Out of the Marsh

This is a re-work of an older piece that was never quite right. I have photographed it without its wood box to let you see it without the glare of glass on the front. All of my pieces will now go to Shelly Schmidt to be professionally photographed for posterity and record keeping. I started with a large shoe box, painted the inside, and built the log, rock and water. The water is one layer of mirror, then inks, then a layer of glass to give it real depth of water. The pony is made of paper and painted with acrylic and oil pastel, and mounted with a paper tab behind the pony, allowing the pony to be suspended above the log. The marsh reeds are wispy peacock feathers. This was a really fun piece and I'll take it to Shelly to photograph with the box completed and all mounted. Also, along the top, you'll see a row of little lights so that the battery pack you see below, which all disappears inside the back of the box, can be switched on to provide interior viewing illumination. I'll post a photo of the fully assembled piece later. I'm tired, so I'm off to feed the ponies, put the chickens to bed, feed the doggies, and then treat myself to a well deserved light beer! (I'm a cheap drunk, so a light beer is all I can handle!)

Timing Is Everything

I just had to take a day off Sunday to do farm chores, including ground driving the little Shetlands in preparation for driving them as a pair someday soon. Doggies needed more attention, made sure that the broody hen is happy with her comfy feathers acting like a comforter on her eggs. So, I made up for missing a day of keeping you up to date on paintings by working extra hard today. Here is Timing Is Everything, finished, I think, although one never knows. Everyone has the appropriate number of legs...but if you see something missing, please let me know. Thanks, all of you, for your encouragement on this one. It was a particularly difficult piece.

Timiing Is Everything

I think I'm a day away from finishing this piece. I'm stressing over not being able to get the colors just right. The real painting looks a bit different than this image, otherwise I would ask you all for suggestions. Or you can have fun and send them anyway!

Timing Is Everything

Hello again. Now we're getting somewhere. The light and shadows are shaping the contours and I'm puzzling over how to treat the foreground and background to be interesting but not distracting. So much problem solving...and so much fun!
And congratulations today to the purchaser of my painting, "Quick Change" (you can see it on my website, littlehouseart.com). I hope the piece will bring many years of pleasure and smiles.
I'm hoping to finish Timing Is Everything tomorrow, so check back again and send comments with suggestions to make it better.

Timing Is Everything

Ah, the light is pouring on and what fun! This one will, I hope, be finished for a Sporting Art show coming up soon. Also, congratulations to one of my wonderful collectors who has invested in the purchase of "Friendship", the painting of the two horses in a communal cuddle a couple of pieces ago as shown on the blog. Back to work and tune in tomorrow!

Timing Is Everything

I've made a bit of progress in getting the basics in and can't wait to see how this piece surprises me with its own special challenges. Has anyone had trouble getting to this blog? Let me know, as someone had problems, and I'll see about straightening it out. Ruffles had her pin taken out of her leg this morning and she's doing great. See you tomorrow!

Let's Ride Diver Dogs

Here it is finished. However, all artists will torture themselves over whether or not a piece is really finished, or if something could be done better. Well, I've signed it in the bottom left corner and I'm on to the next one. Do, please, let me know if I missed something, left something out, or that I need to beef up contrasts or values.