry, I don't have that one varnished and photographed yet:)

Haunted Gypsy

UPDATE 9/20/08: Since no one wanted to buy this from my blog, I have added it to Ebay. Click here for the auction. Thank you!

I thought I would offer my newest Halloween creation for sale on my blog for 2 DAYS before I listed it on Ebay. I am quite smitten with this one. Perhaps it's the oh so Halloweeny colors in the black and orange sky. Maybe it's just because I love Gypsy horses, who knows. So here's the deal, the sign is $139 (plus shipping based on the Priority Mail rate for a package 2-3 lbs. sent from 17520). First come, first served. If it doesn't sell on my blog by Saturday night, it will go on ebay. I prefer the buyer to pay with Paypal but you could send a postal money order if you'd like. Of course if you're one of my regulars, a check would also work. The sign measures 11" x 14" and is signed and sealed. On the back there is a sawtooth hanger for quick and easy display.
Here he is...

Finally able to paint something...

With the husband back at his teaching job it's been hard to get anything painted. I spent part of Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday getting a few things done for Ebay while he watched our daughter. I'm really happy with the way my witch sign turned out. I usually do the lettering at the top but the other day while I was trying to fall asleep, I had the idea to use the top of the sign for the moon and put the lettering on the bottom. I'm working on another piece like this one but with a raven in place of the witch. I think I will write something like "Raven's Caw Cafe" at the bottom. I also would like to work on some black cat pieces this week too and I have a few requests to get to as well. Not sure how much time I will get to paint during the week.
Okay, here are the new pieces, just added to Ebay. Three day auctions so act fast:)
Now off to make some yummy turkey chili for dinner!

Gypsy Witch

I was feeling a little Halloweeny this week so I thought I would paint a witch driving a Gypsy Vanner Horse. I love painting all the little details like the pumpkins on the cart, black cats (there are 3 in the painting) and houses on the hill with tiny people in the windows and ghosts coming out of the chimneys.

It will be on ebay later tonight and it's just a 3 day auction so please check it out!

I also wanted to let people know about a project I started with my Ebay horse art group. We are passing around a sketchbook to 14 members who will create on 5 pages each. After it is finished we will auction it off on ebay for a horse charity. So far we've had two Brit artists who've completed their sketches and one artist who's added a seperate watercolor painting that is just stunning. Please check it out. I have a blog going for the project to keep everyone posted.
Whoa Sketchbook Project