More Festival Inspiration

The two paintings below, Appaloosa and Indian Horse were also works created from the horses that were corraled next door to me during the National Folklife Festival.  Indian Horse is 22x28 in acrylic.  Appaloosa is about 15x20 (can't remember the exact dimensions, it's sold) and is the last horse painting I did in oil pastels.  Having grown tired of dealing with glass, mat and framing, I decided to switch mediums.  I miss the great immediacy that I have with the pigment directly in my hands, but the framing situation is much easier.

Appaloosa (top) and Indian Horse (below)

The Connection

The horses in the painting pictured below titled Sharing are the same horses that I painted in Sweethearts.  I photographed them when I lived in Butte on East Broadway.  In July of 2009 the National Folklife Festival was in its second of three years in Butte.  That year's festival was about the culture of the horse in Montana.  Lucky for me, the horses were corraled behind where I lived. Very close by was a little arena where horse demonstrations were held.  I watched two cutting horse demonstrations with Wylie Gustafson.  It was amazing to see how responsive his horse 'Whiskey' was.  In the second demonstration, Wylie brought in another horse who just stood off to the side.  Sometimes when the horse's friend is brought in it makes for a calmer, more relaxed horse.  In the corral, it was very evident these two horses were very close--best friends.  Later in speaking with Wylie I learned that they were brothers (or at least half brothers) and that if one were to die, the other one would soon follow.

I gave Sweethearts that name as it was a painting I produced for 'The Love Show' in February 2010 at Main Stope Gallery in Butte Montana.  We could also call it 'Brotherly Love' too!

Sharing

Catching Up!

It's been a long while since I posted just before I left Salt Lake City.  So I will pick up where I last left off.  I'd had a 16x20 giclee print made of Sweethearts (below) for the Barn Party fundraiser for the Equine Program at the National Ability Center in Park City.  A local framer donated the black mat and black frame for the print.  The framed print was striking and received a total of 18 bids in the silent auction!  I was astounded and delighted with the donation that resulted.  It was a great evening where I met new people and had a chance to visit with Alejandra Lara, the facilitator who helped me be more comfortable around horses.