Play

"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct."

Carl Jung

A high school art teacher once told me to never lose the ability to create like a child.

I'll never forget that.

Every time I sit down to make something, I always think of what that teacher said.

Now that I have my own child, it's like reliving my youth. You see everything with young eyes again.

You get lost in a museum, dream of wondrous fairytale landscapes.

You believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and even the Tooth Fairy!

Toys come to life, books carry you off to far away lands.

I really like what Henri Matisse has to say.

"Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play."

Never lose your love of play!

Here's what I've been playing with this week, a little paint, a piece of gessoed wood and purple horses swirling around in my brain. I just wanted to paint something out of my head, not from a photo. Something fun and colorful.

And I started a painting of my cat Pumpkin Pie called 'Played Out'. It's just a work in progress, I think I will paint many more of his toys around him. I love toys, my studio is filled with toys, children's  art and little bits and bobs of paper and what-not that inspire me.

"If you want to be creative, stay in part a child, with the creativity and invention that characterizes children before they are deformed by adult society."

Jean Piaget

Martha My Dear,

Your Halloween issue ROCKS! When I heard that this special issue was out on the shelves I rushed to my local bookstore in hopes of securing a copy (like I do every year - it is the best Halloween magazine out there). Little did I know what a tremendous surprise was in store for me when I got there.
I nearly had to be taken out on a stretcher when I saw that on the cover was the most magnificent, spooktacular photograph of you as a ghostly equestrienne with your gorgeous black Friesian Rutger! Oh how I am still swooning over that breathtaking horse! I knew you would eventually see how utterly magical Halloween horses are!
Thank you for showing the rest of the world!
~Jennifer Gypsy Mare Studios



I am also very excited to share a sneak peek of my newest Headless Horseman folk art painting. I will have him up on Ebay tomorrow night although I will have a very hard time parting ways with this piece!



I'm not usually a person that posts a lot of blog awards but Linda at Pyewacketts gave me this cool, witchy award that I think Martha herself would approve of!

Mahogany Bay

Just finished my newest ACEO sized (2.5" x 3.5") mini painting. This horse was from a photo I took at the 2000 American Gold Cup at Devon. It may have been called the Budweiser Gold Cup by then. I hate how huge corporations have to own everything!
So this sweet guy, with the gorgeous reddish brown eyes, was ridden by Mclain Ward. I've been looking everywhere to find his name, the closest I could find was a Selle Francais stallion that he was riding around that time named Galileo. He was also riding a horse at that time named Fior. Wish I would have written these things down!
Anyway, this was a really striking horse, had a lot of Arabian traits. I may want to make a larger painting of him someday. His coat was difficult to paint. It ranged from nearly blacks to burnt orange to dark mahogany. This little tiny painting took me all day believe it or not! Wish I could have gotten a better photo. I really need a scanner.
I'm really enjoying these mini paintings I think they are great practice for creating larger works.



And here is a picture of one of our crazy cats. His name is Meemee Doodle. Our cats prefer their water fish flavored. They have refused to drink out of their own water dishes. Luckily they never bother the fish. In fact the fish often comes up and touches the cat's tongues when they drink.
Meemee likes to rest his head on the bowl in a very awkward way with a crazy look in his eye.

Chestnut Landing

How do you like the new look? I know it's not March yet but I thought I'd jump the gun. I've always loved March. It's the month that contains so many cool things: Spring, wild weather changes, St. Patty's Day, mine and my dh's b.days, occasionally Easter, daylight savings time...


So here's another jumper from Devon. This guys in the landing phase of the jump. Wish I could remember the names of these horses! I do think the last grey horse was named Mr. Spoon. I'm working on a gorgeous bay right now. I think he was ridden by McLain Ward.


Original mini painting (2.5" x 3.5") - "Chestnut Landing"


THANK YOU so much to everyone for their kind comments! Really keeps me going. Please accept my apologies if I"m not able to reciprocate the comments. I'm trying my best to visit everyone's blogs.

I'm tossing around the idea of selling at a horse show this summer. I think it would be a lot of fun and get me close to all those wonderful sights, sounds and smells I miss. Plus I can have the hubby man the booth while I go and take photos!
We'll see!

Team Giveaway and New Work

I'm happy to announce that Whoa Team, an Etsy horse art group, is having it's first of many monthy giveaways. To enter you must visit the Whoa Team Blog and leave a comment on the giveaway post. We have three wonderful prizes to win! I'm giving away a pendant, Artwolf has donated a purse mirror & magnet and De La Renaissance will be giving away two lovely prints.
Each month stop back to see what our next giveaway will be!

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On a seperate note, I've added a few new pieces to Ebay. My favorite one is this miniature, ACEO size (2.5" x 3.5") painting of a bay thoroughbred. My inspiration came from a photo I took during a sidesaddle class at Devon a few years ago.



And to those who were curious, we did see Coraline on Saturday and it was excellent!
My husband fell asleep somewhere in the middle so maybe it's not a film to drag your dh to but I thought it was absolutely gorgeous. They Might Be Giants even did a fun song for it. You can hear the main theme song on my playlist on the sidebar of this blog. It is hauntingly beautiful!

Watch out, he bites!

Can you believe I shot this photo? I just found it on my computer. I guess it was a premonition that this nutty horse was going to take me out.
Got a little more of Siggy finished yesterday. He's got that crazy look in his eye like he's going to take another hunk out of my arm! He was a gorgeous horse to look at though, rippling muscles, color of a newly minted penny and the eyes to match!

Whistlepig Prognosticator

Living in PA I suppose I'm at ground zero for Ground Hog Day, one of the most bizarre holidays we celebrate. That darn marmot never, ever predicts an early spring and today was no different. Here in Lancaster County we look to Octorara Orphie for our prediction.
As much as I like Spring, I love winter too, especially when it snows.
Usually, when we get a couple of inches, my husband gets off work and can watch the wee one while I paint. They're predicting a little snow tonight but our weather people are about as good at predicting storms as groundhogs are at predicting spring. Maybe I'll get to paint tomorrow!

Here are some bulbs I have potted in the house. They just started to bloom.

In the meantime I have a little oil painting that is dry enough to put on Etsy.



Also have another canvas started that I can't wait to work on a bit more.